Seafair Pirate Run photos are online!

I know that event photos are a money stream for a lot of races. But I LOVE a race that lets you download your images for free. I mean, sure, add a sponsor logo -- AND make them easy to share -- and they'll pay for themselves in word-of-mouth marketing next year. So thank you Seafair and Orthopedic Specialists of Sea ttle… and My EP Events for taking these awesome pix!

Some of my favorites:

A fantastic series on the Viaduct, showing our pirate race faces

        

arrrrrrrrrrr!!!!!

(yes, I do hear the "Jaws" theme when I see this sequence….closer….closer….)

These shots from the finish line… pretty lonely, oddly enough!

A couple of photos taken just AFTER the super soaker incident:

And, finally a nice "posed" pic …

Seafair Pirate Run 5K race report

The Seafair Pirate Run -- let's face it, Seattleites are going to call it "Torchlight" for years to come -- is one of Seattle's classic running events. Run along the route of the city's beloved Torchlight parade, it's a chance to run down the street thronged with cheering spectators. I love running through the city, high-fiving kids, waving at princesses, sprinting away from clowns, and exchanging hearty "Arrrrrr!"s with pirates. And did I mention that it's traditional to run dressed as a pirate?

Brooks is a big sponsor of the event, so we are all encouraged to sign up to run or to volunteer. And this year's race was more fun than ever. 

We arrived at the Seattle Center to find a happy atmosphere, complete with music stage. 

(oh, and, yes, why, that IS a big beer garden…)

We, of course, had done our pre-func at T.S. McHugh's … because, well, tradition.

We milled about a little -- bumping into a few other Brooksies, saying hi to the events gang, and admiring the pirate outfits. 

the Brooks events team -- arrrrr!

We didn't really go overboard ourselves (pun intended!!!) -- but we did wear our skeleton bike jerseys.

arrrrrrr!

We filtered into the start chute -- giggling when we heard the announcers encouraging runners who would be running a 6-minute mile or faster to get to the front. Ho ho ho. (Yo ho ho?) We were warned that the Seafair Pirates would be firing their cannon (okay, I can't resist noting that the website and promo emails both said they would be firing their 'canon'… which still makes me giggle, a little…). One thing the organizers could have done better was use the cannon fire as the starting pistol -- but instead it was 5 minutes before the start. C'mon, Seafair -- let's really start this race off with a bang next year!!!

We ran into some friends in the starting chute, but managed NOT to take any pictures… but let me assure you that they were WAY more piratey than we were!

The start felt a little funny -- we weren't very far back, but it took us over a minute to cross the starting mats… it took a while to get the people in front of us moving! But we started off down the hill (knowing that we would have to run up the hill at the end), and then made a few quick turns to end up on the parade route. This was taken toward the beginning of the route -- before I shifted over to the side for more HIGH-FIVIN' ACTION!!!

Is there anything better than high-fiving kids along a race course? Kids got super excited when they could see you were running up to them… and not leaving them hanging. At one point I overheard a kid say "cool shirts!", and his mom shouted "skeleton crew!" NICE.

But soon it was time for my other favorite thing about this race -- running on top of the viaduct! We managed to take the worst viaduct photo in the history of viaduct photos. But, seriously, this is genuine run happiness!!!

Quick aside, for full disclosure -- Wil was running in the place of our friend Ryan, who wasn't able to run. Ryan had registered for the 8K, while I had registered for the 5K. This caused a bit of consternation from friends we saw before the race: "But, you guys ALWAYS run together?!?" "Are you seriously going to split up during this race?" "Wait, WHAT?"

But we had decided to just run the 5K, and hope that the fine folks at Rogue Multisport Timing had set up timing mats en route to show who did run the 5K and who ran the 8K. (And, of course, they DID.)

As we were running along the viaduct our speedy pal David Kornfield came running up between us -- I think that, despite the horsing around, he came in 13th overall or something ludicrous like that. Speedy, speedy Korny.

We made the turn onto the Big Dumb Hill and -- no shame here -- dropped to a walk. Later another friend would describe that stretch as essentially climbing on all fours, it felt so steep. But then another turn, and another, and it was time for the tiny little hill to the finish. We were woefully undertrained, a teensy bit dehydrated, and feeling less that perky, but we finished in a pretty satisfactory 32:03.

After finishing we entered the Pirate Athlete Zone… where, unbeknownst to me, Wil had flagged down a couple of the Brooksies and I was pelted with a Supersoaker. A lot. I believe Wil even used me as a human shield at one point. Awesome.

Then we redeemed the little tab on our bibs for a "Brooks gift" -- these super sweet trucker hats:

We considered lingering -- could have had a free Michelob Ultra in the beer garden while listening to a local band… but instead we decided to just go back to McHugh's, where we walked in to surprised folks saying, "Oh, you're already DONE? Wow!" Nice. 

obligatory post-race photo!

Thanks to everyone at Seafair and at Brooks for a fun race -- already looking forward to next year!

Semiahmoo run!!!

We went for a run! No, really, a run. By ourselves. No one even gave us a medal at the end. Sure, it was 3 miles at a slow, 11-minute/mile pace... but it was a RUN. 

I woke up this morning at 5:30 -- again -- but made myself try to sleep and was able to lie in until almost 8. Success!!

But then I was restless, so I decided to get up and read on our lovely balcony -- really need to take advantage of this view, you see!

I made a strategic decision: put on my running clothes. It didn't mean I would necessarily run, but it did make it slightly more likely. 

Wil got up a little after I did... saw me in my running gear, and put his on, too. We decided to run an easy 3 miles -- 1.5 out, 1.5 back -- along the spit that connects Semiahmoo to the mainland. There's a nice paved path that runs along the shoreline, so off we went, seeing bunnies, seagulls, people walking their dogs, and even one or two other runners. It was surprisingly warm already, though we were on the sheltered side of the spit so there wasn't much of a breeze. 

I'm pleased to report that it wasn't too hard, that I could have kept going for quite a while, and that I could have happily sped up a bit. But it was just nice to get out there and put a handful of miles under my feet for the first time in FIVE WEEKS. 

Dream girls' day out! Deena and Joan to run this year's Chicago Marathon

It's not secret that I am a fan of Deena Kastor, who, when I was first starting out, I frequently referred to as "the sweetheart of American marathoning". No, really. One year I even made one of her recipes to take to Thanksgiving Dinner. She's one of my all-time favorite runners. I was thrilled when she set the world masters half marathon record at this year's Rock 'n' Roll Philadelphia, finishing in 1:09:36. I mean, look how badass this woman is:

PhotoRun.net photo from Competitor.com

Another favorite of mine is Joan Benoit Samuelson. I love this picture of the final yards of the 1984 Olympic Marathon -- the first one women were allowed to race in. She has run into the stadium in Los Angeles, the crowd are on their feet, and she looks SO STRONG:

photo from Competitor.com

Sure, I now have other favorites, but these ladies were my first. And they are BOTH going to race in the Chicago Marathon on October 11 this year. Deena is attempting to set a new world masters marathon record (time to beat: 2:28:40, a record set by Colleen De Reuck at the 2005 Chicago Marathon). Meanwhile, Joan is hoping to run within 30 minutes of her 1985 Chicago Marathon time, which she won in 2:21:21. Which, of course, was the American record until Deena ran sub-2:20.

I've never been a spectator at a marathon -- but this one would be a good one to see in person. (Except that I'll be running my own half marathons that weekend…) And I'll be cheering them both on and trying to take inspiration from them as I struggle through my own race.

Run THROUGH the finish line, not TO the finish line...

The Peachtree Road Race is one of America's iconic races. It's an Independence Day tradition, and tens of thousands of people enter the lottery for their chance to run this 10K in Atlanta. And then, this year, this happened.

photo from wzzm13.com

American runner Ben Payne, nearing the finish, raised his left hand in a "number one!" salute… Only to be pipped at the line by a hard charging British runner, Scott Overall.

AP photo from DailyMail.co.uk

 The two runners finished .09 of a second apart, but, clearly, Overall was the winner.

AP photo from DailyMail.co.uk

I feel bad for Payne… I mean, no one wants to be a cautionary tale / subject for coaches and trainers. But, wow. Ouch. From the side view, maybe he's holding up one finger to say, "Hold on -- I'd like to finish first!"

But kudos to Overall, who ran THROUGH the finish line. And to the guy who stood there dressed as Uncle Sam for heaven knows how long.

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder...

Well hello there, stranger.

Life has been good, if busy. Not much running, but some fun plans in the works. But I wanted to write about something I read the other day that still makes me giggle. A couple of days ago, my friend Carrie sent me this article:

It's a clever little piece about shoes that he thinks are hideous… complete with images of the shoes, and funny comments, such as "They must be in meetings, and show each other these colourways. And then they must agree to proceed."

And, you guessed it, some of the shoes were by Brooks. 6/25 to be exact. Now, I totally agree with some of the ones called out. Because I didn't like them either. But one pair was especially funny to me:

"These are the hallucinations of a dog sedated for tooth extraction."

Why is this especially funny? Because I OWN THESE SHOES.

Why do I own them?

Because they are ridiculous.

And now I can describe them, thanks to Nick Crocker, as "the hallucinations of a dog sedated for tooth extraction".

BTW, the comments in the original article are great -- a lot of people said they actually liked -- no, LOVED -- some of the shoes on the list. And, well, the shoe companies are really only responding to trend in most cases. So, clearly, beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

Read the entire article and judge for yourself here: https://medium.com/things-ive-written/twenty-five-times-running-shoe-designers-lost-their-freaking-minds-048-afc33f502c16

Seattle Rock 'n' Roll Half Marathon race report

Still feeling happy … and a little sore … from running the Rock 'n' Roll Half Marathon on Saturday. It was a perfect Seattle summer day: skies were Perry Como blue, nice and cool in the morning, and I never got too hot… not like earlier in the week!

personalized bibs -- I noticed that Ryan's said "Run Happy!", which I thought was because he hadn't personalized it, but he said, "I wasn't creative enough to put my name on it…"

Worked the expo for a few hours on Thursday -- pretty quiet after the initial lunchtime flurry, but the short shift (4 hours), fun job (prize booth!), and good teammates (Emiko and Summer) made the time pass quickly. I'm still so impressed by the graphics for this race -- super cute. How cute? So cute that -- after running THIRTEEN RnR races, I bought my FIRST piece of official race merch. To be fair, much of that is because the last thing I need is more running gear, and I rarely buy apparel at other races. I haven't even bought any clothes at a runDisney race since 2010. I'm more of a pint glass / souvenir pin sort of gal.

I bought the tank on the bottom right -- AND wore it during the race!

Saturday morning was lovely and cool -- I wore a "disposable" t-shirt over my clothes -- and we rode the D-Line to the Seattle Center with a bunch of runners. How bewildering for the "ruggles" to see so many ponytailed runners piling on to the bus at 5:49 a.m.

(If people who do magic are different than muggles who don't, then people who run are different than ruggles who don't…)

The Seattle Center grounds looked great -- lots of nice, big activations from the sponsors. We followed the crowd and headed into the Armory, where we roamed around a little before finding a quiet corner to perch in. Eventually we made our way to the Brooks VIP Porta Potty line, where we ran into our Brooks pals Ryan, David, Jenn, and Tara.

Wil -- being foreign -- is always a little bemused? befuddled? annoyed? by the line sorting at the potty. Being asked "number 1 or number 2" when getting in the men's line always stops him briefly.

Brooks flew the "run happy" banner over the race … this time no one got escorted out in handcuffs...

We headed out to the corrals -- SO MANY CORRALS -- and found our spot. We were with the Wear Blue, Run to Remember group -- reading the names and seeing the pictures of the fallen soldiers always makes me weepy. When our corral made it to the start line, there was a brief pause while the names of the men and women being honored were read.

reading the names of the fallen

Amusing -- we had been sent an email the day before the race telling us about a "Race Day Surprise!" and to "Get Excited, And Don't Be Startled At The Start Tomorrow!" Why?

Because the Space Needle -- "for the first time ever"! -- would be "transformed into the world's largest starter's pistol" and a round of "thunderous comets" would be fired from the 200' level. Maybe people get spooked by fireworks… I don't know. Or maybe I'm accustomed to fireworks to send off at least the initial corral. But, anyway, they warned us multiple times through the morning, which was pretty funny.

The wheelers set off at 6:55 -- I just keep thinking how AWFUL some of this course would be in a wheelchair! Then a rock guitar version, a la Hendrix, of the Star-Spangled Banner (nice!) -- and then, after ANOTHER WARNING NOT TO BE ALARMED, the "comets" went off and the first corral was set loose.

the bluest skies you've ever seen, etc., etc.

I really enjoyed the corral time -- it was a gorgeous day, with the Space Needle dazzling white against the blue blue sky… just kept smiling and wanting to shout "THIS IS MY CITY!!! WELCOME TO MY CITY!!!"

(r)un happy race faces

I did miss having my friend John Bingham on hand to kick things off; though the announcers, a man and a woman, were okay. The man even said, "Nice to see you, to see you nice", though it was lost on 99.9997% of the crowd. Brucie never really entered our consciousness over here.

3, 2, 1...

Then we were off -- lots of elbow room due to the small corrals, which I love. I couldn't quite remember how we would be getting to the stadiums, so was a little surprised to be zigzagging onto 5th, but it's nice to run under the monorail, even if I didn't see any trains whooshing overhead. Up up up to the crest of 5th, then down down down to the ID, left and over to MLK, and then eventually out to the lakes. Somewhere along this stretch we ran past the Seafair water stop, staffed by CLOWNS and PIRATES and PRINCESSES and Sarah from runclub, which gave me a boost of energy.

Also nice to see the Dude … well, both of my favorite running dudes!

two dudes

The stretch along Lake Washington -- right after the half/full split and re-merge -- is super beautiful… especially since it's the "Wear Blue, Run to Remember" mile. Lots of people proudly standing with American flags and photographs of fallen soldiers, most of whom were shouting words of encouragement.

RnR did a good job of coning off the road, leaving the right side clear for marathoners and the left side for half marathoners. This made it a little crowded through this stretch for us… but was the right thing to do to keep the path clear for the faster marathoners. It had the side effect of putting us across the street and a lane away from the flag bearers -- which meant that, while I got choked p, I didn't have to stop because I couldn't breathe from crying...

Then came the second worst part of the course: that silly steep hill up to I-90. I cannot imagine how difficult that would be for the wheelchair athletes to race up. It's bad enough on foot!

The I-90 tunnel is so hard for me. Something about the muggy, airless interior, the tilted roadways, always makes me feel woozy. Having a DJ with strobe lights didn't help! So I dropped to a walk - there was nothing else to be done.

Not long after entering the tunnel, a fire truck came through. Not long after that we saw the pace vehicle (cool!) and then the lead bike and the lead runner. SO FAST. We all whooped and cheered for him. We didn't see another runner the entire time we were in the tunnel… though we did see a woman with a hand crank racing wheelchair after a couple of minutes. (Still not sure whether there were other wheelers… she was the only one we saw.)

Toward the far end of the tunnel there was a person down, surrounded by medics and others, stretchers, and lots of gear. I try not to look more than a glance to make sure the person is being attended to, since it's someone's private hell and I don't want to intrude. It didn't look good, but I tried to send good vibes (as much as I had any…) as we ran by on the far side of the lane.

I had reminded my pal Kerstin of my "RNRSEA Pro-Tip" before the race: hydrate up before you leave the tunnel! I don't know what it is, but I always struggle on the ramps to downtown (miles 9ish - 11ish). The sun, the ramps, the "so near and yet so far" feeling… and the lack of water! I always think they should put a water stop right where you exit the ramps … Maybe I just psych myself out? But this year, I drank water and Gatorade, the breeze was quite refreshing, and I ended up feeling better than usual. So that was good. Or maybe it was the Elvis impersonator at the end of the ramp, singing along, karaoke style, with Elvis classics from his gold lamé-draped DJ booth.

We headed up 2nd Avenue, happily grabbing water on the way, before turning left and going down the steep hill at Seneca to get on the top of the viaduct. This is my FAVORITE part of Rock 'n' Roll Seattle -- or any race that gives the opportunity to run on top of it. I love that it comes at the end of the race -- it makes me so happy to run up there in the sunshine with the gorgeous view of the water. Another huge energy boost in the final mile or so!

We did see someone who had stumbled, fallen, and hit his head. He was sitting in the middle of the road, surrounded by helpers and medics, looking a little dazed, blood trickling down his forehead.

Then into the 99 tunnel -- woozy again -- but we kept moving. As we emerged, someone said "three quick turns and you're on Mercer!" Down into the underpass, up the final hill (which always seems Very, Very Long because you can't really see the finish), and then we grabbed each other's hands and sprinted across the finish line in 2:27:29.

One very odd thing -- not being stopped by John for a post-race interview!

We worked our way through the finish gauntlet … medal, Gatorade, chocolate milk (HOW GOOD IS CHOCOLATE MILK?!?!), some snacks … and popped out by the fountain. It was just after 10, so we decided to go up to the Mecca to meet up with Kornfield and the Han… drifting back to the Center to watch Mudhoney at 11… and then over to McHugh's for a post-race pint around 11:30. While sitting there I glanced at my phone and discovered that Charley had been sending texts … oops! Sorry we missed the chance to celebrate with the fam!

Mudhoney rocking in the morning

cider at McHugh's

Overall, a fun race… and of course we already signed up for 2016. (You can currently register in the presale for Rock 'n' Roll Seattle 2016 for a mere $50+fees for the half, or $55+fees for the full -- a screaming deal! -- through midnight on Sunday, June 21.) Oddly enough, we didn't bump into any runners we knew on the course, at the finish, or after the race. We almost always randomly see old friends out there :).

Things I loved:
- the viaduct, of course!
- the Elvis impersonator we got to pass twice
- plenty of water and volunteers at the stops
- Clowns! Pirates! Princesses! at the Seafair stop
- the big fat medal

2015 Rock 'n' Roll Seattle Half Marathon medal

Room for improvement:
- I'd still like to see that water stop shifted closer to the ramps…
- I should probably TRAIN at some point for a race again…

But, seriously, Rock 'n' Roll Seattle is a great race -- one of my favorites. And I plan to keep running it every year, as long as I can.

101 Tasks in 1001 Days - 250 days in

I wish I could tell you that I'm ahead of schedule -- that in the first 250 days I have completed a quarter of my tasks.

But I can't.

Part of it is the way I wrote the tasks -- some of them, such as #77: "Prepare 1 new recipe / month" won't be "done" until the final few days. Either that, or I'll miss a month, and the task is incomplete.

Part of it is that I am just not revisiting the list to see what I can or should be working on.

But let's take a moment to highlight the 19 things I have completed:

☑	1.	Finish my list of 101 tasks -- finished 11/13/14!
☑	4.	Update the 50 States Challenge page
☑	11.	Participate in a blog hop - completed 9/30/14!
☑	12.	Instagram for the blog
☑	13.	Add an Instagram widget
☑	14.	Set up a new Twitter handle - complete (okay, not a new handle, but I reactivated the @teamwilsun handle, so I'm calling it good)
☑	87.	Add a "countdown" (1/101, 2/101, etc.) widget to the blog
☑	19.	Fix needlepoint frame
☑	28.	Purge craft cabinet
☑	29.	Design and complete a "dad" memory craft
☑	92.	Make Christmas card tree
☑	33.	Hike Rim to Rim in the Grand Canyon - completed 10/4/14
☑	42.	Organize my retirement accounts - completed 3/27/15
☑	94.	Update my address book
☑	95.	Apply for Global Entry program - approved 4/17/15!
☑	57.	Run a sub 30-minute 5K - completed 11/02/14!
☑	72.	Watch all of West Wing - completed 11/30/2014
☑	73.	Watch all 6 Star Wars films in one day - completed on "ThanksGEEKing", 11/27/2014
☑	84.	Make cheese at home -- FIVE kinds so far! (Parmesan, mozzarella, feta, paneer, ricotta

That means I'm a bit short… however, there are some other tasks where I am progressing well:

☐	6.	Blog 150 times - as of today, I have made 58 blog posts -- so I'm slightly ahead of schedule here
☐	17.	Finish "honey" cross stitch by March 2015 -- well, I didn't make the time part of the task, but I'm still working diligently at the piece, and when I finish (June?) I'm still taking credit for it.
☐	76.	Visit 5 new museums or exhibits -- 3/5, with more to come soon
☐	77.	Prepare 1 new recipe / month -- 9/9 so far!! If/when I do this project again, I think I'll set it up as try x new recipes, rather than 1/month.
☐	88.	Take cheese courses at River Valley Cheese -- took the first one on 11/22/14, and am waiting for a class that features a cheese I really want to learn.

Finally, here are some tasks where I am slowly progressing…

☐	2.	Create an "about us" page -- this content is written, I just haven't sat down and crafted the page. I hope to wrap this up within the next couple of weeks
☐	3.	Create an "about us" widget for the blog -- this is coded … though of course it doesn't make sense to add it to the blog without having anywhere to land it on!
☐	36.	Make our wills -- we have a great new benefit at work which includes a service to write your own will. Okay, maybe I haven't progressed beyond researching that we have an online tool… but that's farther than I have come in 46 years!
☐	37.	Make my advance directive (5 Wishes) -- I actually reviewed the one I wrote nearly 10 years ago, and for the most part, it hasn't changed. I'd still like to sit down and get new ones written and witnessed.

The mathletes among you will notice that I'd only be "on track" if I had actually completed all of those tasks. So I'm falling behind (I hear the voice of the Master of the Crucible from Destiny as I type that).

I feel like it's time to recommit. In 115 days I'll be at the first anniversary of the project. Can I complete 20 more tasks? Unlikely, since I haven't completed 20 so far! But I think I can pick up some low-hanging fruit, including some of the blog goals (WordPress shadow blog and about me page), fitness goals (the pushups, the mile, touching my dang toes), some craft goals (the bracelets), adventure goals (stand up paddle boarding, camping), some very timely GOHIO goals (resume, LinkedIn, Parachute), summery House Proud goals (stain the patio, plant annuals), and even some "new" goals (slack line! hula hooping!).

Words of encouragement, tough love, etc. are welcomed….

Beat the Bridge 8K race report

Beat the Bridge is one of Seattle's great races. But somehow I have never run it. Looking over my race calendar, it looks as though we've been out of town most years -- Sage Rat Run in 2014, Rock 'n' Roll Portland in 2013, Bay to Breakers in 2011 … and I think there was a Bats Day in there as well.

In the beginning, the idea behind Beat the Bridge was this: start the race precisely at 8:30, raise the University Bridge precisely at 8:50. So you had to run the two miles to the bridge in 20 minutes or less to "beat the bridge". Those who didn't beat the bridge had a band and prizes while they waited for the bridge to lower again. I still remember my friend Brenda telling me about the first year she ran BtB -- and how she needed a potty break right at the beginning and was, in her words, "the first person to be stopped on the bridge". (I told her she needed to "beat the bladder" next year….)

But in recent years, partially because the race has grown, and partially because it's nicer to have people feel like they succeeded, the bridge is now raised 20 minutes after the last person crosses the start line… so the bridge isn't actually raised for 35 minutes or so -- giving most people ample time to BEAT THE BRIDGE.

Still, it's a fun premise, inspired me to inspire the name of another local race (ahem), and it raises over a million dollars for the JDRF every year. So it was far time that we run it.

I "won" a race entry at a silent auction at work, and in addition Brooks employees were offered free entries, so Wil and I rolled up on Sunday morning, not sure what to expect. Because there are so many people who participate, they now divide up the race: there is a 4-mile family walk, a 1-mile kids dash, and the 8K wheelers and runners. Each course shares the starting area, but then splits so that they don't reconnect until the finish areas inside Husky Stadium. I love this, because it keeps congestion down on the courses.

I
t was a little hectic at the start. It wasn't clear how/where to enter the starting chute, so a lot of people --  Team Wil-Sun included -- just climbed over the railings. Because they moved the start arch between the Kid's Dash and the 8K, people moved to the start from the front, rather than from the back. So there were repeated calls to take three steps back, three steps back, three steps back…

There were lots and lots of people behind us:

And lots of people in front of us…

So many people, in fact, that they decided to do small "waves"… apparently so that they could allow traffic to ease at the 520 offramp. This gave us time to capture our race faces:

and after several minutes, we found ourselves at the start of the next wave. One odd thing -- they didn't cut us off very cleanly (and admittedly very difficult thing to do!), so we were left standing on the timing mat for a minute or two, and could here it pinging away with all of our chips. Oh well -- the point was to BEAT THE BRIDGE, which, given the fact that we knew they would break up the crowd behind us as well, we knew we had plenty of time.

Still, for our own goal, we wanted to get to the bridge within 20 minutes of when we crossed the line. I found this surprisingly challenging -- in part because of the hordes of people, and in part because I simply don't run fast anymore.

We rounded the corner past the Brooks tent -- with Tara and Stevie waving like mad at us -- and ran across the bridge in just under 19 minutes. Woot! Bridge beaten:

Not much to tell about the rest of the race, other than that it remained crowded. We held hands and scooted across the line in Husky Stadium … and were astounded by the crowds. We made a beeline for water, then the exit, and I took this shot from the stands. Lots and lots of people!!!

Really nice day for a run -- cool weather, no rain -- and a great cause. I admit that I probably won't run it again, but I'm happy to know that I can BEAT THE BRIDGE!!!