Bling Fling!

Executive Summary: 3:37:47 on a rolling course with some tough hills between mile 9 and mile 17. This was my fourth marathon/ultra in three weeks! I’ve had a bling fest!

Tacoma City Marathon was like running on our home turf. For a large marathon the start of the race lacked a lot of pageantry with a simple chalk line that went about half way across the road. There were no fancy banners, gates, or timing mats to cross. The start however was filled with all of the Half Marathon and Marathon participants. These folks are of course the most wonderful people in the world because they are runners! The pacing duties for the various Boston Qualifying times were taken by some of our well-seasoned Marathon Maniacs. They each held a red sign with their pace time that was mounted to a stick allowing them to hold them above the crowd to be seen. They also wore the pace time on their backs. I bumped into George and Emily before the start and snapped thier picture (see below). I met up with Jenny and gave her a race number belt pocket that we picked up for her at Fleet Feet Running last night. I also took a risk and wore a brand new pair of shoes fresh from the box this morning.

The weather was cool at about 47 degrees however the wind was blowing in areas and it made it feel cooler. My first mile went quickly because of all the banter between runners however the pace was slow as I worked my way out of the masses. We wound our way through town, out to Stadium High School, and then back into town. After looping by the Frank Russell building we dropped down to Ruston Way on the waterfront of Commencement Bay. It was about here that I caught up with a couple of Maniacs Bruce & Gary from Port Orchard WA. We ran together for over 18 miles. From Ruston Way we passed through a short tunnel and the climbing began. Since I’ve run this part of the route through Pt. Defiance the hills didn’t really seem so bad. We kept good momentum and eventually caught up to and passed the early start folks at about mile 13. Michelle, Michelle S., Melissa, Rick, & Jane had all started an hour early. Everyone was still running strong. I gave Michelle a high five on the way by and continued my pursuit of the bling.

At mile 12 volunteers dressed in Blues Brothers outfits manned the water station. At mile 14 the national Hooters Girls team manned the water station. Not many women participating in today’s mothers day race seemed to appreciate the Hooters Girl station. I didn’t hear any complaints from the guys though. (Sorry guys, no pictures).

Once we got out of the park we wound out way up toward Highway 16 near the Narrows Bridge. The previous Narrows Bridge nicknamed “galloping gertie” was the bridge that fell in a windstorm back in the early 1900’s. The bridge is still used as an example of what not to do when you engineer a bridge.

When we made Hwy. 16 we ran on a bike path that runs along side the Hwy. back toward town. At mile 21 I caught up to Ray who had started with the 6:00 AM group. He was taking a walk break when he spotted me and started running in an effort to stay ahead of me. I politely smack talked him calling him road kill and blew by him. Ray was running his qualifying Marathon Maniac race today and in now eligible to join our ranks. Amy G. of the Puyallup Y-Run Club also qualified as a Maniac today!

From mile 21 on the course presented rolling hills up and down until we made the summit of the Tacoma south hill. We then started our desent to the finish line. My last mile was a 7:15. I was feeling strong but could feel slight twinges of potential cramping in my hamstrings. Nothing ever came of it and I feel that I had taken enough S Caps to get me to the finish without loading up on more. I crossed the finish and received a very nice medal and a hug from Lenora Dolphin.

I went to the recovery area and grabbed some food. Collected my drop bag with some warm clothes and did what I do best… shot the breeze for a while. When the official clock read 4:30:00 I started back up the course to meet Michelle and the gang. I usually run back but this time I just walked. I ran into Jane first, then Michelle S, and then after a while Michelle, Melissa, and Rick. I ran in with them and took some pictures.

Rob Hester did an excellent job as the director of the volunteers. Every water station was well staffed and the course marshalls were plentiful and at every major intersection. I must compliment the Tacoma Police as well for their humor and great job controlling traffic at the intersections.

We all headed to Starbucks for some post race coffee and then headed home for showers.

I blew my desired race pace. I had intended to go easy and run a four-hour race. Instead I got caught up with my new buddies and hung with them. It still felt like an easy pace but I’ll admit kicking it a bit in the last three miles. I’ve had an IT band whispering to me since Capitol Peak but it was not a problem at all today. The brand new shoes, the same as I always wear, worked great and my feet are in great shape!

Thank you for taking the time to read my race report. I had a great day. Next week I will be running in the Watershed 12 hour run in Redmond WA. My goal is 100K. Steve Stoyles and I will be running this together. Steve is my pacer at WS 100.