Rock and Roll Seattle - Race Recap

Reading blogs like I do, I've read a lot about Rock and Roll races. Some great stories, some not so great (Vegas, last December anyone?)....so I really didn't know what to expect. This was the 4th annual RnR in Seattle, the first with a brand new course starting and ending at Seattle Center. The first three featured a Point to Point course from Tukwila to Seattle and I've heard some crazy stories about those races, namely that trying to get to the start was tough. Having nothing to compare it to, I thought it was very well done. Extremely organized, excellent volunteers, and a super efficient operation.

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Yesterday found us with cool cloudy weather and threatening rain. Over 22,000 runners toed the line for the race and the rain held off until about 4 hours into the marathon, when it started dumping. Hardcore, heavy Seattle rain. It may have felt good at first for those kickass 26.2 runners, but I am sure it quickly got cold and shivery.

 Early leader in the Half. Source

Starting at the beginning, I woke up about 4am to pouring down rain and the smidges of a migraine. Boo. I was determined to make it go away- mind over matter, right? Took some excedrin and drank a cup of coffee and slowly started to feel better. It was nice to have an hour to get myself ready...forced myself to eat a bit and only drank one cup of coffee. And only a few sips of water. I didn't want to miss any of the Circle of Remembrance with the Wear Blue folks, so I was determined to make it so I wasn't spending that time in line for the port-a-potties. I was relatively successful. I went a couple times with minimal line waiting....then by the time the line got super long, I decided to just wait until mid race and find one on the course with no line. Only in a race recap is one so willing to discuss Port-a-Potties and going wee wee....but ask any racer and they'll tell you- this is a very important logistical detail!

Getting to the race was something I was sort of worried about but it turned out to be no big deal. I decided to use my locals only knowledge and skip the train in favor of the bus. Was perfect. Got me downtown in plenty of time and I even hopped another for several blocks to get closer the start. Easy peasy. And since this was such a big operation, it got some big sponsorships. Which means better perks for the participants. UPS was an excellent example. They provided the gear check services and it was SO well organized. Granted I got back there late to get my stuff and there was no line at that point.....but they had separate trucks broken down by last name so there was plenty of space for everyone and not one central spot where everyone had to wait in one or two lines to drop off or pick up. Very well done.

I found Jess and Deidra right away, we snapped a few pics and headed to the Wear Blue Corral. It was so cool to meet many people in person and to just be in the presence of all the energy there.

Once we got started, the ladies I was with just ran and talked and ran some more. Somewhere around Mile 4 or so, my friend Leah, who I used to work with, found me and we had a nice little catch up for a few minutes...then she was off to run a new PR. Woot woot! Running through my neighborhood with people who've never been through was fun. We headed down to the Lake and I was getting excited because the Wear Blue Mile was coming up....

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It was pretty powerful and it was so wonderful to see just as many Wear Blue volunteers as there were runners. It took an amazing amount of effort to make this presence possible and it was so full of impact. I loved every minute of it. The Flag holders, the volunteers that put out the posters of the Fallen Soldiers that we were honoring, the water station crew...everyone that made this possible--Thank You. You all showed such support and dedication and it was great to be a tiny part of it.

Heading back through the I-90 tunnel was sort of weird...It was all echoy and humid. But once we emerged from it, there was a nice breeze. This part had some killer hills though...up and down ramps from I-90 around the stadiums then up the ramp onto the Alaskan Way Viaduct. I was pretty tired by this point. This was my 4th half in 3 months....and I was definitely feeling it. My left knee was paining me but the pain mostly went away after the hills. When we were on I-90 near the stadiums, we actually saw the Marathon men's winner Ethiopian Teshome Kokebe, (who finished in 2:31:47) who had a nice little police escort as the leader of the pack. It was fun to yell for him as he literally sailed past us....

And of course, in true Seattle fashion, the last half mile or so to the finish was uphill. I was super proud of Rachel - she didn't stop to walk at all. We trudged up that hill and even put in a big kick at the top through the finish line.Tough girl.

Headed up Mercer to the finish....

When the marathoners rejoined the half, there was a nice separation between the two, which I've heard the marathoners appreciate. By the time a lot of them are finishing, the half field dwindles down to more walkers at that time so it can be frustrating for them to have to expend that extra energy to weave around walkers or slower runners. Another well thought out piece that was executed well. This separation extended all the way to finish line.

 

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At the finish line, is was all fenced off and 'secure'...meaning only the runners could eat the post race food. Yay! I realize a lot of smaller races can't really do that and it's probably not very inviting, but you have to do that when there are that many racers and spectators. And a huge pet peeve of mine is when they run out stuff too early. I can't speak to what was left when by the time the majority of the marathoners finished, but it seemed well set up and that there was plenty of good recovery food to go around. Plenty of electrolytes, chocolate milk and water...fruit, carbs, bars....they pretty much had it all. I grabbed some carbs, a banana and my favorite post race treat-chocolate milk, and literally stuffed my face...I was starving!

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Despite missing Jess and Deidra finishing their 26.2, it was cool to stand there cheering on some folks as they finished. I saw a lot of Wear Blue runners and that was fun to cheer really loud for them. And the cop directing traffic at that intersection was pretty pissy, thus entertaining as well. It did start pouring and got super cold so I hoofed it back to get my stuff. By that point, Seattle Center was pretty much cleared out. People were huddled with their red space capes under overhangs and in doorways trying to keep dry. It was a little sad and miserable looking.

I got my stuff in a quick minute and headed over to the Centerhouse to take the monorail home. It was packed with folks mowing down on food. All the people that didn't take off when it started pouring went in there to eat. I added my dry warm layers and jumped on the monorail to get back to Westlake and was home in about half hour. Spent the rest of the day recovering and I feel much better today. Definitely need another session with the foam roller tonight though.

Overall, this was a very well done race. There were lots of people but everything was organized so well that I didn't feel crowded on the course much at all, there was plenty of post race fuel, and I had a phenomenal experience running with Wear Blue. I will most definitely do this race again next year--but for sure the full.

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