Races

. The race starts in Blaine and Ends in Langley and covers

185 miles. Yes, that's a team of 12 people in two vans,

racing other teams to the finish. Each of us ran 3 legs

each during the course (some did extra credit). We started on Friday

morning at 9am and crossed the finish around 1pm the next day. Even

though we referred to ourselves as a bunch of slackers, we still

averaged a 9 min/mile pace. Our vans were decorated with sayings

such as "We trained on the WII," "No, you go ahead," "We stop and

eat the roses," and "You can run for us."

I do have to say that the course was extremely well marked and

one of the most well-organized & supported races that I've been

in. The "competitors" during the relay were very supportive and

helped cheer you on (or give you a much needed bottle of water).

This Saturday I participated in my first Great Urban Race

The race was Bethany's birthday celebration. Orginally, Tim was supposed to be my partner, but got sick. Luckily, we convinced Wilson to step in. Team "Smooth & Foxy" was still in the race. (If you're wondering where the name came from, it's because both Tim and I have Smooth Fox Terriers.)

The object of the game is to see which team (a team consists of two people), can solve the clues the fastest and return to the finish with proof (photos). You are allowed to use technology (laptops, cell phones, GPS, etc.) and you can call friends to help you (preferably friends that are good at looking things up). We received 12 hints, 2 were mandatory and we could skip one of the remaining 10 tasks. Each task that you answer incorrectly results in a 30 minute penalty. There is no set course and you can answer the hints in any order you wish. Your time stops when both team members step on the finish line. Afterwards your photos are checked for accuracy and time is added for incorrect answers.

The night before the race, we tried to think of what we needed. We even looked at a blog about the Dallas race, but reading and experiencing are two very different things.

We arrived at Sport Restaurant to check in. We've never done this before, but we were going to do well. We were determined.

Here we are before the race:Me & Wilson...hopeful.

We emailed the clue sheet to Tim, so he could see what we're seeing. The plan was that Dan was going to number the clues, Bethany was going to email them to Tim, and then we'd solve some and map out our course. We also agreed to work with our strengths. Wilson & Bethany would make the route. Dan would do the math. I would talk to strangers. Well, the clue sheet was already numbered, so Dan was a little disappointed that he lost one of his tasks.

Practice photo

We decided to start with the tickets we received for the Seattle Center. We had to take a photo of each of us going down an inflatable slide. My camera is a little old, so first I took a photo of Bethany and timed how long it took between the moment I pushed the button to the moment the photo snapped. It was a little over a second. So, Wilson went first, then me. Luckily we only had to take one shoot each, but Dan had to slide twice and Bethany four times. Oops.

To my surprise, I actually helped figure out the anagram. See, I'm more of a numbers girl than a word girl. The three words were scrambled and the answer was Rainer Tower. I don't remember the puzzle since I don't have the sheet with me.

We tried to find a Seattle Metropolitan Magazine since the hint told us to go to the Japanese restaurant that was listed on page 138. No luck at a nearby shop. So, we stopped and filled out most of the answers on our sheet. We decided to hop on the Monorail and make it to the second stop on our newly created race route...Pioneer Square.

    
The hint sheet wanted us to take a photo next to the statue of a fireman with a saw.  
Wilson thought it would be part of the memorial in Pioneer Square.  This is where 
knowing the bus routes would have helped.  As soon as we got off the Monorail in 
Westlake Center, Dan started running.  I thought, oh, this is how we're going to 
tackle this.  I'm glad I didn't run that morning.  So, we all started running.  Yes, we ran from Westlake to 
Pioneer Square.  
     
On the way, we took a photo of one of the street corners that may have been one of the answers.  We couldn't 
figure it out and it was a choice of two answers, so we took the photo to be safe.  
This hint was (I'm paraphrasing) "Kristi is odd.  She likes balloons but not parties.  Book 
but not reading. Swimming but not Water.  Weeds but not flowers.  Which corner does she like?  
Cherry & 1st or Madison & Boren.  Take a photo at the corner she likes."
                
Our next stop was Capitol Hill.  Again, knowing the bus system would have helped.  Plus, we were so excited 
that we probably did a lot more running than necessary.  After running several blocks, we caught a bus that 
went up the hill.
                 
        
        
While Dan & Wilson were racing down the street earlier, Bethany & I bought a Seattle Metropolitan 
Magazine and found our next stop, "Boom Noodle."  It was the only Japanese restaurant listed on that page.
          
             
            
       
           
   
Next answer: take a photo next to Jimmy Hendrix.
      
    
        
We had a choice of pumping gas for a stranger or finding someone with a Mariner's shirt (and taking a photo of ten 
people with them).  Luckily, we spotted a gas station nearby.  The stranger already helped another team, but was 
kind enough to let us take a photo, too. Success, stranger was kind! 
    
          
         
         
          


Short stop at Boren & Madison since we hadn't solved the riddle, yet.  Now off to Mad Pizza on First Hill.  
We first started running in the wrong direction.  We knew the address, but I noticed that we were on 
E. Madison.  THe street numbers change when Madison turns into E. Madison.  I know this from making 
this mistake in the past.  Here is where my directional challenges actually helped us.  
I knew how to get "unlost."  
      
        
At this point, I let Wilson eat a bite of pizza.  With all the running, I don't think I would make it if I ate that slice.  
We (Bethany & I) were already sweating and gasping for breath (running up a hill is hard even when you're 
used to running). Plus,  it's easy to feel like a slacker when your partner is training to run a 100 mile race 
(oh yes, 100 miles all at once) in August.
     
       
Now, we're off to Pike Market.  We need to find City Fish, hold a sign made for 
the race and a big fish.  Of course, this wasn't the fish monger on the corner.  
I knew that there were a couple other fish place in the middle of the market, 
so we started going that direction.  It was so crowded!  
It took forever to get this shot.  Then we also needed to find cocktail umbrellas to finish one of the hints. 
We stopped at  several restaurants/bars and couldn't find them.  We resorted to buying them at the second 
kitchen store we found.
   
   
Now, it was a decision point for us.  We still haven't solved the "Kristi is odd.." riddle.  We can either guess 
(we had photos of both corners) or we can get the last hint which was putting a tattoo on your forehead 
from a bucket behind a bench in Denny Park.  Bethany knew where the tattoos were since we saw so many 
teams with tattoos.  This would be a sure thing.  Or we can guess at the riddle and skip the Denny hint.  
We decided to take a chance and guess.  If we were wrong, then we'd get a 30 minute penalty and it 
would probably take us 30 minutes to get the Denny tattoo. Okay, it's time to run from the Market to Westlake 
Center (again, buses would be handy, but it was faster to run than figure out the bus system).  Of course, we 
also decided to take the stairs because it would be faster than going inside and take the escalators and 
dodging bewildered people.  And yes, some people asked if this was the Amazing Race and if we were on 
TV.  I can't imagine what we all looked like...pairs of people (many in costume), running around the city 
and taking funny photos.
         
Luck was on our side, we only had to wait a couple minutes to board the Monorail.  We bumped into a team 
that had to wait 10 minutes and missed the last train since it was too full.  They were really friendly and they 
said that their goal was "not to be last."  As we approached our stop, the girls on the other team, stopped 
their chatter with us and started inching toward the door.  Fakers!  They were feeling competitive.  I could tell 
they want to race us.  Okay, this is where all those track workouts pay off.  The girls were out the door first and 
I couldn't get around one of them as we exited the ramp.  Once we had more room, I picked it up.  The one 
girl looked back since she thought I was her partner.  Bad move.  I ran even faster.  Plus, they mis-judged 
their ability to run the remaining distance and had to slow down.  I am not fast by any means, but I can 
pace myself.  As we approached the finish, Dan was first, Wilson and then me.  Poor Dan couldn't cross the 
line alone, so Wilson & I finished a few seconds before Dan & Bethany.  You have to finish as a team.

Official results came in and we finished 76th place in 2:45:28 since we guess the correct answer 

to the riddle, "Cherry." Dan & Bethany chose Boren, so they lost 30 minutes.  They guessed that we were 
around 88th place, but they wouldn't know until all the photos were checked.  I have to say that it was 
definately a blast.  We debriefed and figured out where we could shave time, and we were all motivated 
to do it again when they come into town.  The winers finished in about 1:20.  I heard them mentioning 
300 teams were there, but I'm not sure.  If it was a sunny day, we would have stayed to see the awards, 
but it's been unseasonably cold here.  It's snowing in the hills and it's June!

This weekend a few of us ran the Vancouver 1/2 or full Marathon up in BC. It was a stellar performance for me. I

pretty much pulled that race out of thin air, considering I'm still getting back from being injured. Let's just say it was

an eight mile long run with a five mile cool down for me. I don't know what it was, but it ended up being a pretty

difficult race for many of us. I don't think anyone in our close group hit their goal times. Luckliy, we drowned our

sorrows in crepes, gelato and good company.

                  
             
                   
       
                                                                                                                                    
The highlight of the trip was meeting a clothing "stylist" for the boys.  I won't reveal the name of her shop since she was 
really picky about who she let in.  Oh, yes, it was the fashion version of the Soup Nazi.  After we entered, she put a 
ladder to block her store front and kicked people out of the store that she deemed "trolls."  She talked a mile a minute.  
Deconstructed all our body types, and even compared one of us to some photos of "what not to wear."  Karena and I 
were spared too much criticism since she only sold men's clothing.  Actually, we were jealous that she couldn't help 
us, just the boys.  The woman was an artist.  She really complemented the guys look and the three of them have 
totally different body types.  She even explained why she was choosing cetain cuts or necklines or styles for each 
one.  She showed them how to tuck, untuck, roll, layer and accesorize.  It was absolutely amazing.  She was better 
than any makeover show I've ever seen.
                   

Last weekend I was running the Nike 1/2 Marathon with Cindy, Heidi and Jocey.  Mel and Lily ran the full course.  Since Lily ran the Victoria Marathon two weeks before, she qualifies as a Marathon Maniac.  Oh yes, there is a club for those who complete multiple marathons within a certain time period.  The criteria can be found here.  Yes, it's amazing what Lily will do for a hat.  26.2 miles is far!  Doing two marathons in a year is enough for me, but that's why I will never be a member of that club.  Good for you, Lily!

Before the race, Cindy & I and Lily & Heidi taped mini commercials for Nike.  They wanted participants to tell them what it means to be an athlete.  We'll see if we pop up on the website later.  Nike also had all of our names printed in the store window...

It was a tough course.  The full marathon winner finished in 3:01, which is a very slow time for first place.  That just shows how hilly and challenging it was.  Of course, most of us did it in 2005, so we knew what we were getting into.  Or so we thought...we all felt that the hills were longer and steeper this year (even though the course didn't change).  At the end of the race, we each received a necklace from Tiffany's as our finisher's medal and a shirt that was actually fit for women!  The race was inspirational.  The views were breathtaking.  My body is still tired from last Sunday.  It was a great trip.

Someone called me a jock and I was shocked.  Those are those guys on ESPN.  I'm not anything near the images I see on televised sports.  Then it dawned on me--that wasn't the point.  I was taking for granted the lifestyle I lead.  Striving for perfection can be used as inspiration to drive harder or it can be an excuse not to even try.

What does it mean to be an athlete?  Never getting old.  Staying focused on a goal.  Training even when it's hard.  Meeting people I'd otherwise never see.  Respecting my body.  Nourishing my mind.  Discovering that my physical boundaries are so much broader than I can imagine.  Finding inner strength.  Receiving amazing support.  Allowing the tears to fall through the pain.  Longing to run through injuries.  Being smart enough to stay healthy.  Being patient enough to heal.  Thinking that races are just big slumber parties.  Laughing hysterically at silly sayings that no one other than your crazy friends get.

Our clip...

Cindy:"Being an athlete means you never have to grow old."

Me: "Can Cindy come out and play?"

Cindy: "Let's go running!"

Us: "Yeah!!!"

Us: "We are athletes!"

Van 1 before the start

This Friday/Saturday I ran the Hood to Coast Relay, which is 197 miles from Mt. Hood to Seaside, Oregon.  I was on a 12-person team.  We were split into two vans.  Van 1 was at the start, and held the first six runners.  Then at the leg 7 exchange, Van 2 took over for the next six legs.  All in all, we each ran three legs.  I ran a total of 15 miles, which isn't too bad.  The challenge was running my last 4 mile leg on no sleep.  Well, I had some sleep...2 hours on the seat of our van.  It was a friendly race and I'd definately do it again.  Teams raced each other at the exchanges.  Also, each team kept track of "roadkill," which is what we called a runner when we pass them.  The course gets interesting as the relay progresses since start times are in waves, with the fastest teams starting Friday evening and the slowest starting Friday morning.

This is how I look after a good night's sleep and before a race.

Kate starts off our team.

Kate in front of our van.

Lily in front of our van

Creative van decorations...this team is the "SouthPark Cows."

Kate & Lily

My first exchange to Lily

Jim

Sometimes running is painful...

Heidi & Mel at the first van exchange.

It's good to be done!

Jim with his well-earned medal.

Yesterday was the Seafair Marathon in Bellevue.  Many of us ran the 1/2 course or paced part of the full course.  A couple crazy souls (Erin & Ian) braved the weather and ran the full.  Of course, this was a great excuse to hang out at my place for a post-race brunch.

Aaron, Erin, and Dan.

Tiff

Cindy, Gwen & Tim

Roger & Lily

Kyle & Karena

Jeff, Steve & Susan

Obviously a lively party

Ian, Tim & Kyle

Steve

Tim & Erin

Bethany, Dan & Cindy

Jeff, Steve & Roger

Glen

Erin

Roger & Tim

Bert & Me

Bethany

Lynn

Aaron

Dan & Neah

Tiff & Neah

Jim & Bill

Aaron, Erin & Steve

Cindy, Gwen & Tim

Lynn & Jim

Me & Roger