We were both on the course at the 2013 Run Like Hell Half Marathon today. Seriously.
This race has a colorful history for me. My first time was in 2009. It was available shortly after the Chicago Marathon and I figured that if I was all trained up for a full marathon a half would be a breeze. It was mostly — except for the massive hill climb which I hadn’t trained for. Then in 2010 I’d talked Angie into running with me. We got out of the house late and ended up not running the full course due to volunteers who weren’t paying attention so I decided to run/walk with Angie. I thought about traveling down from Washington for the race while we were living there, but that never happened.
So this year, being back in Oregon and looking for a half marathon to close out the season, I registered with high hopes. The weather approaching the race was amazing, and race day promised to be much the same. Having not run it in a number of years, and coming off a overall PR (personal record) at the Rock and Roll Half in Spring I was sure that I could easily best my prior time. In addition the planners had changed the course to remove an annoying out-and-back section and cut up a long boring straight away. The running stars were aligning for a perfect race day.
Morning of, and throughout the entire race, there was a layer of fog hanging over Portland. For those of you who haven’t run through fog it does three things: chills you to the bone as you start out, helps overheat you as your sweat doesn’t evaporate, and gives a false sense of being hydrated. But I knew this, right? I planned accordingly and made sure to hydrate on the course. The course, as expected, was much better than the prior years. I was composing my Email with positive feedback as I crested the highpoint of the course at mile eight.
Home free, or so I thought, I flew down hill and pushed through the flat sections. I was having a great run as the remaining miles passed by. After having just rounded the corner near the eleven mile mark everyone came to a screeching halt at the Union Pacific railroad tracks. There straddling the road was a freight train. Knowing that this can happen for the Portland Marathon I decided to wait it out. Also, I remembered that there was a chip mat on the other side of the train that if I did’t register at I risked being disqualified. Thirty minutes in someone from the timing company said that they’d deduct the time from between the two chip mats. At this point I’d long since begun to cool off and was chilled to the bone. Another thirty minutes pass by and I’m seriously thinking about skipping the rest of the course and heading back to the finish. Just as I’m at that decision point the train starts moving to cheers of the many that had been caught by it. With aching muscles I give it all I have left through to the finish line completing in about 2:43.
If the race officials deduct the hour I was waiting for the train, as they suggested, I could have another overall PR on my hands. But I’m not going to hold my breath…
Will I run this race again? Perhaps, but only to see what else could go wrong.