Last weekend, Tina and I made the trip up to Holland, MI for the 5th annual Holland Haven Marathon. This was our first time running this race, and first time ever visiting Holland.  As many times as I have been in the Holland area, I always just seem to drive on by.  We sent 2 nights in Holland, arriving on Friday and leaving after the marathon on Sunday.  For it being only 2 hours from home, we have been missing quiet a bit.  Its a small town but has a lot to offer.  There are many shops in down town along with restaurants and bars.   Starting in early spring and ending in the fall, every Saturday there is a farmers market with many vendors. Not far outside of town is the Lake Michigan shore and Holland State Park.  If you like in the Midwest and looking for a great place to visit along Lake Michigan, Holland is a great option.  If you come, bring your bike.  There are bike paths all over the place.
The race was held on Sunday, September 9th, just a day before the start of Boston Marathon registration.  So really, this is one of your last chances to run a BQ before registration opens up.  You could gamble and try to find a marathon the following weekend, but it is a possibility that Boston could be filled by then.  From what I heard, registrations were the largest of any year the race has been held.
Packet pickup was located at the down town Marriot Hotel.  It was quick and easy.  No expo.  Just go in, give them your bib number, get your bib and shirt, and you are done. less than 5 minutes and were back to your hotel room.
The course starts outside of Grand Haven at a local Elementary School and runs along the shores of Lake Michigan to Holland.  While I say that it runs along the shore, it does get pretty close, but you really do not get very many views of the lake from the course.  There are houses and tress on both sides of the course which blocks your view of the lake.  While you don't get a view of the lake from the course, consider it a blessing because there is some blockage from the wind if it were to be strong. The whole course, except for the last half mile, was run on a bike path.  Rolling hills are a common theme for the first half of the course with a mostly flat course the second half. Some miles early on were tougher than others.  Miles 7-9 were probably the toughest on the course but really still no where near as bad as in other courses that I have ran on.

I first ran the Fort4Fitness Marathon in its inaugural year in 2016. For a first year marathon (not a first year event however) it was a very well run race and thought that I would probably return at some point. It was not in my original plans to run it in 2018, but when a 24 hour deal came up to register for $26.20, I thought it would be worth doing it, even if it were just a training run.

To save even more money, Tina and I decided not to get a hotel room and just drive there race day. It works out nice because if you live over 40 miles away from Fort Wayne, IN, you can get race day packet pickup. While I did miss out on the expo, it was nice to sleep in my own bed. It all sounded like a great idea until the day of, when having to wake up at 3:30 for a 6:30 race.

Anyways, we arrived in Fort Wayne at around 5:30. I didn’t realize that the gates for packet pickup and gear check did not open until 6:00, so we waited in the car for a little bit. The race day packet pick up was quick but felt very rushed to get my bib on, gear ready, bag checked, and to the starting line on time. I would like to see the gear check and packet pickup open a half an hour earlier.

The start of the race was right outside the Fort Wayne Tin Caps minor league baseball stadium. At this time of year, at 6:30 in the morning, it is still dark. While there are street lights on most of the course, I would not say that the streets are well lit. Combine that with some small pot holes on the roads, it can be a little dangerous. This was especially noticeable miles 5 through 7 when you were on a bike path and there were no street lights. The sun was just barely coming up at that time, but it was still impossible to see any holes. I think for this reason, the race start time should be pushed back a half an hour.
This year, they also made a course change for the marathon. In the past 2 years, it has been a course of four loops. It followed the 4 mile course, the 10k course, the half marathon course, and another loop to make up the distance. This year, it followed the half marathon course twice. People complained about the old course because you passed the stadium where you finished 3 times before actually finishing. I guess people allow this to mess with their minds or something. I preferred the old course. The tougher hills are only on the half course, so we had to run those twice. Not to mention the log stretch of no turns from the start of the race until mile 4 and then again mile 13 to mile 17. Yuck.

What makes this race really good though are the communities that you run through especially from miles 8-12 and then again miles 21-25. They come out and decorate their neighborhoods and really support the runners. Great to see community involvement.

Overall it is a nice course, I really don’t have much to complain about in that area. Just wish the race started later in the morning so that it would be easier to see. We got lucky on the weather and it was in the low 50s at the start. Maybe that is part of the fear of the later start that the weather will get too warm.

The swag was alright. A little disappointment in the shirt. It was a poly cotton blend shirt. Just give me the tech shirt. Also, scale down the design on the shirt a little. It was just too much. Not my favorite shirt, but I will get some use out of it. The medal had the same design as the shirt. I would like for the actual race name to be more prominent so that I can easily tell what race it was from. Also, I am not one to complain about race medals and their sizes, but if you are giving out medals for all races involved, the sizes should be different and it should be easy to tell the difference between each medal. There was no size difference between my medal and my wife’s half marathon medal. The only difference is, in small letters, hers says half marathon and mine says marathon.
Overall, for the $26.20 I paid for this race, it was well worth it for a training run. It can be a fast course if the weather is right. Looking at the results, I don’t think that there were many Boston qualifiers at this race, but this could have a lot to do with the changes to the standards just a couple of days before the race. There were also only 175 finishers in the marathon.

Who has heard of running 10 nautical miles?  Who knew that there was a difference between a nautical mile and a regular mile?  The Fort 2 Base race features 2 race distances, 10 and 3 nautical miles.  I am not 100% on what the the exact distance of a 10 nautical mile race equates to in real miles, but it is over 11 miles.  Anyways, 2018 marked my first time running the Fort2Base run, and given that it is the first time that I have heard of a race using nautical miles, this would be a new distance PR.

Registration opens at on January 1st.  Fees to register started off at $40 for the 10 nautical mile race and go up to $90 race weekend.  For the 3Nautical mile race, fees started at $25 and went up to $45 on race weekend.  There was also discounts for active military, veterans, and dependents. 


Packet pickup was held in four different locations in the week leading up to race day in the Chicago area.  You could also pay an extra $10 when you registered to have your packet ready for you on race day.  If you were staying at the host hotel, you could also have your packet waiting for you when you checked in at no additional cost.  


The race is a point to point race, starting just south of Fort Sheridan, running around the neighborhood where military families from all branches live, around the parade grounds, and then from miles 3.25 to  about mile 9 was on mostly shaded bike paths.  The course finished at Foss Park  just North of the Naval Station Great Lakes. The course is supposed to measure 11.5 miles (roughly) but when I ran, my Garmin measured 11.22 miles.  I went back and looked at the course map and it looks like everyone missed a small loop a the beginning of the race. Which makes sense why the mile markers were off so early from the start of the race.  But no matter, it was a great course.  I enjoy running around the parade grounds as well as on the bike paths.  There was a couple of less scenic portions to the course, but I believe that you will have that at about any race, especially the longer distances.  
This was also the first year, I believe, for this race not to finish on the Naval Base. We did get an explanation that it was because a new Commanding Officer began his service on the Base this past June and there were also some security issues (a bus driving to the wrong part of the base) last year during the race.  Due to this, the race was asked not to finish on the Base this year.  It sounds really promising however, that the race will probably finish on the base in 2019 (fingers crossed). 
With this being a  point to point course, runners are bused out to the starting line.  The buses run run 5:00-6:15.  The race starts at 7:00.  I felt this information was very well publicized by email, social media, and on their website.  But as you can imagine, obviously some did not read the information and were late getting to the buses.  The race was delayed by a few minutes.  The race director thanked all who were present on time for the buses  for reading the information and doing as they were asked.  She didn't sugar coat her frustration of the other runners, and I do not blame her at all. 


If SWAG is your thing, then Fort 2 Base has you covered.  Let start with what you get at packet pickup.  First, they give you a pretty sweet 1/4 zip long sleeve shirt.  On a day like race day, its not a shirt you are going to wear right away.  But come fall, it will become one of my favorites for sure! Also, in the race bag was a nice luggage tag to put on your bags next time you travel.  Obviously the shirt is more appreciative, but also the little useful things are nice to get as well. 
Also when you think of SWAG and what a lot of runners want after they finish a tough race is a finishers medal.  This year, is the first year of a 3 year medal series.  this years medal features the tower at Fort Sheridan which runners ran by in the first couple miles of the race when going around the parade grounds. Next year will be the tower from the naval base.  The third year will feature a ring with a star and anchor on it.  All three medals will stack on top of each other.  


Awards were given to the top 3 overall in each race (male and female) as well as top 3 in each age division.  I honestly do not know what was given to the overall winners since I missed that part of the awards presentation, but the age group awards were a coffee mug with the race logo on it and said "Age Group winner."  I appreciate when a race gives an award other than a trophy or a medal, but instead gives something that is useful like a mug.  


A couple recommendations for runners if you are thinking about running the Fort 2 Base in 2019.  First off, if you are thinking about running it, do it.  Its a great race.  Yeah the distance is different than usual but its a great, well run event.  If you are traveling from out of town, stay at the host hotel.  It was no more than a 10 minute drive from when you load to get onto the buses to get to the starting line. Plus, if you want, the hotel will provide a shuttle of their own, to the buses.  The hotel was also very welcoming.
The aid stations at the course were also great and very supportive.  There was water and Gatorade at all the aid stations.  I don't believe that Gatorade was supposed to be at every station but with the heat on race morning, they made sure every runner had what they needed. The volunteers and course marshals were great as well.  Law enforcement was also at every street crossing ensuring runners safety as well. 


This race is awesome.  I know that a lot of people were upset when it could not finish on the Naval Base, and maybe I would have been disappointed to had I ran this race before, but I thought it was a great event.  The volunteers, as stated earlier, were awesome.  As you finished the race, you were greeted by members of the Navy along the course and soldiers were there to give you your finishers medal.  Proceeds for this race went to the USO and the Navy Ball.  I believe that it changes from year to year where the funds go, but it goes back to the military in some fashion every year. If you are thinking of running it and are disappointed that you will not be able to complete the 3 year medal series, don't let that stop you.  All three medals make a great stand alone medal as well.  Registration will open January 1st, 2019.