LOCATION: Sauvie Island, Portland, Oregon
I don't know why, but it seems I have my fastest times, when I least expect it. This was an interesting race. I had just run, my worst ever marathon just a week and a half earlier in Sunriver. It was also the first maratho
n of my first triple. Two Maniacs organized two separate marathons in the Seattle area on July 5-6. I decided to take my marathoning to the next level by running three marathons in three days. I also was interested to see how the changes to the Foot Traffic Flat Marathon would go. In 2007, it was hot and they ran out of water, and medals, and it took me more than an hour to get off the island in all the traffic. This time they moved the start/finish of the race to easy traffic and promised a better experience.
I arrived early as normal and was looking forward to an enjoyable race. I wasn't looking to run fast, but just wanted to have an enjoyable time. The weather was great, it wasn't too hot and there were even some clouds to cool things off. When the race started I went out and felt pretty good. I knew I was going pretty fast, but felt like I would keep going as long as I felt good. When I got around the first half I knew this would be either a great race, or a huge disaster. I
can't remember what my first half split was, but I do remember thinking that I was going quite fast. In the second half, I just wanted to avoid disaster, and finish strong. I still felt great and kept running pretty fast. I remember passing quite a few other marathons and thought this was a great day. Around mile 20 (or so) I looked at my Garmin and realized I was going to run a sub 3:20. Coming up to mile 23 or 24, I was still running at an amazing pace, but I was starting to slow down. I thought to myself "I need to keep going, it's only a few more miles!"
As I came in toward the finish line I wondered if this was a PR. I couldn't remember what my exact PR time was, but I knew it had to be very close. I couldn't believe how fast I had run, I finished in 3:13:30 which was 13 seconds slower then my PR at Newport. I talked with a few of my other Maniac friends, and headed home to get ready for the trip up north. The organizers did a much better job, this time. The finish area was very well organized and getting off the island wasn't too bad. All in all a perfect day!
I don't know why, but it seems I have my fastest times, when I least expect it. This was an interesting race. I had just run, my worst ever marathon just a week and a half earlier in Sunriver. It was also the first maratho
n of my first triple. Two Maniacs organized two separate marathons in the Seattle area on July 5-6. I decided to take my marathoning to the next level by running three marathons in three days. I also was interested to see how the changes to the Foot Traffic Flat Marathon would go. In 2007, it was hot and they ran out of water, and medals, and it took me more than an hour to get off the island in all the traffic. This time they moved the start/finish of the race to easy traffic and promised a better experience.I arrived early as normal and was looking forward to an enjoyable race. I wasn't looking to run fast, but just wanted to have an enjoyable time. The weather was great, it wasn't too hot and there were even some clouds to cool things off. When the race started I went out and felt pretty good. I knew I was going pretty fast, but felt like I would keep going as long as I felt good. When I got around the first half I knew this would be either a great race, or a huge disaster. I
can't remember what my first half split was, but I do remember thinking that I was going quite fast. In the second half, I just wanted to avoid disaster, and finish strong. I still felt great and kept running pretty fast. I remember passing quite a few other marathons and thought this was a great day. Around mile 20 (or so) I looked at my Garmin and realized I was going to run a sub 3:20. Coming up to mile 23 or 24, I was still running at an amazing pace, but I was starting to slow down. I thought to myself "I need to keep going, it's only a few more miles!"
As I came in toward the finish line I wondered if this was a PR. I couldn't remember what my exact PR time was, but I knew it had to be very close. I couldn't believe how fast I had run, I finished in 3:13:30 which was 13 seconds slower then my PR at Newport. I talked with a few of my other Maniac friends, and headed home to get ready for the trip up north. The organizers did a much better job, this time. The finish area was very well organized and getting off the island wasn't too bad. All in all a perfect day!
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