The Marathon is over...and just beginning

The Seattle Rock and Roll Marathon is Complete!

We've finished our marathon! I've got some new photos posted here so even those who followed me on twitter ( wasn't that fun?!) will see some new stuff.



First up, this is Julie at the Seattle Rock and Roll trade show, which was a cool. I realized that like so many other common human endeavors, Running is a world unto itself, with its own vocabulary, its own heroes, and culture. Runners eat well, they're usually nature-centric, and some like technology, like special socks that compress your feet, and $120 shirts that "adapt well to the changing environmental conditions". Others eschew even shoes. Some drink beer after they race, some drink salt-laden fluids or stuff called CytoMax. Many are very competitive in a way most similar to what I see in golf in that their primary competition is themselves and their last time. It is a deeply personal, seemingly insatiable kind of competition.

Friday was an all too-brief stay in the Renaissance hotel, a nice corner room with a great view, from the 19th floor. By staying in Seattle we avoided what my daughter would call "EPIC TRAFFIC".... Many of our co-runners told us it was just that. That night, despite the Maximum Comfort Sleeper Mattress, my sleep was unfruitful. Too much stress. We woke up at 4:00 am in our hotel, and those that know me know this isn't something I take lightly. At about 5:00 we shambled on over to the shuttle, which took us down to the start line, McGraw seeing us off.... I’m embarrassed to say I don't know who he is....


When we got to the starting area, what you are told first (in the program guide) is to seek out potty-chairs. And there was A L O T of potty-chairs

This is just one row of many like this. I never knew a city could have so many (where do they store these things?). Amazingly there were still lines at them...sometimes 20 people long. This must be a downside of a well-hydrated, high metabolic population.

I have only a few shots from within the race...its hard to twitter during it. The course is best described by the Seattle Times, who did an excellent job covering this event.

The race started in Tukwila, on Interurban Avenue, and made its way along Lake Washington before turning towards downtown Seattle on I-90 for the full. The course runs up and back Alaskan Way Viaduct / Aurora Ave (Highway 99), and both routes will finish outside Qwest Field.

For those not from Seattle who read that, just know that the route for the Marathon was wonderful. Tukwila, the starting point, they had the absolute busiest Starbucks ever, like ants on a lollipop. (Could this explain the potty chairs? Hmmm.)


Later down the race, a CytoMax statio with an array of amazing volunteers....




....through wonderful Steward Park...with an eagle watching the action!


Eventually into the tunnel, where they actually put one of the bands. This made for a strange, eerie distortion, which made it even more surreal. Julie made a funny in here: Run towards the light!



Here I'm getting pretty close, and start thinking that this thing may not kill me after all ....



After the tunnel we emerged in Seattle to massive cheers...


The cheerleaders were amazing. Remember we were about 3 hours into this thing, and they're cheering like we're going to win it. Amazingly encouraging, all the cheering and it was now that we needed it the most. I'm certain that these girls burned more calories that I did that day. :)


My cellphone was dead about now, so I stopped taking pictures, saved one tweet for the Finish Line ("done!") and went to blaze across the finish line. I'll be posting the professional pictures when we get them. They're nice, but pricey.

They gave us a really nice medal, and the after event, with bananas and bagels and juice, was great. I was proud of Seattle and impressed by the company who put this on. A great example I think of public sector and private getting together, with a huge core of volunteers. You'd never guess this was the first RNR marathon in Seattle.

I was of course proud of my wife, who was the rock in all of this. She did it right, and she looks it. She also made it easy for me to fall into it, and I'm very appreciative today. It was a great memory to cross the finish line together, and then hobble back the MILE to our hotel (too cheap to get a cab).

You ask about our time? Well, I beat my wife by 1 second ...woot!

3:21:01
3:21:02

:)

We ran a ratio of 4:2 run to walk. This was intentionally leisurely, due to the fact that when we started this thing we couldn't run 40 minutes without getting shin splints. We had a pace of about a 15 minute mile, which is good if you're a turtle.

However, I did attain one competitive goal. There was a 65-year old woman, Laurel Busse-Johnston, you may have read, that who wore tap shoes the entire 1/2 marathon. I decided that if it killed me I would not lose to this woman, so we jumped out ahead of her. I unfortunately had to take a potty break within the first two miles ( I was up for like 4 hours by this time...) and that took forever since the line was long (amazing). Anyway, when we got done with that, we heard the "click click tap" of Laurel passing us by! This lady can run (or dance)! We quickly jetted ahead of her a second time, and didn't see her again. But I was having daymares of hearing the click-click-tap right behind me! She was my pace car, and I wouldn't lose!

Fortunately, after the potty break, we didn't' see her. However, my victory was short lived..the next day I looked up the results. We only beat Laurel by....get ready for this....six minutes! In TAP SHOES!? WHAT!? LOL! So speed is something Julie and I will definitely try to improve upon! click-click-tap....AHHGGH! I could despair, but when you realize that of the 25,000 people who started (or were at least registered), nearly 5,000 didn't finish at all, if my math is right. So, victory is in the eye of the beholder. :)

Switching gears, I'll bring this entry and this blog to a close. One thing I didn't take a picture of was all of the shirts that the people from the various societies were wearing, like the LLS. They would commonly place pictures or words on their shirts, as we did, about who we were running in honor of, or in memory of. We are fortunate that our friend, Autumn, still fights the fight bravely at 13 years old. Heartbreaking shirts were common, with pictures of children who lost their fight to cancer. Some were running for parents or friends long gone, some had lists on their shirts, others were survivors themselves. I really like to thank all of you who supported the LLS financially. We exceeded our target of $1800, and raised $1,931.61 ! Additionally, thank you to those who gave us kind words of encouragement and support -- you gave us courage and knowledge and faith.

I used to wonder why those who did these weird marches or runs did it. "What does running have to do with curing cancer?" I would ask. Well, this was before I realized how important physical movement is, how important public gathering is, how important human connection is. These marathoners who ran in honor of others were there on a mission to publicly show their defiance to the cursed diseases that afflict our loved ones. It is a way to take back some of the power, to show our oneness, our unity in pain, in suffering and in triumph.

Peter Omae ran the full marathon in 2:18:17, Michele Suszek did it in 2:38:37.

Elija Nyabuti ran the half in 1:05:14, which means 5 mintues after we started, he finished. For the ladies, Berhane Adere rang up an impressive 1:11:19 half marathon finish.

Yet in my mind their feats of strength are matched if not surpassed by the moxie of Laurel Busse-Johnston, the Tap Dancer. That lady who tap danced for 13.1 miles at 65 years old to fight cancer that someone else has. My work to keep myself fit will continue, but so shall my efforts, in whatever form, to match the very high bar the Tap Dance Lady has set for me. You see, I can never run as fast as Peter or Elija - I'm off that hook. But Laurel puts me right back on the hook.

Click click tap...time for me to act.