Beach To Chowder Half Marathon Race Report

Warning~Lots of Pics!!!

Due to my FIL's surprise retirement party on Saturday, J had to miss race #3.  Someone had to keep my FIL distracted with fishing, etc. until the surprise was revealed.  That left us girls to come up with a solution.  I decided to pick up my girls after their last day of school on Friday, pick up my Mom, and head to the beach early.  I was just fine with that.  Long drives on race day have been a little nerve wracking.

 We were a little bored when we got to our room.  I think it was lack of food.

 We had to get in some pics before swimming, walking the trails, and exploring Long Beach.

As we drove back into town to get something for dinner, I noticed the building for packet pick-up was open.  I was excited to take advantage of getting that out of the way.  Big M went in with me since she wanted to register for the 5K.  I was immediately faced with grumpy turd #1.  She wasn't thrilled to point me to the preregistered table.  I then dealt with grumpy turd #2.  She huffed as she had to look for my packet.  My shirt wasn't in the bag so I made the mistake of asking about it.  Wow, not good.  She then questioned me on the date I registered and if I even paid for a shirt. BTW~Half Marathoners automatically get one.  I told them this along with the fact I had registered about a month before.  It clearly had my t-shirt size in big print on the front of my envelope and on my bib.  Another lady threw a shirt at me and said there were no exchanges.  I was in shock.  Before we could escape I filled out the info for the drawing and put it in the box.  I was again ripped a new one for putting more than my name on the ticket.  What was I thinking?  You have to be present to win so the other info does you no good, Duh!  Big M had seen enough, she had no interest in signing up for the 5K after that.  Seriously, not one friendly person in the bunch.

After all that we went to regroup by having dinner and then taking a little stroll on the beach and half marathon route.  This path looks so innocent.

I thought this stone was pretty cool.  It wasn't far up the path.  Lots of historical stuff everywhere.

 Little M needed to carb load before her swim.  That's a chocolate covered rice crispy/fruit loop bar.  Big M had chocolate covered bacon.

I love seeing my girls having fun and taking care of each other.  Sorry, to protect the brain cells of readers, a bathing suit pic of myself has not been included in this post.

We got back to our room, dried off, and snuggled into bed.  I had just fallen asleep when it sounded like a party began in the room above us.  It was crazy.  It went on for an hour before I called the lobby.  They said they would give them a warning call but it went on forever.  Before I knew it, my alarm was going off and I looked out the window to see the above.  Blah!!!  That's actually part of the course.

 Big M was my photographer.  She snapped a couple pre-race pics and I got my self portrait done.

 The race start was just about a mile from the hotel.  I got there about 10 minutes early.  That never happens but I knew what I was getting into.  I wasn't in any hurry to wait around.  I just needed enough time to hit a porta potty before the start.

Saying goodbye to my biggest fans.

 

Waiting for the race to start.

Mom decided to take the girls back to the hotel for one last swim before coming to watch me finish.  I didn't want them waiting in the rain to see me at Mile 4.  It just made me want to run that much faster to see them at the finish.  After standing around at the start, the race director said he was waiting for two other runners to get there.  I wasn't the only one unhappy with this announcement.  It was pouring down rain.  We just wanted to get started.  The race started almost 20 minutes late.

The course was the same as last year except instead of warm sunshine, we had dreary rain.  I'd rather not be hot so I was fine once I got going.  I decided to bring my Nathan handheld so I wouldn't have to stop and get water.  I needed the electrolytes.  I was just in it to survive.  I had zero expectations besides getting #3 out of my way.  At roughly Mile 2 we hit the turn around and headed back the way we came. We crossed the main road after Mile 4 and headed towards the turn around at Cape Disappointment at Mile 8.  Once you hit that you just have to make it all the way back to where you started.  It's just as exciting as it sounds.  Around Mile 5-6 I took off my jacket and tied it around me.  Between the rain and sweating I had a shower of rain/sweat flinging out of my sleeves each time I moved.  Gross and a little distracting. That's how I roll.

The whole course is paved rolling hills with lots of curves.  I just focused on my music and running tangents as much as possible.  Before I knew it I heard more cheering and could see the finish.  It felt like it took forever to finish under the arch.  I had no idea what my time was and no one seemed like they knew.  I figured they would start posting the times at the awards area soon.

 Big M did great taking finish pics.  I felt bad that I didn't even see her until I was done.  Little M & my Mom were on the right side and I was focused on them and wondering where my other kid was :)

 #3 Done

A pic of my pit crew.  

With all the negatives this year I was pleasantly surprised that they had a bonus for the half marathoners.  They had a little tent with pulled pork sandwiches, Subway, bananas, chocolate milk, and lots of other choices in drinks.  I quickly snatched a couple sandwiches and chocolate milk.  After finishing that we headed over to the part of town where they have the chowder and finishing ceremonies.  I figured I had enough time so I jumped into the bathroom for a quick change.  I felt better after the change since it was still raining.  Luckily, we found a spot at a picnic table under one of the tents in the middle of all the activity.  A lot of other people were not so lucky.

I'm not a huge clam fan but the chowder was still good.  They even had one of my favorite drinks :)

 I was changed and eating by 11:45am.  Door prizes were supposed to start at noon and awards at 12:30.  It was after 1:00 before anything got started.  Mom and the girls were tired and I was slightly annoyed things were taking so long.  I sent my crew to the car while I tried to track someone down with the race results.  I didn't want to leave without them.  No one knew anything.  I did get photographed and interviewed my a couple who work for NW Runner Magazine.  I'll be watching to see if I make it into anything.  By now it was 1:30PM and I HAD to leave.  I was the photographer for my FIL's surprise party so I somehow had to make it back, drop off Mom, get all three of us showers, and to the party.

 I was so happy that some other family members could actually come and see me run/finish a half marathon.  I know they worry.  Mom got to witness how happy I was when I finished even though it was in nasty weather.  I'm glad they were with me.

 I pulled into my driveway at 4:10PM and somehow managed to get us clean and presentable and to the party on time.  A whole different type of marathon :)  I waited and tried to be patient for the results to be posted.  Because of the rain I didn't want to risk Garmin (Need For Speed.)  I ran blind.  I finally gave in and found a number to call on Sunday.  I pretty much had a breakdown when I heard my finish time.  I am still in shock and extremely happy.

BIB#276

Official Time ~ 2:04:52 (No Chip)

Age Division (30-39) ~ 12/19

Place Overall ~ 60/125

Last Years Time ~ 2:47:45

Another New PR!!!! 

That is now 3 Half Marathons in 21 days.  I'm 75% of the way there.  So excited for #4.