Wear Blue Runners at the Start. Source.
I am extremely late on getting this one out there. I hope I can remember all the gory details! My first race in a year - and even though I didn't run the whole thing, it was still a really great experience. I was really on the fence about doing the race at all. I literally registered a week before because I just couldn't decide. Ultimately, I just couldn't NOT do it...running with Wear Blue is always such a great experience that I knew I would regret it if I didn't join in the fun again this year.
Keeping the injury in mind and the fact that I was decidedly not in half shape, my plan was to walk to the split at the lake - where the full marathoners go right to Seward Park and the halfers go left to run along the lake to I-90. Because of a slight change in the course this year (they removed the killer hill around mile 5 that leads to the lake and rerouted on a much more flat street), I ended up running more than my planned 5-ish miles. My official stats were that I ran to the 10k mark and walked the rest, except for the last half mile, which I ran again. Overall, only 49 minutes slower than my slowest half, which wasn't too bad considering I walked 7 miles of it.
Official Results...not too shabby.
We started in Corral 17 again this year and it was packed! I think we had nearly 300 runners out - which was more than last year. Volunteers also turned out in higher numbers for the Wear Blue Mile so it was very cool to have such a visible presence. Just before gun time, we had circle and it was pretty big and the energy was really amazing. Hard to describe the feeling - a heady mix of joy and sorrow. It is a somber thing to honor the life of someone who lost it in service to our country - but to do it in such a life affirming way makes it a truly remarkable experience. The excitement, love and purpose was palpable. And so very humbling.
We crossed the start line right about 7:25am or so. Ran with the crew until the split at mile 6 and then slowed my roll to a walk. It wasn't that bad walking the rest actually. I was kind of psyching myself out a bit since walking PDX was so painful, but it was not that bad at all....
Tony, Deidra, Me, Lee, Jess and Kryste
The Wear Blue Mile, like last year, did not disappoint. It was moving, uplifting, and inspiring. I still get chills when I think about it. I ran to remember Nathan and Frank - seeing their posters on the mile was throat-lump inducing for sure, especially when I noticed the note from Kryste on Frank's. That definitely brought a few tears to my eyes.
It was pretty hot for this one - by the time I was done it was definitely in the low 70's. Which makes this Seattle girl start to melt....But blue skies and brilliant scenery made up for it.
Ran into my friend Bob on the course....
Me, Deidra and our awesome friend Holly - who rocked her very first marathon like a boss.
My girls #meanjess and #lunchbox around Mile 19. Both ran the full carrying those 5 ft. Flags.
No recap would be complete without a stolen race photo - thanks MarathonFoto!
Just like last year, this race went off without a hitch. There was definitely an increased security presence at the finish line, but thankfully, there wasn't anything out of the ordinary going on. Everything was well organized and easy to figure out. I think I will definitely be doing this one again. And who knows, maybe by next year, I'll be ready to tackle a full marathon? We'll see!
Addendum: I just remembered something I forgot to tell you! I walked across the finish line and was immediately accosted by a producer from KIRO 7 News asking about my Wear Blue shirt. He grabbed the on-air guy and explained what the group is all about and then before I knew it, I had a microphone in my face and a camera about 2 feet away. I was hot, sweaty, red faced and out of breath. I did my best to explain what Wear Blue was all about and why we run to honor the fallen, the families and the fighting. I am pretty sure I rambled and was not very articulate....which was later evident when approximately 8 seconds of the 2 minutes I talked to him was aired. Heh. I set the DVR for all 4 half hour news segments from the 5pm news on and of the three packages on the marathon they aired, the one I was in was only aired once. So I don't think the segment turned out quite the way they'd hoped. It was about running with purpose. Also in the segment was some active duty military folks who walked/ran with their heavy rucksacks which was cool - but the bummer for me was that they didn't show my shirt well or have the name of the group on the screen. Oh well. I guess I'll have to take that 8 seconds of fame as is.
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