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Sunday, July 27, 2014

Anacortes Art Dash Half Marathon race report

Here's what I learned from this race. No matter how much you love your friends, and how great a night you are having with them, and how much you are laughing... multiple Manhattans and no dinner makes for a delicate morning.

But no matter -- we were running the Art Dash Half Marathon!

This race had been on my radar for a couple of years... but the timing never quite worked. But since, apparently, I don't run unless someone will give me a medal at the end, I figured I would sign up for a little motivation. 

Met up with long-suffering-friend Suz at SIX A.M. for the drive up to Anacortes. Glorious day -- perfect conditions. Got to the start with about 35 minutes to spare, which allowed for bib pickup, a porta-potty stop, and this photo-op. 


Yeah, I still think it looks more like a cut-out of my big, grinning head than an actual picture of me... #flatsunny

A bit later we took this one... now Suz is the cut-out:


We relaxed in the car for a while but then headed to the starting line. 


My bagel and cheese helped a bit, but I was still pretty delicate. I figured I would start off gently with Suz and then see how I was feeling. We also met a nice woman named Kim who asked of she could run with us. The more the merrier, we said!

Once we got moving, I started to feel a lot better, but I was enjoying the weather, the pretty course, and the company, so decided to settle in for a gentle run. 

Somehow I managed not to take any pictures of the course (huh?????), though I did take one of this seal as seen from the Tommy Thompson Trail:


The course ran from downtown, then out along the Tommy Thompson Trail, and then up and over a steep hill at mile 4 or so. 

Up to that point we were making steady time, but we needed to rest a bit up the hill. Suz looked like she was getting a bit burnt, so I made her take my hat (I had sunblock on... At least on my face.)

We did notice, as we headed up the hill, that there was a handful of people behind us. Our goal was to stay ahead of them. :)

The course took us out and around a little peninsula along quiet country roads. Well, other than the occasional big truck pulling a boat...

At around mile 8, Suz started to flag a little. As she pointed out, she hadn't run for 5 weeks, and she knew this would be tough for her. I tried to keep our little trio chipper and moving, which we pretty much did. 

Very nice to get off the road and back onto the trail, though by this point we were walking. At some point Kim decided to scoot off -- she was chasing a time goal, and I hope she didn't leave it too late!

Suz kept moving, and I kept telling her the decreasing remaining distances as we went. Funny finish -- we had NO IDEA where to go, but just kept trucking along. 

Finally I saw Kim down the street, and she came back to meet us and walk in with us. (And assure us that, yes, that's the finish!)

We crossed somewhere just under 3:40 -- not a speedy or pretty performance, but a gutsy one since Suz stuck it out. 


Things I loved about this race: 
- really nice course
- tons of water stops, friendly volunteers
- police and other volunteers where the route crossed streets, directing traffic
- a handsome custom medal
- great communications from the race director before the race, including parking info, directions, and a course map
- spending a day with Suz! (and apologies for turning into Super Perky Girl towards the end of the race... maybe sometime we try drill sergeant or tough love instead?? ;) )



1 comment:

  1. That was a fun race, except for the last few miles for me. You could have gotten the cattle prod out and I don't think it would have mattered, I didn't have the legs for that race. A good wake-up call to me to keep up with my training. It was great to spend the day with you!

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