State #48 and #49
States 48 ( Idaho) and 49 ( Wyoming) the recap: the last two in on the continental US
2020 was suppose to be the final four for me. My last four states to run a half marathon in. We all know what happened in 2020. 2021, I ran in State #47, Oregon. My first race since October of 2019( State #46, Nebraska). I wanted to find a race that I could run in Idaho and Wyoming back to back or at least a week apart. Living in Boston, I didn’t want to fly out west come back east and fly out west again. That just seemed like a waste of time and money.
In 2021, I saw two races that could work. Coeur D’Alene(CDA) in Idaho on May 29th and a week later, the Grand Teton Half marathon in Jackson Wyoming on June 4th. The downside of the Idaho race was that it was in northern Idaho, CDA. I wanted my Idaho race to be in Boise. To be honest, Idaho was the state that was not looking forward to visiting. When I think of Idaho, I think of Boise State Blue football field, Potatoes, and White Nationalist. Since the Trump Era, those white nationalist and supremist have only increased in Idaho. CDA, is known to be a popular headquarters for them. Great. https://www.splcenter.org/hate-map
I wanted to visit Boise since everyone that I met always talked about Boise. Along this journey, everyone that I have meet that has lived or traveled to Idaho, Black or white folks have told me to go to Boise and stay in Boise because it is a lot different than the rest of the state. Now because of timing, money, and logistics, my Idaho race will be in Northern Idaho in Coeur D’Alene, I place I had never heard of.
I had to plan out my trip plan for two weeks and where to fly into because I knew I would have to do a lot of driving because those states are so spread out.
I planned on flying into Seattle. That way I could see my friends that live out there before exploring the rest of that part of the country.
Overall I went through 5 states and put over 3,000 miles on our rental car
Seattle to Boise: 7 hr 40 min (494.3 mi) via I-84 E
Boise to Spokane: 6 hr 49 min (367.0 mi) via ID-55 N, US-95 N and US-195 N
Spokane to West Yellowstone, MT: 7 hr 9 min (461.1 mi) via I-90 E
West Yellowstone, MT to Wilson, Wyoming: 2 hr 28 min (126.9 mi) via US-20 W
Wilson, Wyoming to Spokane: 9 hr (576.5 mi) via I-15 N and I-90 W
Spokane, WA to Seattle, Washington: 4 hr 17 min (278.7 mi) via I-90 W
Places stayed:
Pasco, Washington: Best Western Plus. This is Washington State wine country.
Airbnb in Boise in the Hyde Park neighborhood. Suburban community in downtown. Walkable to restaurants, shops, and Camel back Park. Great views of the city
Spokane: Baymont by Wyndham Spokane Unfortunately, it was not clean very well. The room was spacious and the desk manager was extremely helpful. Plus, everything was walkable- Riverfront, restaurants, bars, and parks.
West Yellowstone: Terra Nova Cabins
Wilson, Wyoming: Fireside Resort Cabins
My travel Plan,
May 22: Flew into Seattle, visited my friend for four hours and then drove down to Boise.
May 22: After 5 hours of driving, we stayed in Pasco, Washington. Wine Country. This was the half way marker to Boise. Overnight
May 23: Made our way to Boise. Stayed in an Airbnb in Hyde Park( a suburb part of the city). Downtown was two miles away Camel’s Back Park. To my surprise there was Florence’s Trail. This trail, with a marker was decided to an amazing black woman who was a runner and active community member in Boise.
May 23-26th Stayed and Explored around Boise. Went to the Craters of the Moon National Park, Boise State Blue Football field, Downtown, Jump, Old Idaho Penitentiary, Idaho Black History Museum, 8th street pedestrian block, and Bacon restaurant
May 26th -we started our drive to Spokane, Washington. Because Memorial Day weekend was coming up and CDA is a popular tourist place, hotels were either booked or overly expensive. The cheaper option was to stay 20 miles away in Spokane, Washington. We decided to take one of the scenic highways through Idaho to get to Spokane.
Riverfront was amazing, https://my.spokanecity.org/riverfrontspokane/
Hung out at the Sapphire Lounge, and meet Steven, the amazing bartender
https://sapphireloungespokane.com/
Explored Coeur D’alene area and hike at the park
The drive from Boise to Spokane was beyond amazing. We took route 95 and that area and part of the country was gorgeous. I had no idea. The beauty kept me in Awe. We passed , the Nex Perce reservation, which I took special notice of.
The irony of this, is that we passed through places in Idaho the ACLU
State #48- Race Day- Coeur D’Alene, Idaho
Time: 2:15:52 Gender Place 227/566
Division F45-49; Age Place 21
Overall Pace: 10:22
RACE was on May 29th, Sunday- Memorial Day weekend. This race was around Lake Coeur D’Alene. There was not a big expo or fanfair. Maybe a couple of vendors. Everything was around the lake and lake area.
This was the 45th anniversary of this race. The race started and ended at McEuen Park. It was very scenic and beautiful. There wasn’t a lot of crowd support. Since this was state 48 and I was running again in a week, I wanted to take pictures( which I never do) and enjoy the scenery and be in the moment. Along the way, they’ll also pass through a number of city parks and green spaces like Ramsey Park, McEuen Field and Coeur d’Alene’s City Park, as well as run through a stretch of the campus of North Idaho College on both the out and back routes.
The course is made up of paved surfaces throughout the race and takes advantage of many of the scenic views of the North Idaho Centennial Trail Foundation,
The race was an out and back, which is not my favorite. The first 5k we went around the lake an neighborhood with massive homes. Then we ran through and around the park. There was over a 1,000 runners running in the half, marathon, 10k, and 5k.
We ran along the Spokane River, Ramsey Park. And a little bit of the Panhandle national forest. It was great. The weather was in the 50s and it was perfect. They had a 5k, 10, half, and marathon. Everyone had different start times for a staggered start.
We started at 7a.m.
Marathon walkers started at 5:30am
Marathon: 6:30a.m.
Half marathon : 7 a.m.
10k: 8a.m.
5k: 9a.m.
And they had virtual options.
At the time, their COVid Protocols was
COVID-19 PROTOCOLS
At this time there are no requirements for face masks, vaccination, or covid testing for this event. We will follow current local, state, and CDC guidance at the time of the event.
Half: 886 entries
Marathon: 241 entries
10K: 422
5k: 387
Marathon walkers: 31
I met a black woman from California who was running this race. She told me she was going to be a pacer for the Grand Teton half marathon. I told her I was going to be there in a week too! Then I met Bria, from Philly, who was working for Microsoft. This was her 16th state. It was good to see sista girl. I was told there were other BGR members from California that were running this race too.
I think , including me, I counted six black folks. Then I saw the other California ladies at the end. There were 10 of us.
This race, it was running around the lake and the mountains. What was different, is the aid stations gave you whole bottles of water and power aid. Not a small one or even a cup. The temperature was good and it was a good race.
May 30th- Checked out of Spokane hotel and drove to West Yellowstone, Montana.
May 30th -June 2nd West Yellowstone, Montana.
I had the privilege of going back to visiting Yellowstone National Park. 5 years ago for State #36, I ran the Yellowstone Half Marathon in West Yellowstone and visited Yellowstone for the first time. That is when I fell in love with the National Parks.
5 years later in a Pandemic , Post Trump, worker shortage world, things were different. The tourist paraphernalia had changed a bit and the services and what was opened and closed had changed. I loved going back through the park, it never got old. Over the course of two days, we went around two of the main loops of the park to explore.
At this time, everything was more expensive than I had remembered it. I thought when I booked a cabin to stay in West Yellowstone, it would be in the heart of the town. No. We were 20 miles away. In a place that was still under construction. Yet, they still charged an arm and a leg. But the view and the shower were amazing.
June 2nd, left West Yellowstone Montana and made our way to Wilson, Wyoming.
June 2nd- June 5th . I loved, loved the Fireside Resort. It was perfect. The location was walkable to the start of the race. I booked this place a year ago, because I knew it would sell out. I’m so glad I did. The staff were amazing and it was easy to drive to the Tetons, Teton Village, Jackson. We were in the perfect location.
The days leading up to the race, we explored the Tetons and the town. This race, my girl Amelia and her husband came to visit and see my last race in the 40s.
The Tetons as well had me in awe. They were grand and magical.
State #49: Grand Teton Half Marathon- Jackson, Wyoming, June 4th
Chip time 2:27:55
Pace 11:17
Age group place : 35 out of 112 F45-49
Female overall 417 of 1269
Race place 725 out of 1843
This was the 10th anniversary of the Race Vacation Race Series. The last race I did from them was Yellowstone Half Marathon. I didn’t realize this was a series race.
This was going to be a point to point race. There were shuttle busses to bring us back to the starting point. This race, like the Yellowstone race had a BYO( bag) to reduce waste, since they did not provide plastic bags and no plastic water bottles.
The race started at 6:30a.m., which was the perfect start time because the elevation and heat came real face. This was another scenic race. We ran through the snake river the majestic Teton ranges was always in sight. Mile 11 was the money shot view. Again, another awe moment. We ran south of the Grand Teton entrance.
I saw a couple of sista girls running this race as well. It was good to see them and cheer them on their states journey as well.
June 5th we started our 12 hour drive back to Seattle. The goal was to stop in Spokane and take a break in Missoula.
June 5th- Overnight in Spokane
June 6th- Our flight did not leave until 11pm. This way, we could relax and take our time on the 4 and half hours drive. My plan was to visit my friend and hang out and have dinner with her before going to the airport.
