Reach the Bridge

So, on Sunday June 29 I ran the Reach the Bridge 8K run.

What a fun idea! The whole premise is that the Burnside Bridge is to be raised at 9am sharp. The finish line is on the other side. You can start whenever you like, but you've got to try to beat the bridge raising! The run starts at the zoo forestry center, and ends under the east side of the Burnside Bridge. The extra special thing about this run is it is entirely downhill, and they close off Burnside Ave for it.

I wanted to try to challenge myself, but after my sad 12 mile attempt, I wasn't about to get cocky. I decided to try for 10 minute miles.

Sunday bright and early: By 7am I was parking near the race finish line. From there I walked over the burnside bridge to the Old Town/China Town MAX stop, and got a 2 zone adult pass for $1.75. There were a handful of other people there also dressed in running gear. Since the weather was forecasted to be identical to the Cane 10 10K run, I wore the same thing that I did on that run: green shirt and a running skort.

There were some homeless guys kinda curious about the runners, and one of them came down to the MAX stop first yelling at us about how lonely he was (I ignored him, I knew he would focus on the people who outwardly showed their uneasiness with him), and then he started singing loudly. A police officer on a bike rode past while the homeless guy was bugging us, but did nothing about it.

The first train to arrive was a yellow line train, and many of the nervous runners boarded that one. Since it was going in a circle and then back north to the expo center, it was NOT the correct train to get on. The singing homeless guy followed those poor nervous runners onto the MAX train, continuing to sign for them. Those of us who didn't get on the train sighed with relief when it left... and laughed at the poor runners who got on it.

The next train to show up was the correct red line train. I got on and watched out the window as we sped to Washington Park... arriving around 7:30am.

Up the elevator, we emerged at the forestry center. There was music playing, a long line for the porta potties, and some water dispensers set up on a table. I decided to use the honey bucket first since I needed to, and since the line was ridiculously long. Turned out it was also very slow-moving. For some reason the race organizers only decided to provide 3 honey buckets at the start line. It took me 20 minutes or more to get through that restroom line. During this time I had a chance to look around and see that the start line was right next to the elevator... and beside that was a digital clock counting down the remaining time until 9am.

After relieved, I got my race bib, pinned it on, and then checked my polar fleece pullover into the equipment check. Then I slammed some water (it was already 80 degrees), and stretched... and nervously watched the clock. I was waiting for 8:10am to start my run.

While stretching and waiting, I talked to another guy who was also waiting for a certain time to begin running. He assured me it was an easy run, and mostly downhill, that there was a 1/4th mile uphill section before you were out of the park, and then the uphill to get on the bridge. He also assured me the route was well marked.



Finally at 8:10am, I set off. And was immediately passed by faster runners. I was wondering about that... shouldn't they be timing themselves to leave later if they wanted to run that quickly?? I thought the idea was to challenge your pace and get as close to finishing at 9am as you dared... wasn't it?

It was a beautiful run through Washington Park tho. down down down. Nothing remarkable to say besides the fact that I don't think other people approached this race the same way I did. Several walkers were lagging behind, and you KNEW they weren't going to make the 9am bridge raising. Many faster runners passed me in the first half of the run... and you knew they should have left later. Most the people who left around me were running faster than a 10 minute mile pace (heck, I was too, and was still getting passed).

This is what my garmin recorded.



It was a fun run tho, and running down burnside was neat. The trek up the west side of the bridge was rough... and I caught up to lots of slower runners around that area. There was a drum line at the top of the bridge drumming the last couple of minutes before the bridge opened. It added a touch of drama to the situation. I crossed the drawbridge portion, and was disappointed that I still had another half mile to go till the run was over. You feel like the finish line should be right there instead.

I finished in about 43:15. MUCH better than I was expecting. That came out to a 9:03 minute mile pace for 4.8 miles. Finished a good 7 minutes before the bridge went up!

At the finish, I immediately got in line for the finisher T. When I finally got to the front of the line, I was informed that they only had L and XL shirts left. WHAT?!? Wait, who are all these small people who finished way early?? I didn't quite get that. That's not how this run was supposed to go... PLUS I registered for a S shirt (like normal) and I thought this MIGHT be one race in which I get the right sized shirt. but, no. nope. After getting the Large shirt, I went and retrieved my polar fleece from the equiptment check.

Our stuff was just sitting there, no one was watching it to make sure people didn't steal anything.

The finish line area had some food there tho. Bagels, bananas, the like. The neat addition was the iced mochas they were pouring. I got myself 2 servings of that.

We watched the bridge go up. I think I was the most excited about that actually. No one else around me seemed to care all that much. The bridge came back down, and some walkers finished after that, clearly blocked by the bridge raising. The drum line then marched down the bridge and played a cool riff for us under the bridge. That was awesome. After that was over tho, there didn't seem to be much of a reason to hang out, so I left.

It was a pretty run, but I question the organization of the event a bit. For only 600 participants, you'd think they could put on a really organized event! ah well.