Number 48 was the Sioux Falls Marathon on 28 August 2022. Here are the time and distance details.

distance (miles)	time	pace (min/mile)
5K	29:48	9:36
10K	59:44	9:39
13.1M	2:12:47	10:37
21.1M	4:09:53	14:50
26.2M	5:31:38	15:44

Rachael ran the half in 2:46:38. I was number 287 of 333 finishers and 17th among 20 in my age group. Great result for Rachael, obviously pretty miserable for me. I felt great through 12 miles, felt like I was taking it easy and staying within myself. I was in front of the 4:15 pace group at the 12 mile water station, but stopped there for a restroom break. Coming out of the restroom, I just didn't want to run any more. Once you decide that 5 hours is no longer possible, things go down hill from there. I thought about dropping out at 18 miles, but the thought of having to return to South Dakota was so depressing that I kept on going. Honestly, finishing this terrible run was one of hardest things I have done in this project, but now it's the next day and I feel ok. I guess I could have gone faster, but the main objectives were accomplished without lasting damage.

One excuse for the poor performance is that I had Covid in July. Two and a half years into the pandemic and 4 vaccinne jabs down and Omnicron finally got me. Not sure that it affected my breathing on the run, but I didn't train in July and I never did any long runs. Stupid pandemic.

Sioux Falls is not like I expected and it was wonderful to learn more about it. It is the edge of the geographic midwest. It is much more similar to Minnesota and Iowa than it is to the rest of South Dakota, but it also has a party atmosphere. Seems to be a boom town, unemployment is around 2%, which also speaks to the idea that no one is there by accident. The town is sports crazy, with multiple arenas and facilities, mostly named for the subprime credit king T. Denny Sanford

We flew nonstop to Sioux Falls on Allegiant air, which flies from Mesa airport. Unfortunately the route only runs 3 times a week, so we had to go on Friday and come back on Monday. Saturday we went to the packet pick up and checked out the eponymous falls. Here we are atop the observation tower.

We ubered everywhere, what a wonderful age we live in that we can go somewhere with out a car and get some one to pick us up any time, even in the sticks of South Dakota. Of course, finding an uber when the unemployment rate is 2% has its own challenges. We ended up with the same Uber driver to and from the Sanford Pentagon for packet pickup. Other than that driver, Janet, all of our uber drivers for the weekend were Ethiopian immigrants to Sioux Falls. Say that sentence 5 times and try to imagine that it is a thing.

Downtown Sioux Falls is happening, with a beautiful sculpture walk and all sorts of bars and restaurants. There is a band shell just north of downtown in Falls Park with nightly free shows, although the collection buckets are passed pretty agressively. Just between the falls and downtown one encounters the Arc of Dreams, sort of a gateway arch for the budget-minded. This picture has both me and a wedding party.

It is hot in August, but it was a good day to run. The marathon went off at 6:30 in the morning with a taped version of the Star Spangled Banner. The first 7 miles are spectacular, starting with a loop around St. Joseph's Cathedral (shown here on Monday morning)

followed by a tour of downtown and a dash across the top of the falls. It was in the 60's at the start, the sun didn't come up until 6:45. Great stuff, but then miles 7 through 10 are a slog between a railroad and a highway and the second half is mostly along a canal. Well organized, great course without too many street crossings after leaving downtown. It was creeping upto the 90's by midday, Rachael got this picture of me staggering to the finish.

Honoring Olympic tradition, the finish includes a lap of Howard Wood Field, here I am crossing the line.

Amenities at this race were a bit thin, but the beer at the end was greatly appreciated.