Heat, Heart, and Heroes: Finding Strength on the Wabash Trace

Julia K Garling(MM3960, DA2566, HF15262) – (September 12, 2025) #medalmonday Marathon 332 was a true test of will and the human spirit over the elements and mother nature herself

My 14th marathon of the year was the Wabash Trace Trail. A lovely rails to trails race in Shenandoah Iowa. The purpose of the weekend was for Shane to get his 50<4 in IA, to spend the weekend running through a wooded and canopied trail, and to spend quality time with like-minded good friends.
Mission accomplished. Even though it was a very hot day, 94 degrees, it didn’t stop Shane from not only finishing his 50sub4 goal in IA, he ran his fastest race of the year, coming in with a blazing 3:38, 1st in his AG, and 3rd male finisher overall.
Shane is one of the best runners I’ve ever known, unlike myself, heat doesn’t seem to bother him at all. While the rest of us struggled in the heat, he seemed to be fueled by the fire.
As for me, I wilted in the heat and truly struggled to keep going, negotiating with my body and fighting for every mile after mile 10, when the sun came out in full force. I nearly quit with 8 miles to go. It was the kind of heat that brought back memories of my attempts to buckle at the Beast of Burden hundy on 3 separate attempts.
I’m rather heat adverse by nature, I’m much more of a cold weather runner. As I ran this race I recalled a time when I collapsed at Beast of Burden 100 with only 13 miles to go, my body just fell apart and I was strapped to an IV at the medical tent that day.
This weekend’s heat rivaled that Beast of burden heat in Aug 2013. I truly had to will myself to keep going forward on Saturday. I did the sensible thing and slowed down to a very fast walk and started recalling my ‘why’ and started dedicated my miles to people in my life that truly made a difference in my ability to keep it together.
I was so grateful to see the finish line on Saturday and because I slowed way down, I lived to run another day.
The best part of my running journey, as always, is seeing friends from all over the country. Congratulations to everyone who braved the heat in IA. for such a small race, we had a good group of fellow 50 staters and marathon maniacs.
A giant Thank you to the wonderful town of Shenandoah for all the tireless work, the town really comes out for this race. The volunteers were amazing, the water stations were plentiful, and of course the beautiful trail was so very inviting. The canopied trees truly helped you stay cooler on a very hot and muggy day.
While it was a tough day for me at the office, I know that your success in life is directly proportional to what you do after you do what is expected of you to do. I am so grateful I found the inner strength to not give up when the going got tough and somehow, I pulled it together and got it done and I am SO very proud of Shane for finding his inner Kenyan on a very hot day and achieving his goal of 50<4 state 48 and making it a reality!
Marathon 332 ✅, spending the weekend with like-minded friends ✅, seeing Shane crush his goals, priceless.
#marathonmaniacs #50statesmarathonclub #50<4 #marathonlife #runningmotivation #runlove

Photo and Post credit Julia K Garling