so when a couple of months ago I saw a friend on facebook post about a nearby half marathon that was under $30 I jumped at it.
Yoshi, Dennis and I signed up and carpooled to the start line in Seattle at Alki Beach.
We also met up with Melissa, Nari, Steph and Jules at the starting line.
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| Me, Steph, Dennis and Yoshi at the start |
Pro tip: if the location of a race says "beach" there is a good chance you're going to enjoy a nice flat course. Which we did;)
The weather forecast was calling for drenching rain and low temperatures.
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| Nari, Melissa, Me, Steph, Dennis and Yoshi |
Luckily the state of Washington doesn't believe in weather forecasts and does whatever it wants.
We got 40 degrees and only the lightest of drizzles.
I wasn't really planning on "racing" the event, which was good because I didn't.
I ran a bit slower than normal in part due to the fact that I overslept that morning and didn't get my regular "morning routine" taken care of...and then for some reason I kept thinking "I should go get in line for the porta pottie's...nah I'm fine" even though I KNEW it was likely to be an issue.
We're talking 3 separate times.
But I didn't, and it was an issue. Not a HUGE issue, but enough that while was running and passed bathrooms I thought "I should stop and use that bathroom...nah, I'll be fine."
Finally at the turn around I decided that I had been ridiculous for long enough and should stop and take care of business. Which is where I was reminded another reason to take care of things before running. Getting sweaty tights back on right sucks.
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I had to jump twice because I took the photographer by surprise, but I
think it was worth it:)
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I really did enjoy this race. For lots of reasons
The course is flat and fast. It might be a slight false flat uphill about mile 4, but it's an easy out and back with some awesome volunteers with water, sports drink and snacks/Gu. There were two 10/12 year olds at the water station at the turn around who were really enthusiastic. I like enthusiastic volunteers. Enough to take a bag of gold fish crackers even though I didn't want them. I just carried them for the next 6 miles...it was fine:)
There were only two things I didn't like...
#1 It's an open course so there are other runners out and about. It's hard to tell who is in the race and who's just out for a run. That means you might think someone in front of your is out for a jog when actually they are in the race and you need to put on some speed.
#2 There is a section of the course that has chipseal side walks which was oddly slippery. It's an out and back course, so you it happens twice on the course.
At the finish line there were plenty of spectators that cheered for all the runners. I like that. I think it's creepy when people just silently stand there and watch runners just because their person hasn't come in yet.
We got to pick out our finisher medal! A local artist creates one of a kind pressed glass fish for each of the runners. I picked one that looks like a Koi:) They also had fruit, chocolate milk and Halloween candy!
I would definitely run this one again:)
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