The idea behind this run was that on my training schedule for the "Run Like Hell" half in Oct, I was slated to run 12 miles that weekend already. 12 miles? 13.1 miles? close enough. I intended to approach this run as a training run (i.e. don't push too hard, just enjoy the run and relax).
I should know better than that tho. You put me in a race situation, OF COURSE I'm going to put out the best effort I can manage...
The run was in Champoeg Park, kinda near Newberg, OR... so a good 45 minute drive from my place. I found the park easily enough. Entering the park, I was behind 2 other cars who stopped at the little booth at the gate. There was a day-use fee of like $3 or something. I had the dollar bills set aside and was ready to pay the lady. When I pulled up she asked if I was part of the race (pretty obvious from the way I was dressed), I said yes. She then told me the entrance fee to the park was already paid by my registration! I was like, oh? Cool! I drove on through, and followed the other cars to a big open field that was the start/finish line for the race.
Champoeg Park is quite pretty. I'm glad since I was promised a pretty run in the pamphlet I read telling me about the race. It said it was mostly flat with one big hill (similar to the Portland Marathon), and thus it was a great training run for the Marathon. I figured, I can do one hill. sure. The pamphlet said the walker start was going to be 8am, the runner start at 9am.
A couple days prior to the race, I got an email from the event coordinators:
"We have an unusual situation concerning the electronic timing for our event, which will be done by Russ Zornick. He has an unavoidable time constraint in getting to another location on Saturday and I have a plan to help him and to allow part of our runners to finish at an earlier time than they might otherwise. Here's the plan:
The Early Half Marathon Walkers will start as usual at 8:00AM
Any Half Marathon runners who anticipate a 9 minute or more per mile pace should plan to start at 8:30AM. This will allow a projected finish time of 2 to 2 1/2 hours.and most would be included in the electronic timing. Any later people would be added to those preliminary timing results and be included in the awards. As we do with the Early Half Marathon Walkers we will check off your race bib number so we can accutately time you from your start time."
Hm. Ok. So, I'm not a 9 minute miler, I know that much. I had to choose the 8:30am start time. I arrived in the park something like 7:50am, and picked up my packet before the walkers stepped off the line. I was conflicted about my clothing options, since the weather report was all over the place. Was it going to rain? Was it not? I was hanging out by my car and trying a number of different clothing options, feeling a little lost... then I finally decided to just run in what I intended to run in the night before: capri running tights, running skort, portland marathon finisher shirt, light running gloves, and a hat. While I was changing my clothes back to what they were, I noticed a handful of far away hot air balloons rising above the tree line into the air.
I had noticed a sign to the restrooms through the woods, so went that way. When I found the restrooms, I found them dark, empty... I had the facility all to myself! That's unusual for a race! Once I was done, I wandered back to the big open field and saw that everyone else was lining up single file for the porta potties on the far end of the field. HA! dorks.
The walkers left. Shortly after that I saw someone I recognized: Diane! She did Pints 2 Pasta and won 3rd in her age group. I was happy to see her. She didn't remember my name, but was still very friendly, and totally remembered where she knew me from. She introduced me to her husband. We chatted about the race, and she admitted she didn't know about the 8:30am start time. I laughed saying she probably didn't need to worry, and that she'd be catching me either way. She was waiting for a friend to show up, and so was going to do the 9am start time either way, even though I assured her she was fast enough to start later.
Here is a pic of me before the run. My hat is a little dirty, eh? I took it camping the weekend before.
I finally stripped off my thermal layer and moved to the start line to get ready to run. I have gotten in the habbit of doing those warm-ups we were taught at the Lacamas Lake half before running now. Who knows if it helps, but I guess it's one way to expend my nervous energy prior to a race. We had to line up and get our bib numbers recorded for the 8:30am start... and then the count down and we were off.
Here is the course:
I figured, since it was a slower-than-9 minute mile pace for this group, I should be able to stay relatively in the front without any problem. What I hadn't counted on was the fact that faster people had opted to start at 8:30am just so they could finish sooner. Huh. I tried sticking with the lead runners at first, but had to back off by 2 miles or so. We started out following the course... and made a right turn onto the bike path, and then ran headlong into the walkers... who were all mad at us and pointing to the road to our left. I guess we were supposed to follow the road and not the path before the turn around. Oops.
The group of us in front ended up cutting across this grassy field over to the road. I felt kinda bad we weren't on the correct route, but I didn't worry about it too much. I was more concerned with not twisting my ankles in that field. Approaching the turn around I got to see a big field in the park which was full of more hotair balloons. This was where they were taking off from! They looked so tiny in the air, it was weird that I was able to run to their launching point in only 9 minutes or so. There were apparently many more that were about to join the ones already in the air. We ran through the parking lot, and onto the head of the bike path to head back the way we came. This was about when I started needing to back off on my pace a bit, and people really started passing me. I also found myself overheating slightly. I took off my gloves, but had no where to stow them... so I just settled for holding them in my hand for the rest of the run. I found the gloves useful for patting sweat off of my face though, so it worked out fine.
Over the next 3 miles we followed the paved bike path through the trees, mostly flat, but a couple little rolling hills (nothing terribly challenging as far as terrain). The runners around me had thinned out a good deal, and I was finally in my pace group more or less, as by mile 5 I wasn't being passed anymore by other people. I was getting a little grumpy though, cause the pamphlet had promised water every 2.5 miles along the route... and there was definitely NO water station at 2.5 miles. I was starting to get thirsty!! We ran over some high wooden footbridges, along the side of the Willamette River, past some really pretty large estates. Coming to the end of the bike path was a couple bigger hills... up and then down... then another up (and I remember cursing the pamphlet right about then) and we came to merge onto a road and did another major downhill. Then a BIG uphill along the road shoulder. This was the first part of the run that was sharing the route with cars. The traffic wasn't bad though, I don't remember seeing very many cars at all. At the top of that last big hill was the first water station, right around 5.5 miles or so. I was thirsty and winded from the uphill run, so I opted to walk for a touch while getting the water and drinking. This older guy in a red tank top behind me laughed that he wasn't going any faster than me, so he might as well walk then too!
After the 2 cups of water I snagged, I felt much better. The route also flattened out a good deal at this point. I continued along. The scenery went from forest-like to more rural. We saw barns and fields and more modest houses than what we saw along the riverside. It wasn't long before we caught up to the bulk of the walkers at this point. It was weird to think that they were technically 30 minutes behind us... and yet here we were at the same place. Right about when I was feeling good passing some confident looking healthy walkers... out of nowhere this guy in bright shoes and very little else in the way of clothing (think: split-side short shorts, and no shirt) came flying past me. I was technically 30 minutes behind him! He was a 9am start time runner! It was really impressive to see those guys running.
It was a trickle tho... it wasn't like a MASS of fast runners passing us. At 7 miles along we turned a sharp left turn onto a side road to get to the next turn around. That's about when nearly-naked-bright-shoes darted past me headed back. It was also about when Diane's husband passed me. He was a nice guy and cheered on my effort though.
There was another water station at the turn around at 7.7 miles or so. That was nice atleast. I was past all but the fastest walkers at this point. Those fastest walkers were doing a good job sticking with my pace too, but eventually I broke free of them all. At some point close to the 7.7 mile turn around, the older guy in the red tanktop had passed me and had pulled maybe 50 yards ahead of me. The remainder of my time spent getting back to that aid station at the top of the hill (at 5.5 miles on the out, but approx 10.5 miles on the back) was spent focussing on that guy and trying to stick with him and possibly close that gap. I hung with it.
I walked again at that aid station at the top of the hill to gulp down water... and then happily flew down that big hill that I hated running up. Then I knew I had 2 more hills to conquer before I was done. On the next uphill, I passed redtanktop guy. Woo hoo! Flew down the second hill, and then on the last uphill I could hear someone running up the hill with me, but a little behind me. I convinced myself it was redtanktop guy, so I was going to stay ahead of him no matter what it took.... and I continued to push myself on that hill. At the top I eased off my intensity to catch my breath and let my heartrate recover.
I was wrong. The person on my butt behind me wasn't redtanktop guy. It was one of the 9am runners. As soon as I hit the top of the hill, that guy passed me... taking the time to congratulate me on my hill tenacity tho, which was nice of him. We were back on the pretty forested bike trail at this time. More 9am runners were passing me here, including Diane who cheered me on as she passed. I was starting to kinda flag in my energy a bit... and knew this last mile or two was really going to challenge me.
We wound our way back to the field slowly... I caught sight of red not too far behind me after a turn in the trail too... so that was good motivation to put in a late push. I came rolling back into the parking lot and down the finisher chute to get my time recorded. The volunteers handed me a finisher medal too, which was neat. I'm really starting a nice collection of participant medals at this point.
I grabbed a banana, a capri sun, and a water... and attempted to cool down and stretch a little. Diane and her husband were already done. I had to go to my car and get my pullover, it was still kind of a cold morning. I ran into redtanktop guy at the food table a little later, and I congratulated him on a good run, admitting that a good deal of the second half of the run I was just trying to catch him. He admitted this was his first half marathon in like, 12 years, and he was glad he was just able to finish.
My finish stats were: 2:09:51 (a new PR!) or a 9:54 minute mile pace. I couldn't believe I beat my Lacamas Lake Half pace actually, since I wasn't really going for a time goal. That was nice. Overall I ended up 121st place out of 158 people. In my age group I was 18th out of 26. Hee hee... not that great. I have noticed that competition in small half marathons is just stiffer than other races though.
Redtanktop guy turned out to be 62 years old, and got 3rd place in his age group. HA! So much for me staying infront of him!
Diane ended up finishing in 1:37:16, or a 7:25 minute mile pace. She got second in her age group. Her husband finished in 1:24:03, or a 6:24 minute mile pace. He was 4th place overall, and 3rd in his age group. I didn't hang out to see them get their awards... I was getting cold and stiff and realized with a 45 minute drive back to get to a hot shower, I should really get going. Diane and I took some pics infront of the finish line, and I went on my way.
It was a good morning. I have to admit tho: I got home, showered, and crashed till like 5pm.
Hm. Ok. So, I'm not a 9 minute miler, I know that much. I had to choose the 8:30am start time. I arrived in the park something like 7:50am, and picked up my packet before the walkers stepped off the line. I was conflicted about my clothing options, since the weather report was all over the place. Was it going to rain? Was it not? I was hanging out by my car and trying a number of different clothing options, feeling a little lost... then I finally decided to just run in what I intended to run in the night before: capri running tights, running skort, portland marathon finisher shirt, light running gloves, and a hat. While I was changing my clothes back to what they were, I noticed a handful of far away hot air balloons rising above the tree line into the air.
I had noticed a sign to the restrooms through the woods, so went that way. When I found the restrooms, I found them dark, empty... I had the facility all to myself! That's unusual for a race! Once I was done, I wandered back to the big open field and saw that everyone else was lining up single file for the porta potties on the far end of the field. HA! dorks.
The walkers left. Shortly after that I saw someone I recognized: Diane! She did Pints 2 Pasta and won 3rd in her age group. I was happy to see her. She didn't remember my name, but was still very friendly, and totally remembered where she knew me from. She introduced me to her husband. We chatted about the race, and she admitted she didn't know about the 8:30am start time. I laughed saying she probably didn't need to worry, and that she'd be catching me either way. She was waiting for a friend to show up, and so was going to do the 9am start time either way, even though I assured her she was fast enough to start later.
Here is a pic of me before the run. My hat is a little dirty, eh? I took it camping the weekend before.
I finally stripped off my thermal layer and moved to the start line to get ready to run. I have gotten in the habbit of doing those warm-ups we were taught at the Lacamas Lake half before running now. Who knows if it helps, but I guess it's one way to expend my nervous energy prior to a race. We had to line up and get our bib numbers recorded for the 8:30am start... and then the count down and we were off.
Here is the course:
I figured, since it was a slower-than-9 minute mile pace for this group, I should be able to stay relatively in the front without any problem. What I hadn't counted on was the fact that faster people had opted to start at 8:30am just so they could finish sooner. Huh. I tried sticking with the lead runners at first, but had to back off by 2 miles or so. We started out following the course... and made a right turn onto the bike path, and then ran headlong into the walkers... who were all mad at us and pointing to the road to our left. I guess we were supposed to follow the road and not the path before the turn around. Oops.
The group of us in front ended up cutting across this grassy field over to the road. I felt kinda bad we weren't on the correct route, but I didn't worry about it too much. I was more concerned with not twisting my ankles in that field. Approaching the turn around I got to see a big field in the park which was full of more hotair balloons. This was where they were taking off from! They looked so tiny in the air, it was weird that I was able to run to their launching point in only 9 minutes or so. There were apparently many more that were about to join the ones already in the air. We ran through the parking lot, and onto the head of the bike path to head back the way we came. This was about when I started needing to back off on my pace a bit, and people really started passing me. I also found myself overheating slightly. I took off my gloves, but had no where to stow them... so I just settled for holding them in my hand for the rest of the run. I found the gloves useful for patting sweat off of my face though, so it worked out fine.
Over the next 3 miles we followed the paved bike path through the trees, mostly flat, but a couple little rolling hills (nothing terribly challenging as far as terrain). The runners around me had thinned out a good deal, and I was finally in my pace group more or less, as by mile 5 I wasn't being passed anymore by other people. I was getting a little grumpy though, cause the pamphlet had promised water every 2.5 miles along the route... and there was definitely NO water station at 2.5 miles. I was starting to get thirsty!! We ran over some high wooden footbridges, along the side of the Willamette River, past some really pretty large estates. Coming to the end of the bike path was a couple bigger hills... up and then down... then another up (and I remember cursing the pamphlet right about then) and we came to merge onto a road and did another major downhill. Then a BIG uphill along the road shoulder. This was the first part of the run that was sharing the route with cars. The traffic wasn't bad though, I don't remember seeing very many cars at all. At the top of that last big hill was the first water station, right around 5.5 miles or so. I was thirsty and winded from the uphill run, so I opted to walk for a touch while getting the water and drinking. This older guy in a red tank top behind me laughed that he wasn't going any faster than me, so he might as well walk then too!
After the 2 cups of water I snagged, I felt much better. The route also flattened out a good deal at this point. I continued along. The scenery went from forest-like to more rural. We saw barns and fields and more modest houses than what we saw along the riverside. It wasn't long before we caught up to the bulk of the walkers at this point. It was weird to think that they were technically 30 minutes behind us... and yet here we were at the same place. Right about when I was feeling good passing some confident looking healthy walkers... out of nowhere this guy in bright shoes and very little else in the way of clothing (think: split-side short shorts, and no shirt) came flying past me. I was technically 30 minutes behind him! He was a 9am start time runner! It was really impressive to see those guys running.
It was a trickle tho... it wasn't like a MASS of fast runners passing us. At 7 miles along we turned a sharp left turn onto a side road to get to the next turn around. That's about when nearly-naked-bright-shoes darted past me headed back. It was also about when Diane's husband passed me. He was a nice guy and cheered on my effort though.
There was another water station at the turn around at 7.7 miles or so. That was nice atleast. I was past all but the fastest walkers at this point. Those fastest walkers were doing a good job sticking with my pace too, but eventually I broke free of them all. At some point close to the 7.7 mile turn around, the older guy in the red tanktop had passed me and had pulled maybe 50 yards ahead of me. The remainder of my time spent getting back to that aid station at the top of the hill (at 5.5 miles on the out, but approx 10.5 miles on the back) was spent focussing on that guy and trying to stick with him and possibly close that gap. I hung with it.
I walked again at that aid station at the top of the hill to gulp down water... and then happily flew down that big hill that I hated running up. Then I knew I had 2 more hills to conquer before I was done. On the next uphill, I passed redtanktop guy. Woo hoo! Flew down the second hill, and then on the last uphill I could hear someone running up the hill with me, but a little behind me. I convinced myself it was redtanktop guy, so I was going to stay ahead of him no matter what it took.... and I continued to push myself on that hill. At the top I eased off my intensity to catch my breath and let my heartrate recover.
I was wrong. The person on my butt behind me wasn't redtanktop guy. It was one of the 9am runners. As soon as I hit the top of the hill, that guy passed me... taking the time to congratulate me on my hill tenacity tho, which was nice of him. We were back on the pretty forested bike trail at this time. More 9am runners were passing me here, including Diane who cheered me on as she passed. I was starting to kinda flag in my energy a bit... and knew this last mile or two was really going to challenge me.
We wound our way back to the field slowly... I caught sight of red not too far behind me after a turn in the trail too... so that was good motivation to put in a late push. I came rolling back into the parking lot and down the finisher chute to get my time recorded. The volunteers handed me a finisher medal too, which was neat. I'm really starting a nice collection of participant medals at this point.
I grabbed a banana, a capri sun, and a water... and attempted to cool down and stretch a little. Diane and her husband were already done. I had to go to my car and get my pullover, it was still kind of a cold morning. I ran into redtanktop guy at the food table a little later, and I congratulated him on a good run, admitting that a good deal of the second half of the run I was just trying to catch him. He admitted this was his first half marathon in like, 12 years, and he was glad he was just able to finish.
My finish stats were: 2:09:51 (a new PR!) or a 9:54 minute mile pace. I couldn't believe I beat my Lacamas Lake Half pace actually, since I wasn't really going for a time goal. That was nice. Overall I ended up 121st place out of 158 people. In my age group I was 18th out of 26. Hee hee... not that great. I have noticed that competition in small half marathons is just stiffer than other races though.
Redtanktop guy turned out to be 62 years old, and got 3rd place in his age group. HA! So much for me staying infront of him!
Diane ended up finishing in 1:37:16, or a 7:25 minute mile pace. She got second in her age group. Her husband finished in 1:24:03, or a 6:24 minute mile pace. He was 4th place overall, and 3rd in his age group. I didn't hang out to see them get their awards... I was getting cold and stiff and realized with a 45 minute drive back to get to a hot shower, I should really get going. Diane and I took some pics infront of the finish line, and I went on my way.
It was a good morning. I have to admit tho: I got home, showered, and crashed till like 5pm.
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