My second marathon was the Montana Govenor's Cup in Helena on 5 June, 1999. I tried to run smart, but still had trouble beginning at mile 22. My right calf siezed up and I had to shorten my stride considerably. The Govenor's cup is down hill for the first 6 miles and then has rolling hills to the finish. The hills were a challenge. I was hoping to come in at 3:30, which would have been possible with 8 min miles from mile 20, but it was not to be. I finished at 3:49:28, 10/26 in the 30-39 age group and 26/117 male finishers.

The Govenor's Cup course starts in at Marysville in the mountains above Helena. Runners are bused from downtown Helena to the start. I sat next to Aries Rosal of La Puente, Ca. Aries runs 7 marathons/year. He arrived in Helena at 5 am the morning of the race after riding a Greyhound bus 32 hours to get there. He caught a cab from the Greyhound station to get on the race buses, which left at 5:45. For someone who couldn't have slept much, he finished with a respectable 4:33:40

The Govenor's Cup includes several races, the most popular being a 5K. Rachael, Kate and Sandy were among the 6,000 or so in that race. It was Kate and Sandy's first race. Kate finished at 36:02 and Sandy finished at 38:05.