I like to run distance races. I used to run marathons, but my marathon-runner sports medicine doctor advised me that I wasn’t doing that any more after my last one in 2015; it was apparently a bad thing that my right knee sounded crunchy for six weeks after the race. Half marathons aren’t banned, and I haven’t had that kind of problem after one of those, so I run them.

Sometimes, I run more than one a weekend. In 2015 and 2016, I completed the Midwest Half and Half Challenge by running both the Wisconsin Half Marathon and the Borgess Run for the Health of It in the same weekend. In 2017, I missed the event due to my ongoing recovery from my 2016 ankle surgery, but I returned to the event in 2018.

I didn’t snap many photos in Kalamazoo, because I’ve spent years there. I hadn’t been to Bloomington or Indianapolis, though, so photographs were required. I have family-level friends in Bloomington, so my trip started early enough to allow me to hang out with them.

The real queen of the house in Bloomington is Pearl. She’s a lovely gray-and-white cat with lots of attitude and a solid vocabulary. Pearl is amazing, and here she is:

Bloomington has a lot of great eats and fun places to go. Here are a few of my favorites from the trip.

Bloomington was fun, and seeing my friends was even more fun, but I had to move on to Indianapolis for race day #1. I didn’t get around much, given that I had a race the next morning, but I had some great views from my hotel room.

All in all, it was a great trip, and I can’t wait until my next visit to both cities.