I always start out a bit slow since it take me several miles to warm up. I'm ahead of most in my corral and I can see that many of the corrals ahead have a big mix of runners since I'm passing quite a few right away. I just settle into an easy pace. I'm passed by a good number of runners as well.



There's entertainment, either a band or high school cheerleaders every mile, but to be honest, I don't pay attention to any of it and to be honest, the bands are just too loud (man I sound like an old geezer).

Soon enough there's the first aid station, which I always skip in these big races since it's usually too crowded. Still the aid stations offer cytomax (my preferred sports drink) and water with one long line of volunteers on one side followed by a long line of volunteers on the other. No problem at all getting access to aid, esp. if you skip the first part of the aid stations and run on a bit further. Very nice.



I keep working my way through the crowd, having to dodge folks every so often, but it's not too bad since the course is wide (both lanes). I just work my way from pace booty to pace booth. By mile 3, I haved to pee already. Ugh. May as well be comfortable on this race so I use a porta potty.

More of the same through mile 6 near Seward Park where we start to run along Lake Washington. Nice. There's an odd woman here who is doing a fast walk/run, but when I pass her, she decides to speed up and pass me. This goes on until I finally leave her behind for good, but she seems to make a point of passing very close to me no matter where I am on the course (left, right, middle). Well, I have to pee again so I stop at a porta potty for that and when I'm back out, I'm behind her so when I do catch up to her again, she keeps doing that leapfrog near me until I finally leave her behind for good.



We're running along the lake until about mile 9.4 where the marathoners split from the half mary runners. The colored signs (matching our bib colors - yellow for mary, blue for half) are very clear with a lot of advance warning. We turn right onto Lake Washington Bridge and the 1/2 mary runners turn left to continue on the course.

This stretch on the bridge was beautiful since the bridge is flat (no structure above the road) so you have clear views all around. There is a set of lanes (on it's own brdige) that go to Seattle, a separate road/bridge that goes out from Seattle, and there is this separate middle section that we're running on that is normally switched either way depending on the inbound or outbound commute. So they just closed this middle section for the race not affecting the other inbound and outbound lanes of traffic (pretty slick). Since this is an out and back section, you can see the other runners on the return route. I'm guessing that the bib numbers were related to corral starts (i.e. 2xxx numbered bibs were in corral 2), but I don't know for sure. I'm heartened to see that I don't see many in the 10,000 numbered bibs and up. Also, the running is much less crowded here, because it's only the mary runners (e.g. 5,000 out of the 25,000 total runners), so that helps. I'm still feeling strong and I'm generally passing many and being passed by very few.

After the out and back on the bridge, we rejoin the route where the half mary runners turned right when we turned left. It's crowded again and I'm having to zig zag a bit. We have some mild inclines on the overpasses. We head into downtown and it's really crowded here. Plenty of spectators too to cheer us on. At about mile 14.5 we split again from the half mary runners.

We run on the Alaskan Way Viaduct, which is pretty cool. We can see a few runners on the other side of the road who already on the return leg of this long out and back section. Wow.

We go through a tunnel. I'm steadily passing people (I note a woman in an IM LP tri top) and haven't really noticed that I've been passed by anyone. In fact I don't really note being passed by anyone for the rest of the race. It may sound very obvious, but it really seems like people are fading and I'm still going strong.

After mile 16, we start a climb, which is still fairly mild. I have to pee again, so I find the next set of porta potties and go then. Climb continues for maybe a mile. Then we get a bit of a downhill to the turnaround point at about mile 18.5. Then it's back up a bit and I can see the others runners, some of whom I recognized who I passed before. I check out bib numbers and it's a whole range of them.

Back through the tunnel and out. I'm still feeling great, my stride is relaxed, and I'm passing runners at a steady pace. At about mile 23, I can see there is another out and back to the south, but it ends up back here on the other side of the road for mile 26. I starting to feel some fatigue in my legs now, so now I just have to grind out the last 3ish miles.

Mile 24.5 or so is the turnaround. I'm still passing folks, but it's occuring much more slowly. Mile 25 and it's back up a little bit again. Near mile 26, it's down the exit ramp. The crowds are here cheering. I pass the 26 mile mark, but I can't see the finish line. It's a left turn onto a street, a short bit, and then another left turn. Now I see the finish. I know it's a little pointless after nearly 4 hours of running, but I give a final sprint and pass a bunch of people on the way to the finish line.



I turn around and see the clock time is just pass 3:50. I'm guessing a 10-15 minute offset at the start, so I should be sub 3:40. Can't complain on an impromptu marathon.

Splits and pace were as follows:

5 Km - 25:16 (8:08)
10 Km - 52:02 (8:23)
9 mi - 1:15:28 (8:24)
Half Way - 1:51:07 (8:29)
30 Km - 2:36:32 (8:24)
24 Mile - 3:18:39 (8:17)
Finish 3:36:59 (8:17)

Pretty happy with these results. Pretty steady and looks like I finished strong and ran a neg split.

I see DW who is right there at the finish (amazing since there are so many people here). I get my finisher's medal, stretch a little.



I grab the food and water (cytomax, honest tea, organic granola bar (yum), chips (i picked sun chips), bananas, oranges. I head out to meet up with DW who is at the designated meet up area (by letter) and I find her right away. Not bad considering how many racers and spectators are all around. We grab my gear bag from the UPS truck and we head back to the car.



So, it's back to the hotel. Quick shower then off for post-marathon brunch. We decide to go to Jak's steakhouse in Issaquah. YES, MEAT! I have the steak (10 oz. aged NY strip) and eggs (over easy) with home potatoes. DW has a burger with blue cheese (which I eat about 1/4 of) and virgin bloody marys. Yum!



A nap in the afternoon and then a wedding at Snoqualamie Falls. Not a bad day!