I Can Still Run on the Road!

Marathon # 20 is in the bag with a respectable time of 3:30:48! We had a friend from our running club Michelle ride with us for the 2 hour and 30 min drive to Yakima. That made it a bit interesting during the ride because I would preface my questions with Michelle and both Michelle's would answer me. This marathon was our friend Michelle's first and she managed to finish in approximately 5:26:00. Michelle (my wife)PR'ed with a 5:31. She's a burley woman athlete!

We arrived in Yakima at 2:50 PM just before packet pickup at the Sela WA community center (Race HQ). On our way to Yakima we drove the course so that both Michelle's could see what lay before them. The canyon is really very beautiful with many outcroppings of columnar jointing which are large crystals of basalt rock. We saw many fisherman on the river casting from shore and in dory's. The fishing was all catch and release for rainbow trout. We all picked up our race packets at the expo and then waited for the 4:00 Marathon Maniacs Reunion meeting. The Marathon Maniacs participants of the YRCM each received a YRCM Coffee Cup a Marathon Maniacs lapel pin and an update on our new website that will be launching soon.

After the MM meeting we attended the pasta feed and then John Bingham spoke to the crowd of about 400. John shared his story about how he became a runner and converted himself from an extremely overweight individual who smoked and had a drinking problem to a Marathon Runner at the age of 46. John was a Dean at a College of Music when he started his running. His first run was down his driveway and down the road near his house. He felt like he had run a long way but when he turned around he could clearly see his house still. When he ran home he did something that made him realize he had potential as a runner. He drove the course he had run to see how far he had run. John is a very good speaker and provided an upbeat presentation that was enjoyed by all.

Bob Dolphin completed his 400th Marathon today. I had the honor of popping the cork on a bottle of champagne at the finish and spraying about 1/3 of the bottle up in a high arc over Bob and Lenora as they posed for pictures at the finish. Bob is a stud!

We enjoyed a beautiful day for racing with temps at about 44 F at the start and near 65 at the finish. I was able to get in another 5 miles running back to meet Michelle and Mellissa for a grand total of 31 miles today.

We had too many running friends at this event to name them all. Thanks to Jane Herzog for taking our drop bags to the finish for us on the point to point race. Her husband Ray ran his first Marathon today as well. He ran his goal time of just under 5 hours. Karen Wiggens, and Al Harman both ran this race. The will both be running Western States 100 this year as well.

I'm going to be running with our Y-Run Club in the morning so I think it's time to finish unpacking and grabbing some shuteye. I hope that all of you had a fun weekend of running and I thank you for stopping by!