On September 20th, 2025 I completed the Marji Gesick 100-mile bike race. Three years ago I had never heard of the Marji Gesick event in Ishpeming, Michigan. One random day, my friends sort-of jokingly said we should sign-up for it. I then did a little bit of Googling and learned what this race was all about. Marji offers several different race categories, including either running or biking on dirt for “50” miles or “100” miles. They offer a mini Marji and a duathlon labeled “worst of both worlds” (only offered in the “100” mile distance). Every five years they offer a “200” mile out and back special. I am writing “50” and “100” in quotations because the distances are actually much greater than that. Not only is the distance a lot, but this race is specifically designed to break you. The “100” mile course is over 12K of elevated gain and traverses some seriously technical terrain. After I did my research, I knew I wanted to give this race a try even though it was way outside of my abilities. Me and a few other friends took on the “50” mile bike course in 2023. It took me about 12 hours to finish. When I was done, my husband actually captured me on video saying I would never do the “100” mile bike course. Two days later, my mind had done a 180 (already forgetting the pain of days prior) and I wanted in on the longer distance. In 2024 I attempted the 100 mile bike course. I called it quits at about 92 miles. That year, I did find my limit but was left with unfinished business and immediately knew I would be back the next year to try and finish what I started.
In order to make 2025’s Marji successful for me, I needed to make several changes. One huge change was modifications to my bike. I have a full suspension Santa Cruz Tallboy, carbon frame, aluminum wheels. To save some weight, I swapped my aluminum wheels for a new carbon wheelset with Berd spokes – made from an advanced polymer. Included in the new wheelset were new tires. Faster rolling and lighter. I got a new light for my handlebars – the Outbound Trail Evo. This significantly increased my visibility in the dark (of course this was paired with a helmet light as well). Lastly, I switched my 32T chainring for a 28T. I knew after attempting the 100 in 2024 that fatigue was huge and the more you can stay on your bike, the better. Swapping my chainring allowed me to pedal longer, stay on my bike more, and climb with less overall fatigue. In addition to my bike, I changed my nutrition. In 2024 I feel I was more relaxed with fueling. Meaning, I did not really care what I was eating, as long as I was consuming enough calories and carbs. I had a lot more solid food (like sandwiches, potatoes, and cookies). After about 50 miles it was really difficult for me to eat something solid, nothing sounded good and I am sure that did not help my energy levels. This year I focused on easy to consume foods. I basically ate gels (standard and caffeine), maple syrup, applesauce, fruit bars, and fig bars all day. I carried these items with me on my bike. At major stops I would drink a protein shake, cherry Coke, and pickle juice. I had Skratch High-carb in every bottle and regular water in my pack’s bladder. I was able to eat all day (and night), actually feeling hungry at times (probably should have eaten more). Essentially, I did not want any foods that I needed extra effort to chew, and it worked out! The last major change that tremendously helped this year was limiting cumulative stop time. I had four major stops where I took in extra calories, changed clothes when needed, swapped packs, and did whatever else needed to be done at the time. Thankfully, I had an amazing support crew and a friend took care of my bike (cleaning the drivetrain) while I could focus on myself. We all know that feeling of getting off our bike after a long effort and then having to get back on the bike again – it sucks. It is so hard to get rolling again. So, limiting the amount of time I stopped, and the duration of those stops, really helped keep me moving forward. That was my mantra all day, just keep moving forward.
The weeks leading up to the race I was very nervous. I felt more pressure this year to finish the race because of last year’s failure (oof that’s hard to say). But I felt ready. I have literally trained for three years for this one day. I made necessary changes and stuck to my training plan. Not only did I gain physical fitness over the years, but confidence in my riding abilities. My skill level on technical trails has increased so much since I first started riding on dirt. The night before the race I actually slept fairly well. We got to the start area about 6am, leaving plenty of time to lock in and get ready. Pro-tip, if you plan on racing the 100 mile Marji, get to the start EARLY! Being able to park in the main parking area is ideal. The race starts at 7:30am with a Le Mans start – we ran about half a mile to our bikes. Then, it was game on. It is wild to say I felt pretty great all day. I really do not remember one moment of negativity. I do not remember ever wanting to stop or just be done. I had my Shokz headphones on for the last 45 or so miles in case I needed a little pick-me-up, however, I never needed to turn my music on. It started to rain around 10pm and never really stopped. I threw on my rain jacket and honestly had a blast riding in the rain. The rain did cause quite the chaos on the trail though. It was SO slippery – to the point where it was easier to ride my bike than try to walk. I had so much fun. What made it even better was that I was never alone all day. For the first 88 miles I was with my friend. The hardest part of my day was saying good-bye to her. After that, I was surrounded by strangers in the woods all working towards the same thing – that last finishers token. Did I mention tokens? Not only do you have to finish the course within the allotted timeframe (25 hours) but you also have to collect all of the tokens along the course. You don’t know how many tokens there will be, or what the tokens are. This year, we collected three wooden token pieces and two dum-dum suckers. If you cross the finish line and do not have all of the tokens, they will not give you the finisher token, and you technically will not finish the race.
I will not forget the feeling of crossing the finish line and seeing my husband and all of my friends for a very long time. I will not forget what it was like to place my green finishers dot on the board next to my plate number. I will not forget the years of hard work it took to make this day successful. I will not forget how amazing our bodies and minds are and how far they will let us push. I will not forget the feeling I felt when I learned THREE women had buckled this year (never to be done before by a female – finishing the 100 mile course in under 12 hours). I certainly won’t forget the feeling of climbing Jasper Knob, knowing it was all downhill to the finish from there. After just under 22 hours, I can finally say I finished what I started.
Now that I have had some time to recover, I can finally fully focus on Iceman. Many people say to me, “Iceman should be so easy for you now after you have done Marji”. Well, that is not necessarily true. Yes, Iceman is much shorter with less elevation gain and is not a technically challenging course, however, it is a totally different way to race. Iceman is full gas from the start. There is no time to stop and take photos (unless you want to!) or drink pickle juice straight from the jar. I will likely have a higher average heart rate for Iceman than I did Marji. I will likely be gasping for air as I climb Woodchip hill. I am so ready for that! Bring on Iceman.
Thank you to Haleigh Dunn @life.with.haleigh for being our 2025 Iceman Trailblazer.