Continued from Part 1 (read it here)…
I was so relieved when I saw Alma. She introduced me to her friend, Mel, and they hung out with me till I got my packet, which arrived about 30 minutes before the start. We hit the Honey Buckets again (there was an actual line now), then we met up with a couple Alma’s friends who were running the half. After that, it was time to head to the start!
As we waited, we talked about how we weren’t nervous for the race since we were walking it, not running. We just wanted to have fun! I was a little unsure how it would be walking, though, since I’ve never walked that far before.
All of a sudden the small crowd began to move forward, and it was time to go. We were off and talking! Oh, I mean walking. Walking and talking. Mel is a runner-turned-walker and is fast, so we let her set the pace. I had to do a little mini-jog sometimes to keep up!
The first couple of miles wound through some rural neighborhoods, then some farm areas. We saw barns, fields, a herd of horses galloping and playing. I had been coughing all morning and had made my way through half a bag of cough drops, but now that we were going, my cold didn’t bother me.
And check out the wild pants we saw! I tried to be sly while taking the picture, so it didn’t turn out very clear.
Everyone around us was friendly and laid-back: the runners, walkers, volunteers, organizers. Everyone was having a good time. Before I knew it, one mile was behind us. We approached our first water stop and it was decorated! I hadn’t expected that. How fun!
Then we were done with Miles 2 and 3. It was going by so fast! I thought it might feel slower because we were walking, but we were having so much fun sharing stories that the time was flying by. Oh, and we were walking pretty fast. I kept looking down and seeing the pace in the high 13-minute range or low 14-minute range. I mentioned I ran slower than that pace when I first started running back in July 2009. So that felt pretty good.
At this point we were on the North Olympic Discovery trail. It was absolutely beautiful. Forest on boths sides with Evergreen trees, ferns, creeks, old bridges, and some odd things, too, like this random mirror.
The trail was mostly just beautiful.
The weather cooperated, too. After an absolutely gorgeous, sunny Saturday, Sunday’s forecast was no sun and lots of rain. But that didn’t happen. It was overcast, but it hardly rained. A few sprinkles here and there, but not even enough to get our clothes wet. And it wasn’t hot, it was perfect in the low- to mid-50s.
And we saw deer. A mama and her baby. They almost looked fake they were so still, like the animals you see on Disneyland’s Jungle Cruise. But they were very real and probably very scared.
We wound through the beautiful forest swapping stories and just having a good time. Every water stop was decorated and the volunteers were pumped. They were boisterous, funny and encouraging. They offered water or Heed, and two of the stops had Hammer Gels. I tried Apple Cinnamon first. Wow! It tasted like apple pie filling and was so yummy! I also tried raspberry and it was very good, too. (And no tummy troubles at all.)
Before we left the foresty part of the race, we crossed the coolest treehouse-style bridge…
…saw some beautiful native plants…
…and I got to see what Mile 20 would’ve been like for me.
Ouch.
But we laughed about it. Around Mile 9 or 10, we came upon my water stop. It was made for me. I stopped when I saw it, threw my hands up and squealed. Some of the volunteers clapped and I got a high five.
Pink! (At the end of the race, we could vote for our favorite water stop. Guess who I voted for?)
After that, we were sort of out of the woods, so to speak. The last five miles were along the ocean. I love the ocean and it was misty and cool and gorgeous — it was perfect.
We were walking along and I kept looking at this thing in the water. Finally, I said what I was thinking out loud: “Is that a log or a sea otter?” It was a sea otter! He was swimming along the trail just checking out what all these people were doing.
All three of us were starting to hurt a little bit. Our walking legs were sore. And my feet hurt. So, we decided to run. It felt so good! But then we worried that maybe we were cheating by not walking the whole way. Ha! I was having such a good time that I didn’t really even think much about the full marathon. I really didn’t. Well, at least until I saw this guy.
The marathon leader! He was flying and there was no one behind him for a very long time. It was pretty exciting to see him and he was a good sport about me sprinting ahead so I could take his picture.
Watch out. More ocean pics!
As we got closer to the finish line, the asphalt trail turned to mud, rocks, gravel and dirt occasionally. It was hard on my feet and I was very glad I was not at 23 or 24 miles. I tried to pretend it was like reflexology, but that didn’t really help.
Soon, we could see the finish line in the distance. It appeared there was quite a crowd. Even some in the water!
An older man with white hair waited with a bouquet of red roses for his finisher, whoever she was. Lucky girl, we all gushed. We had been running for about a half-mile to ease our walking muscles, but Alma said she wanted to walk across the finish line. We all agreed we should walk in together.
The announcer said our names and our hometowns, and we waved and cheered, and then we were each whisked away by a volunteer to personally hang our medal, hand us a drink, escort us to chip removal and show us where to go next. I thought that was pretty great, but Mel’s volunteer may have been a little too clingy. It’s a fine line.
Mel and Alma picked up their checked bags and we wandered around deciding what to do next: stretch? eat? sit? pictures? That’s when I saw the dog.
A boxer! I could not believe it. Third half; third boxer sighting at a half. I snuck a picture. Thank you, AJ.
After I figured out where to pick up my race shirt (they are awesome), I joined Mel and Alma for some stretching and photo-taking.
Then, a feast! The race organizers had outdone themselves. Costco muffins, the best oranges I’ve had in a long time, bananas, pretzels, Ramen (which at first I thought was weird, but it tasted sooo good), croissants and Nutella (which I’d never had before), Brown Cow yogurt, ice cream, juice, water, flavored drinks…I know there was more, but I can’t even think of it all. And because the race was medium-sized, it wasn’t too crowded. We helped ourselves to seconds.
The three of us sat and ate on the pier. I was a little sad this experience was over and was not looking forward to my 2-1/2-hour drive home. A HUGE thank you to Alma and Mel because they really made the day so much fun. I am so glad I went and met them, and I hope they will do more races with me this summer, walking or running.
Because, let me tell you something: Walking the half was just as rewarding as running one. (And I’m pretty sure it’s a better workout for your bum.)
Chip time: 3:07:35
AJ II time (Garmin) for 3.34 miles (forgot to turn it off after we crossed the finish): 3:11:08
Average pace: 14:20
Mile 1: 14:59
Mile 2: 14:08
Mile 3: 14:01
Mile 4: 14:43
Mile 5: 14:16
Mile 6: 14:48
Mile 7: 14:02
Mile 8: 14:57
Mile 9: 14:23
Mile 10: 13:28
Mile 11: 12:26
Mile 12: 15:46
Mile 13: 12:44
.34 miles: 6:22 (19:01 pace = us milling around)
COMING UP:
Post-race thoughts…
14 comments
Fantastic race recap… it sounds like you had a great time at the race and the course looked beautiful. I totally believe walking that fast was tough. My mom usually does that when I run, and I've tried maintaining her walking pace on the treadmill just to see what it's like. OUCH!!
Ohmygosh! I love this race report! What a breathtaking view you must've had. Seriously beautiful. And of course the boxer sighting…love it. He/she was even looking at you, too. 🙂 Totally AJ. <3Excellent job, Kerrie!
Awesome race report!! What a beautiful area to race in and I love the themed water stops…so cool! How fun that you were able to take a picture of the leader too. I loved reading this…and a boxer too…perfect 🙂
Nice re-cap Kerrie! Until next time…
Thanks for the offer on the pics. I will just enjoy the ocean shots on your blog. I feel like I posted quite a lot of pics in my re-cap already 🙂 I'm curious to see if we got any decent photos taken by the pro's.
Wow, CONGRATS! I really can't imagine walking that far and I imagine it would hurt just as much if not more. Looks like you ladies had SO much fun and what nice scenery along the way. AWESOME post-race eats! *jealous*
What a beautiful walk (and a little run)!That's a fast walk pace!Mmmmm nutella! My kids like it for a sandwich with peanut butter.
You're so lucky that you get to run races in such beautiful locations. You were pretty fast for a walker, were you sore after? How delish is nutella btw?
I'm loving those ocean views – what a great way to end a race! Great job!
You SOLD me, I totally want to do this race now. Ocean, forest, deers, it has it all. What a fun fun time you had Kerrie and you look soooo CUTE!! Congrats on making the most of a tough injury..FYI walking is way harder than running in my opinion…
wowwwww yayy I loved this race recap. This race sounds so rewarding and so much better than trying to push your injured body into a full marathon. Way less stress, more socializing, better experience. That's crazy you see boxers at every half marathon, crazy but awesome. Awww yayy I'm so happy you had such a great experience.And walking IS way harder than running. My mom is a powerwalker and I can barely ever keep up with her!On a funny side note when I was typing this comment I wrote “marathong” instead of “marathon”. I corrected it but I thought it was funny so I wanted to tell you 😀
great pics! can't believe the boxer sighting…maybe just a little nudge of support and love for you??? How was it walking?? I am thinking about walking/running the Seattle Rock N Roll??? But I would be solo, so not sure how fun that may be?
Love the recap – part 1 & part 2! Looks like you guys had a great time. Congrats!Winks & smiles,Wifey
Wow! Which marathon? That is absoutely beautiful!!!!! This is one that I should consider for the scenery itself.I love the line – “we're off and talking.” Classic! Almost had me spitting coffee all over my keyboard.