The Light at the End of the Tunnel Marathon

The Light at the End of the Tunnel Marathon was held on Sunday 7/25/2010 again with no tunnel in the course due to the extended closure. It was an out-and-back course with consistent moderate uphills for the first half and the then same trail back downhills for the second half. There were 70 marathon finishers and 35 half marathon finishers overall. Since the weather was supposed to be hot on the race day, I elected an early start option to finish before noon. I had nice steady first half for 1:55-ish and then for some reason I wanted to take easy strides for the downhills resulting in 1:51 for the second half. It's great to go out in the trails and get soaked with sweats putting some 26-ish miles on the legs. I was 9th overall out of 70. I'm lovin it.

Rock 'n Roll Seattle Marathon

2 years ago in this marathon (Seafair Marathon), I ran my first-ever full marathon with late start after missing the last shuttle going to the start line. Today's 28th endurance race was my first serious trial for BQ. Although it ended up 12 minutes too late, I shaved off my PR by 4 minutes. It was a perfect marathon weather. The aid stations were great. Free beer after the race was the supremeness.

Green River Marathon

The 14th annual Green River Marathon from Kent to Alki was held on Saturday June 5th. It has been one of the best free low key marathons in Pacific Northwest (based on my limited marathon experience in WA & OR). Also it was my 2nd GRM appearance since last year.

I arrived at the finish line a little before 7am and waited for a ride to the start line. Thanks to fellow maniac Nic Plemel, we arrived at the start line around 8am with 30 min to spare. As I was waiting in potty line, the early starters began to pass the start line (Miles 0 and 4) after running down 2 mi and coming back 2 mi.There were a lot of people around the start line including about 200-ish solo marathoners, 50-ish half marathoners, and 25-ish relay runners.

Start Line

After a short announcement from the race director Steve Barrick, we started off another long run under the sunny sky with fresh early morning excitement. I tried to stay in the front group to avoid congestion with the other runners in narrow trail section at the start. The course started south bound of Interurban Trail in Kent for 2 miles and then turned around back to the start point (Mile 4). I continued to run slightly faster than my avg goal pace (8:00/mi) during the 4 miles out-and-back section in the beginning.

The course continued north bound of Interurban Trail until Mile 11 that entered Port Dent. It was not as scenic as last year's Green River Trail section but at least it was flat. (Due to the sand bags in Green River Trail, this year's course has been modified for the first 11 miles).  However, I did not feel strong enough to keep fast pace (7:40~7:50/mi) for some reasons. I guessed it was one of the days that you don't get the best. So, I slowed down my pace slightly and tried to enjoy the run by itself not thinking about breaking PR.

After going around Port Dent Park passing underneath I-405, the course joined Green River Trail going North until Mile 16. The following route went along SR-99 and side walks of industrial areas until Mile 22 where it met West Seattle Bridge. Along 1/2 mile side walk section under W Seattle Bridge and ramps, finally Harbor Ave appeared indicating you were almost done (about 3 mi to go).

Running through a lot of people on feet, bikes, or roller blades was a fun especially with nice view of downtown Seattle and Alki beach. About 1 mi to go, I began to hear fast foot steps behind me and I felt someone was going to pass me. So, I tried to push myself hard not to be caught. After about 1/2 mi, I could not hear anything behind, but I kept that pace anyway. About 1/4 mi to go, I began to hear even faster foot steps. I started to run super fast as I could see the finish line up ahead. I could feel he was right behind me. Probably 1~2 steps behind. I kept running like Usain Bolt in 100m dash, but he passed me just before the finish line. Darn it~. In a disappointment, he was a relay runner. (He ran last 4 miles only). Anyway, it is always wonderful to get out and have a long run. Finish time is 3:46:23. No PR.

Tony Knowles Coastal Trail

Thanks to the extended business trip, I had a chance to have 32 mi solo run along Tony Knowles Coastal Trail in Anchorage AK. Starting from the West end of downtown Anchorage, the trail followed the Alaskan coast line  down to Earthquake Park, around the South side of Anchorage International Airport, and through wooded trail section with fairly flat elevation. There was a major 2 mi uphill section to Kincaid Park followed by 3 mi moderate decent along Raspberry Rd to the turn around at Minnesota Rd. I tried to keep a comfortable pace through out the run, so the time to run back to downtown Anchorage was almost same as the out-bound time (2:49 vs 2:50). It was very relaxing solo run enjoying beautiful scenery and a few moose encounters.

Tacoma City Marathon 2010

Marathon Maniac Reunion Race was held at Tacoma City Marathon 2010. A lot of maniacs were running in yellow, red, black, or white maniac shirts through out the course. It was very well organized and well supported event.

The weather was not cooperating but it could not stop the fever of the running. The course was very challenging. There were a lot of hills especially in the 2nd half, although the last 2 miles were toe-jamming decent to the finish line.

My goal at TCM 2010 was to break my PR (3:36:42). Theoretically, 8:00 pace in the first half and then a little bit slow down in the second half could make it happen.

So, I started off strong with early morning excitement. I ran through the downtown Tacoma maintaining 7:40 pace until I entered Point Defiance Park where a series of uphills started. However, a stomach problem forced me to have an extended potty stop at Mile 13. Then, I passed the half way point at 1 hour and 45 minutes.

From the half point, I could enjoy the nice water view of Tacoma Narrows and beautiful suspended bridges. However, strong head wind started to pick up and it made the hill climbing even more difficult. The head wind continued for the most of the hilly section up to Mile 19. Of course, my pace got noticeably slowed down to 8:30~8:50-ish.

Getting out of the hilly and windy section, the course began to run a paved trail along the SR16 and wind effect was slightly improved, although the rolling hills still continued until the last aid station at Mile 24.

For the last 2 miles of downhill, I tried to push myself hard with 7:20 pace. I passed a lot of people for this section. About 0.1 mi to the finish, my right calf was cramping up. Maybe I pushed myself a little too much. I slowed down not to limp and finally made an easy finish.

The finish time was 3:37:02 which was 20 seconds too late for PR. Considering the tough course and weather (wind) condition, I am satisfied with my time. In fact, it's more than 1 hour faster than last year's time.

Now, I hope to break my PR at the next race (Green River Marathon). I will try to make it inside 3:30:00. Then, I will try my first serious attempt for BQ at Seattle Rock 'n' Roll in June. Backup BQ attempt race could be Skagit Flats in Sep.