Every girl gets a win!

Okay, a race run in the middle of August can sometimes be a bit dicey weather-wise, especially here. There's no denying that summer in the Pacific Northwest is fairly short but it typically is capable of being a very warm mid-August. With a few days last week teetering around 100 degrees, I worried my upcoming running of the Every Girl’s Half Marathon might turn into a bacon-fest with my skin sizzling on the blacktop like a slab of bacon on red hot cast iron. But my daughter was intent on getting another half marathon under her belt before the end of summer and who was I to discourage her desire to do something healthy and challenging. As it turned out, luck was with us. The day started in the cool 60s. It was overcast, a little muggy at times, but completely tolerable. For a mid-August run, you couldn’t ask for much more.

This was the second year for this event and part of the proceeds benefits a worthy cause called Girls on the Run.  (Girls on the Run is a “life-changing, character development program for 3rd-5th grade girls”.)  The run starts at the Sleep Country Amphitheater in Ridgefield, WA, just north of Vancouver. Parking is plentiful there and one of my favorite perks was the abundance of real, I mean REAL, bathrooms. It’s hard to say if it seemed like there was such an abundance of stalls because this race had fewer participants than many other races I’ve run (so fewer people waiting in line) or if it was because we had arrived super early in order to guarantee getting through current I-5 road construction. But there seemed to be a lot bathrooms and they were very clean, too. The race was starting out on a definite plus!

Before the start of the race director, Andrea Moore, spoke for a few moments, or rather tried to speak. She became quite verklempt while trying to express her commitment to the cause the race benefited, and her respect and awe of the women who participate in it. Being a person who also struggles with the tear factor when talking about things that “matter”, I found myself being touched as much by her reaction to the support of all these fabulous women as from the importance of the cause.

The Every Girl’s event has both a half marathon and 5K. The courses share the first mile or so then split off to their respective routes. As described on the website, the half marathon takes you through some beautiful quiet farm area with a few small to moderate hills (depending on your definition of “hill”) then a generous amount of downhill terrain which eventually flattens out for about four miles. Of course, what goes down has to come up, and so it does at about mile nine.

The final 2-3 miles have some substantial hill climbing. The hills were not as challenging, or as many, as Fueled by Fine Wine. However, being towards the end of the race, they proved challenging all the same. Due to an event at the amphitheatre later in the day, part of the course was redirected on a very short trail through a wooded area. The trail didn’t look like a legitimate path, more like one worn through years of use by people as a possible shortcut. However, the race director’s team did a very good job of clearly marking the trail with flags and fluorescent pink tape on any roots that might pose a tripping hazard. It was extremely narrow but, again, it was short. The hardest part was getting out of the trail. It deadended at a short but severe rise, like climbing out of a ravine. Alright, it might’ve only seemed that way because my legs were most definitely feeling the hills by then.

Volunteers were plentiful and super helpful and friendly. All turns were clearly marked and marshaled, and I don’t think I passed a single course marshal who didn’t shout out words of encouragement and show general good cheer.

Being pulled in by the strength of others.

Running into the finish you were likely greeted by the race director, Andrea Moore, and a team of volunteers. Andrea’s enthusiasm and her joy at your completion of the race is contagious as she tried to greet as many finishers as possible. Even if you might be feeling a bit wasted by the effort of trying to sprint to the finish after those final hills, your spirits are lifted when you see other women cheering you through it as though they’ve known you all these years and always believed you could do this. It certainly was a day about empowerment and accomplishment. In addition, I saw plenty of teamwork and mentoring on the course. It’s what strong women do. :) 

Daughter finds her sprint to the finish.

The high fives and the hugs are icing on those feelings of accomplishment and the feast of goodies that await you. I really should take better notes on the food and beverage available after runs. However, I’m rarely hunger for a few hours after any run. I did get one of my all-time favorite treats...ICE CREAM! Oh, and the music! It was great, reminding me of my old disco days. (I’m quite sure the hubby would’ve preferred I not try dancing by myself in full running attire. But with age comes loss of shame. I’m sure if my friend, Ms. Beckie, had been there with me there would have been much more dancing! ;) )

The day turned out especially sweet for my daughter and I. She has only been seriously running for slightly over six months. This was her third half marathon and she is training for the Portland Marathon, her first. I have watched her running improve by leaps and bounds in these past few months. At times she gets quite discouraged that she can’t outrun mom…yet. There is no doubt it will not be very long before I will forever be eating her dust. But as a teenager, she is impatient for that day.

So last Sunday it was such a treat to see my daughter’s shock and excitement at discovering she had run a personal record and placed first in her age division (1-18)! It was even sweeter to be able to share her success as I discovered I also had won my age division (50-59). Eighteen months since I took up running and after going from extremely overweight and sedentary to fit and fast (relatively speaking). Two women. One young and coming into her physical prime. One old and trying to hold off the inevitable slowing with age. But that Sunday we knew it truly was an “every girl’s” run!

Aside from a very nice tech tee shirt and a bag of various goodies consisting of the typical coupons, energy bars, Body Glide, lip balm, etcetera that is in your bag at packet pick-up, you do get a medal of sorts at the finish. Instead of the traditional medal, this is something more aptly described as jewelry. It’s a medium sized medallion on a chain like the pull-chain off of lamps. I put mine on a nicer necklace chain and discovered I actually like this idea of a charm or medallion over the typical garish finishers medal. It definitely is not a piece of Tiffany jewelry and on close inspection might be described as your typical inexpensive costume fare. But it is fun looking and something I might wear on occasion.

Medal or jewelry?

My daughter and I agree that the “feel” of the Every Girl’s Half Marathon was terrific. Women helping and supporting women. It’s a powerful thing. In fact, my daughter credits her finish to a woman whom she didn't know but who encouraged her and prodded her to keep going in the last couple miles. That is a lesson my daughter will remember and use throughout her life. Sometimes all it takes is to offer kind words of encouragement.

Team Daughter and Mom

The race was small. (207 ran the 5K, 144 ran the half marathon.) It deserves to be bigger. It supports a very worthwhile cause. It is very well organized. The people are some of the friendliest and helpful. It has a beautiful but challenging course.  And it’s just plain FUN! I can’t think of any reason why I wouldn’t want to run this again…except maybe 100 degree weather. :)

Cascade Lakes Relay 2012

In the Pacific Northwest running community August often means it’s time for the final prep work for the very popular relay race, Hood-to-Coast. While out on those long runs with various groups you will hear the banter. “Are you running HTC?” “Does anyone need a runner for their team?” “How many times have you run HTC?"...

Well, there is another relay that may be giving HTC (31 years old) a real run for their money. This relay is called the Cascade Lakes Relay (5 years old) and it is not for the faint of heart! Whereas HTC is a 199 mile relay with 1050 teams, CLR is 216.6 miles with only 180 teams, is run at elevation (from Diamond Lake to Bend, OR) and most likely run at near peak summer temperatures with remarkably cold (think freezing) nighttime temps. It can be grueling with just those issues but, as with most relays, one needs to factor in the sleep deprivation as well.

Cascade Lakes Relay elevation chart HTC starts at 6,000 ft.

Cascade Lakes Relay was my very first experience in this type of running. It was hard and it was sooo much fun! (People with no sense of humor need not apply.)

I joined a team that was a collection of various individuals with different running backgrounds. Some knew each other, some did not. I initially only knew the team captain and co-captain. However, through my assistant coaching with Portland Fit, I was able to help in signing on three more team members. (Thank you Penny, Doug and Bob. Also thank you Dawn for browbeating some of these guys into joining the team.)

As with most relays, I suppose, there are two vans.  The interesting thing about the CLR is that Van 1 might have the toughest legs to run. Their legs appeared longer overall and the conditions less ideal. Think mosquitoes and dust bowl conditions on red cinder roads! >:) On the other hand, from the pictures I have seen online, Van 1 might also have some of the most scenic runs. (Although, the entire course of CLR is pretty darn beautiful.) I think I lucked out as I was in Van 2 and had one of the lowest mileage leg totals. Hey, I was the oldest in our van. With age comes some perks. ;)

Hot but beautiful!

The weekend of this year’s relay was considerably warm. When we would check in to see how far out Van 1 was from the first exchange point with Van 2, all the Van 1 captain could say was “It’s hot. It’s really hot.” #:-S

Goldie Hawn giving Bruce Jenner a quick hair trim. (We were That 70s Showe.)

Watching the runners come down that dusty road as their support vans kicked up solid walls of red dust verified that it was hot, it was dry and it was work! There were several reports that people went down from the heat as early as the first leg. :-o

Our runners had not done very well in a few of the earlier legs as far as speed. (Again, it was HOT!) This meant my first leg started at dusk and required the mandatory reflective jacket, headlamp and red flasher on the back. The air was finally cooling and it was going to be far more comfortable for me than my fellow runners before me.

As it darkened and the moon rose over the meadows, I was overwhelmed by the sheer beautiful of the orange colored orb coming up over the horizon. There weren’t many runners out there but I managed to pass one and was working on passing another when their light disappeared after some support vans pulled away from the shoulder. It would appear some vans were picking up their runners and taking them to the next exchange. /:) Odd, but I kept running.

The dark can do strange things to one’s mind. I began to hear noises and I wondered…is that a bat? Is that a wolf? Is that a cougar? I ran faster. :-S

One thing that may have been mentioned on the website, but which I did not take note, are those things called “cattle guards”. I guess they are intended to keep cattle from straying? They are wide, very wide, grates across the road. The officials had put plywood across them near the road’s edge for the runners. Problem was I was running more IN the road at that time since there was NO TRAFFIC at that hour. When I came across my first cattle guard I couldn’t make out what actually was in the light of my headlamp. Add to the fact that I have fairly significant night blindness and all I could make out was something that looked…well, corrugated. I didn’t realize until I stepped on the grating (thank God I stepped on the grate and not in the hollow) that I might be in trouble.

Cattle guard. That spacing in the grid is about 5"-6".

I still get shudders thinking what would’ve happened if I had not been looking at the ground when I hit that spot. I felt my foot slip into the grating and continue to go down until I realized I better catch myself with the other foot before I proceeded to snap my leg at the lower shin. Frankly, it rattled me and I paid very close attention to the road after that. Much less sightseeing (or trying to with my night blindness) and much more focus on the route.

Towards the end of my leg I began to worry that I had missed a turn. I could see lights across a large field that looked like the halogen lights of an exchange point but it appeared my road wasn’t going that direction. There was concern that maybe I was out in the middle of nowhere and my team wouldn’t be able to find me but something awful would. :-SS The beautiful evening run was turning into a Stephen King creep show. (Okay, I have always had a rather vivid imagination.)

Meanwhile my team was out dancing and partying. <:-P

Eventually I saw my exchange point and a breath of relief reached my lungs. Oh yeah, lungs! I’ve never run at elevation. It was a weird sensation and not one I totally adjusted to throughout the entire race. It always felt like I needed more air. The cool night air was welcomed. I didn’t even mind the occasional bug that wanted into my mouth and nose after having been attracted to me by my glowing personality headlamp. ;;) I doubt the bugs were attracted to the moisture of my body since it seems the air was literally sucking every ounce of water out of me as fast as I could drink it. (I drank enough liquids to float the Titanic and the only rest stops had to do with something not liquid related. :-S )

As I reached the exchange I was pleasantly surprised by the poor suckers souls who had volunteered for our team, my hubby and dear son. See the pictures. 

Sorry, hubby has not figured out nighttime settings on his camera so this is the best you get.

My dear son was ready for bed. I had miles to go before I'd see a bed.

Doesn’t my son look thrilled to be out there in the dead of night? Well, they’d been out there since 4:30 p.m. and were winding down their shift so they stayed to cheer me in. It felt great to be done with that first and longest leg of mine.

We had one last runner to finish their leg before we could look forward to some rest. As it turned out, the next exchange point was being shutdown when our van rolled in and we were told our runner was the last one out there. Okay. This could not be true. We saw a few others but we also saw what appeared to be people being picked up by their support vans and taken to another exchange point? Cheat much?

It appears the rules at CLR are lax in comparison to HTC. There really isn’t much monitoring at the checkpoints. In reality, for the 95% of the field that is out there for the challenge and the fun, it probably doesn’t much matter. If you are a serious relay runner, this laissez-faire approach might perturb you, but for us, we were there for fun!

So the first third of the run was done for our van and we needed sleep. I-) This is where my brain began to get very fuzzy, and to tell the truth, I just don’t remember the order of the next few hours. It seemed we pulled into a designated rest area in La Pine(?) where there were showers, some cots, food and areas for people to park their vans. We decided to catch some shuteye in the van. I don’t think we rested long before we made contact with Van 2. Based on their “plan” we decided to move on and jump on the next leg as soon as possible. (That, and the fact that our van was so punchdrunk from fatigue that we started to act like middle-schoolers at a slumber party. :o) Imagine 3 adult men and 3 adult women giggling hysterically over what the medal should be given for last. Copper? Aluminium? Tin? It’s bad when someone knocks on your van to shut up. We moved on. :-$ )

Those after-midnight runs proved COLD. I had forgotten what the website said, but I had brought long-sleeved shirts and long running pants. Thank God! The young men in our van apparently had not. Don’t know how they ran in shorts and a singlet at those temps. But they did. They ran fast! :D

By the time my next leg arrived shortly before sunrise, I was tired, cold and experiencing a caffeine (or lack of) headache. Thinking the cold air might help the headache; I started my leg in a thin long sleeved shirt under a singlet and running pants over my shorts. I neglected to pack a knit cap or gloves. Bad move. This leg was only a little over 5 miles but two miles into it I knew I should’ve sucked it up and taken off the running pants. My core was too warm, my hands and ears too cold and my headache was raging. I passed a couple people who seemed to be having a better time than I was, but they were dressed for the conditions.

When I finished that leg I was happy to see it ended next to a retire community that had opened its doors to the runners, offering free coffee and real restrooms! What a welcome sight. (I had been struggling the entire time with the urge to purge, yet no action. The end of the 5+ miler did the trick. ;) ) Unfortunately, they had run out of coffee and I wasn’t going to wait for a new brew. When I tried to sign in on their guest book, I literally could not hold a pen. My hands were frozen blocks of ice. I barely was able to scratch out my name. It was pathetic. :(

After our last runner finished his leg, we headed for the Elk Lake Resort area for a much needed rest. Vans were pulling in and everyone just picked a spot on the ground, threw out their sleeping bags and crashed! We agreed to meet at the van in two hours and resume the race. (For those paying attention, I explain this later when I address complaints about the start times and exchange points.)

It was beautiful at Elk Lake and the ground never felt so good. I woke to morning sunlight bouncing off the lake and people actually swimming in it! Brr… I’m sure the water was cold but the air was already warming up quickly. Best part of Elk Lake was that they had a café selling…COFFEE! Be gone caffeine headache! :p

A quick change back into hot weather running gear and we were off!

Sadly, we messed up with one of our legs and put one runner on the wrong leg. She thought she was doing the easiest leg of the run. Actually she was running the hardest. What a trooper! She didn’t even suggest killing our team captain for this snafu. (Being that they are girlfriend/boyfriend, he probably will eventually pay for that mistake.) Fortunately, she was relieved by another runner halfway up the treacherous leg.

Note our team member frolicking in the background. Sleep much? No!

Beautiful scenery on our last legs. We requested songs for every support stop.

My last leg was mostly downhill. But it was hot. Oh, I mean, it was HOT! It was short and it was fast.  Best part…it was over…for me. :)  Well, until my team finally showed up after nearly running out of gas and needing to go on a search for the nearest gas station. (Sometimes the details really do matter. :D )

Our team captain (aka Bruce Jenner) ran the final leg. We met him for the last 200 yards. Running in with him in the lead and holding the American flag was quite the height of silliness. Of course, so was carrying bottles of beer across the finish which happened to be on school property. (Our young gentlemen were reminded that this was a legal no-no. Oops. :-" )

Don't think Santa would approve.

Wonder if he wore sunscreen

Apparently even Santa's little helper thought it a bit warm for running. (Not one of our team members!)






I believe no one on our team had ever run CLR but several have run the HTC. It was agreed upon that the CLR was probably not for the casual runner, that a serious runner would likely fare better on the course. We also agreed that Van 2 was the one to be in. (I feel like I should apologize for those runners I brought on board as they all wound up in Van 1.)

I did hear complaints about the start times and definitely about the closing of some exchange points. It was said that Van 1 was encouraged by a race official to use the second snapband in their packet and start the next runner before the previous runner was done. It seems this is fairly common practice. I suppose the rationale is that the lap times will be added consecutively, thus giving the same resulting times as though you had waited for the actual wristband exchange. Strange. So this is why we started running earlier than expected as our other van had already begun and finished their legs before we reached them. So we were playing catch-up. I think. I'm not sure. (Yes, a logistical nightmare. #-o)

The volunteers all seemed very friendly and encouraging. The finish was great fun with food and a beer garden on hand. We were disappointed that our van did not win the best van decoration. Our vans were dressed like a big Nike shoe complete with the swoosh on the side. Van 2 had a sock popping out of the roof (Van 1 lost their sock on the highway) and we had a disco ball mounted on the dashboard.

Our Nike shoe van without the sock pulled up. See the waffle sole on the car's edge?

That 70s Showe

Our colored disco ball looked cool at night, but next year the "designers" promise to go BIG!

We made sure those runners on the road heard us coming with our cowbells and disco music blaring, offering encouragement to any runner (not just ours) who looked like they needed a bit of cheering. No, we did not start drinking until the race was over…even then we were too tired to drink much. Sleep was much more valued.

Do I think I'll do it again? Hmmm, bugs, heat, cold, dust, elevation, sleep deprivation. Hold on, I'm thinking...

My friends say yes; I say…it might be better left to the young.  I would like to see next year’s van, however. Mirrored disco ball outside with big speakers and a bubble machine maybe??  :-?

San Francisco Half Marathon, a mini vacation

I know. It’s been a long time between posts.  Hey, I’ve been out and about, having fun this racing season. Now that there’s a bit of a lull in my scheduled events, I will take some time to review the 2012 San Francisco Half Marathon as well recap my mini vacation. (Sorry, it's my blog. :) ) 

This race was not originally on my schedule but at the last minute I received an invite from relatives to join them.  The hitch? I had to run under another person’s name. :-" I know this is a no-no, and if I ran well enough to challenge anyone for a spot in the top ten of her age division I probably would have declined. But I am old and there was no chance I would be beating out any youngster for a prized top ten age division finish. Heck, since the family had entered their estimated finish times based on the slowest person of the team (the person I was replacing), we would be starting in what I believe was the second to the last corral. So no personal record (PR) would be run that day due to the thousands of runners I would need to navigate throughout the race. So, yeah, I accepted the invitation.

Dear husband and I drove down to San Francisco on Friday. (Man, I love our Prius. Driving there was a LOT cheaper than flying. Wouldn’t have been the case with our old Hyundai Tucson!) Weather was spectacular! We took a 1.5  hour lunch break in Ashland, OR where the Oregon Shakespeare Festival is held (Feb.-October). I love that area. Definitely will need to consider a mini-vacation there. Maybe find a nearby run, some good golf courses and take in some shows and good eating. I almost hated leaving the area, but San Francisco was calling.

We arrived late (about 10 p.m.) in S.F. just four or five blocks from where the start line would be on Sunday. Fortunately, we found a very good place to eat (Globe) and I was able to get a good night’s sleep. This was key for me since I rarely sleep at all the night prior to a race.

After a late breakfast on Saturday, we took in a bit of sightseeing before making our way over to the Expo to meet the relatives for packet pick-up. I thought it a bit chilly for buck naked bicycle riding, but I guess it did not bother these guys. :-o

(Okay, I did fuzz out the frontal exposure since I don't wish to offend anyone.) 

And I bet Portlanders thought they were radical with their naked bike ride.  How about doing it in broad daylight?! :P

Early afternoon I met up with relatives whom I’ve never met. My cousin and his wife and father-in-law were there at the entrance of one of the largest running expos I’ve ever seen. Maybe it just seemed large because it had to accommodate the thousands of runners picking up packets for the full marathon, both half marathons (first half and second half), and a 5K. (Altogether, over 19,000 registrants.)  I do know that there was so much free food (energy bars, ice cream, cookies, etc.) being passed out to runners that I could’ve eaten it all and skipped dinner. I didn’t though. :)

 Enjoying the expo.

The family and full team. I'm running for the beautiful lady in the middle.

Once the packets were picked up, met up with one more cousin, and we had perused the entire expo floor to our satisfaction, we walked near the waterfront where we caught a bus and headed toward a little restaurant called Firenze By Night in North Beach on the edge of Chinatown and Little Italy. We had dinner about 5:30. A bit early but good for me. I hate having a large meal sitting in my gut late the night before a run. The timing was perfect, the food excellent, and the company was great.

My cousin’s wife is pregnant. She was training for her first half marathon when the pregnancy caused her to withdraw from training. Her father, Hans, has been running for many years and has run many marathons. He was visiting from Germany and was going to run the S.F. Half with his daughter, son-in-law and my other cousin. I’m sure he didn’t mind running it without his daughter given the circumstances. This will be the first grandchild. What a joy that child will bring in that family for many reasons. It was wonderful to hear stories about Jenny’s life growing up in Europe and to finally get to meet the cousins (brother and sister) I have never met.

After dinner we went different directions, agreeing to attempt to meet up somewhere around the front of corral 6 early the next morning. If we couldn’t find each other then, we would all meet at the finish. They were coming in on BART from the Palo Alto area, I think. Whereas I just had to walk a few blocks to the start. Logistically, it was easier to play it by ear.

Summertime in San Francisco is usually very VERY mild, if not sometimes cold. Early morning of the race it felt like a cold autumn day. It looked overcast and it was cold enough for a jacket. Thankfully, I brought my disposable jacket. (You know, the one you get at the local Goodwill or Salvation Army just so you can deposit it on the side of the road during a race?) I could not locate my family amongst the literally thousands of people still arriving for the late starters. I also couldn’t locate the porta potties but it appeared they were in a location that wouldn’t have given me time for once last trip to the john anyway. (This was a small area of irritation for me since I was running late due to my traveling companion, the dear hubby. When it comes to races I am almost ALWAYS waiting on him to get his camera stuff or get his jacket or finish his trip to the bathroom.  Grrr…)

So I eased my way near the front of the corral and hoped for the best.  The race started and so did I, sans family members. Two blocks into the race I knew I needed to shed the jacket. While most of those around me all wore long sleeves and long pants, I was out there in shorts and a singlet. I must be a Pacific Northwesterner.

The first four miles or so were very nice and very flat. Being at the head of a corral with much slower times than you run means you’re running ahead of the crowd. It was nice. The air was cool and moist. You could almost feel the fog but not quite. About mile 5 I caught up with the tail end of the previous corral. This would be a problem as we hit the hill going up to the entrance of the Golden Gate Bridge.

The hill wasn’t that bad, the crowds were. Many groups of people who appeared to be running together were walking and talking, sometimes 5-6 abreast. This really messed up my rhythm as I would be forced to stop running myself or traverse across the road to find an opening in order to get past the slower participants. Still, I couldn’t be too upset. I knew this wouldn’t be a PR race and would likely be a PW race given the crowds. I just tried to enjoy the run.

Once on the bridge, the crowds were more of a problem since there was less room (one car lane width) on which to run. I would creep up on someone hoping they would feel my presence on their shoulder and move over. After awhile I would do the “Excuse me. On your left” shoutout as I squeezed through the slightest of openings. Now I know that irritates a lot of people (I overheard someone later that day complaining to another person about how people where constantly shouting “excuse me” and muscling their way through the run) but, seriously? If people in front of you get slower and slower, are the faster runners supposed to be held hostage by those slow pokes because it would be “rude” to express a desire to run through? Well, if you say yes, then I bet you also don’t allow faster golfers to play through, do ya! b-)

Anyway, the run over and back on the Golden Gate Bridge was still fun but not much to see. It was foggy below the bridge deck and the top of the bridge uprights disappeared into fog. I bet it would’ve been spectacular if it had been clear. The trip through the Presidio was another matter. There was a spot where you could look down at the bay and see the clouds just clearing the tops of the buildings along the opposing hill. It was serene and beautiful!

Whereas the crowds began to appear in clumps (i.e. a short stretch of clear road, then some more congested areas of slower runners) there seemed to be a great deal of trying to run around that slow poke or that group of friends that were running and talking and generally being a little inattentive to where and what they were doing. Whenever I would find myself being impatient, I would remind myself that this run was a social event for me, too. I needed to relax and enjoy it.

Certain I was probably running behind my family members, I would see people in the distance who I thought might be them. So I would speed up, only to discover I was wrong. I would do this several times but I never found them on the road. One cousin told me that when I dropped into the Golden Gate Park I should leave nothing in the tank since I would be almost to the finish. So that’s what I did.

When I closed in on the finish I felt GREAT! I don’t know if it was the cool weather in combination with being forced to keep it slow in those middle miles or thinking I might be the last family member on the course. Whatever it was, it felt good to have a little sprint left in my legs.

 

See the mist still hanging in the tops of the trees?

Turns out, I was the first family member to finish. The others had started quite a ways in the back of the corral. They took several minutes to get to the start line, whereas I took merely a few seconds. I missed seeing them finish as I was trying to find my husband and still thought they had already finished at that point.

There was quite a spread of food and beverages after the race. The BEST part (and something I think every cold weather run should consider) was the Irish coffee!  Oh my word, that hit the spot! I was cooling off way too fast and in spite of the space blanket, I was chilled. The Irish coffee helped fight off the cold and the damp.

Yep, that's Jameson Irish Whiskey and whipping cream. Yum! Perfect to fight back the chill.

The finishers! (Glad I brought my Portland Fit jacket as the space blanket wasn't enough.)

Overall, I think this was a great race, especially when you realize that over 19,000 people ran the full marathon, two half marathons and a 5K. (You have a choice of doing the first half of the marathon course or the second half. My family chose the hillier first half.) It was well organized from start to finish. My only complaint was the placement of the porta potties at the start.  However, that might not have been an issue if I hadn’t felt rushed for time.

Although the San Francisco Marathon is not a flat course, the majority of hills are supposedly in the first half. If true, then I would say this would be a nice course to run the full as I didn’t feel the hills I encountered were terribly hard. (Of course, after the Fueled By Fine Wine my view of what is a hard hilly course may be skewed a bit. :-?)

As expected I did not run a personal record but neither did I do a personal worst. I was surprised to find I broke two hours (1:54) and I would’ve placed 6^th in my age division if I had been running the race under my name. My pregnant cousin-in-law did okay for her first half marathon, finishing in the top 100 of her much younger age division. ;)  It was a great weekend and a great race. Definitely one I may wish do to again…legitimately. ;))

Time is short.

I know it's been awhile since my last blog. This is a very busy week. Drove down to San Francisco to run in the half marathon (the first half, you know...the hilly one) and am now getting prepped to do the Cascade Lakes Relay with some friends. I promise to blog about both experiences when I return.

Until then...run slow, run long! :)