– Get in as much hill training as you can. No, you cannot overdo it!

– Make hotel reservations EARLY!!!

– The shuttles to the starting line and back from the finish line were very good!

– Be prepared for any type of weather. Bring clothes you can pitch if necessary. Keep some layers to put back on! I never took off and put on so many layers in my life. Every five min the temps would change.

– There are plenty of port-a-johns. If the need is not urgent, there will be more in just a couple of miles and you do NOT have to wait in line.

– Bring a camera and expect to stop often, at least in the first half of the race.

– Don’t bother entering any event shorter than the 21-miler. You miss the coolest stuff if you do one of the shorter events.

– Carry shot blocks, GU or whatever you use for energy and eat/take them liberally.

– Do ankle-strengthening exercises as part of your training. There are some steep sideways angles throughout the course.

– Hurricane Point is not the toughest hill – the small steep ones are worse.

– There were plenty of apples, bananas, oranges and one stop with strawberries on the course. Practice with these foods. I ate the strawberries even though I had not practiced with them because we were told they are natural anti-inflammatories. Delicious!

– It’s not always funny to yell “Go Bucks” to people wearing Michigan hats right after one of their football players left UM to go to Ohio State in his Junior year.

– All long-distance athletes are friendly, walkers are slightly friendlier than runners.

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