Roots Rock 50K

I woke up at 7:30am, threw some stuffs in a bag, and drove off for Roots Rock 50K that was supposed to start at 8:30am. I arrived at the gate #6 of Port Gamble forest trail at 8:22am after making 2 hasty wrong turns.

Worst of all, I recognized that four 10 oz water flasks for my hydration belt were still in the refrigerator at home. I had only “belt” for 50K ultra where the separation of the aid stations was about 8.5 miles. Fortunately I found a Gatorade bottle rolling around in my car. I really appreciated my son, Eric, who didn’t dispose his finished drink bottle appropriately. With everything put together and a hand-held water bottle in my hand, I made the start of the race with no time to spare.

There was a nice 25Km loop with a good combination of single tracks, dirt roads, rolling hills, and moderate climbs/falls. The markings with white flours and pink/red tapes were very clear so that there was no chance to make wrong turns in the course.

My first 1~2 mi was for a warm up period with some stretches while running. The trail condition was really good and the weather was just perfect for a long run in the forest. It took several miles to get familiar with the trail running since I had not run a trail for a while. I tried not to push myself too hard in the first loop, since I was not in a good shape to set a time goal or to seek a PR. I was really happy to get back in the trail and run for a long shot after having a busy summer for several projects/travels for work and a family vacation to Korea. I finished the first loop at 2:42 with 4~5 25Kers right behind me.

After refilling my hand-held bottle and stuffing in some foods, I took off for the second loop. For about 2 miles into the second loop, I still felt very good and wanted to push myself for a couple more miles and see how I was going to feel. Amazingly I was able to manage 11:00/mi pace for the first 4 miles of up hills in the second loop and decided to keep pushing. I passed an elite runner, Matt Hagen, at about mile 20 and then Maniac #3, Tony Phillippi, at about mile 24. It is always nice to pass someone in the 2^nd half of the race, but passing those good runners was especially nicer. Sorry Matt and tp. The finish time was 5:36 and some seconds. Burger and beer were awesome (my favorite) combination of the finish line treat. 

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.