September 9th, 2012
This race was sponsored by my wife's work, ACE language institute. This was a 5k race with three obstacles along the way. At home before the race I got up and made us some killer breakfast burritos with eggs, fresh garden veggies, fresh salmon, and fresh guacamole. It was a really great way to start the day! We left for the race at about 7:30 so that I could take her to the finish line at south Lake Union Park because she had to get her volunteers coordinated there. We arrived at a little before 8 am and they were setting up the finish line and the tents were already set up. There was a good amount of wind coming from the south.
At 8:38, I left the finish line and started to jog to the starting line in Gas Works Park. On the way I saw them setting up one of the obstacles for the race. I arrived at the starting line at just a little after 9 am. The race was to start at 9:25. I saw several people at the start that I knew because they work with my wife so I know a lot of them. First I saw Kate and Fabio, and I went over to talk to them while I picked up my registration. I asked them if they could take my shirt for the race and keep it in the car til after the race, they did so that was good. After talking with several other people like Tim and his son, Sally and Sean and a few others the time went away and it was getting close to start time.
I wasn't sure what to expect because I had only ran one time since my 100 mile race and that was a short run with my wife and sister -in-law and the jog to the start line. Would I be able to switch gears from my 100 mile strategy to running a 5k which is a much faster race? Would there be any competition in this race? I was not sure. As soon as the race started I had a feeling it was going to be a good day. I went out pretty fast and right from the get go I was in second place. When we were leaving Gas Works Park the guy in first started to make a wrong turn but I told him he was going the wrong way. He corrected before going off course. Just before we reached the first obstacle I looked back and I didn't see anyone, there was a pack of three runners, me and two other guys. The first obstacle was the Amazon River. The first two guys were kinda clueless what to do but I didn't miss a beat coming through here and lead them through this obstacle which was just a blue plastic and other stuff to make it look like a river. I came out of the first obstacle in the lead. The other two guys quickly caught up to me as we crossed the Fremont Bridge. we were all together again.
We stayed in our little pack of three feeling each other out to see who was going to make a move but really we just ran side by side. This posed a little problem though because we were not the only people on the trail so I almost race full force into a couple of joggers who were not paying attention. I knew we were getting close to the second obstacle so I surged ahead of the other two because I knew where it was and knew that this is where I could win the race by being first through the obstacles. The second obstacle was two sets of tires that you had to run through like a football player. I made it through first and got my sticker and got going. After we got through here we were even again.
We were side by side again and running pretty fast. After a bit we should have had our third obstacle which turned out to be the Eiffel Tower. We were running so fast that we got there before the people setting up this station and there was no one to direct us where to go so I guess we just blew past it. There were no signs and no markings and no one telling us where to go. We were all wondering where the obstacle was and I think this played as an advantage to me because I knew where the finish line was. When we got to the tall building across from South Lake Union Park that houses a drive thru Starbucks I knew we were close to the finish so I just kicked it into gear and figured they had just forgot to put up the obstacle or something. So I started my kick and left the other two guys behind, I rounded the corner and the finish line was in sight but check this out: no one was there to greet me not even my wife so I won the race and no one was at the finish line it was a weird feeling. I crossed the finish line in 20 minutes and 34 seconds and in first place awesome!!
After the race they had cultural activities like having your name written in Arabic, Japanese Origami, and Peru flag making, which were all conducted by students. It was a cool way for people to experience culture and meet new people. It also provided students with the opportunity to practice their English with others so that was cool. It was a pretty well attended race for being the inaugural race, about 100 people participated and over 70 volunteers! It was a good first run for them, there were some things that needed improvement but all and all a fun race, and my legs and body did well.
I am looking forward to my next race the Bellingham Bay Marathon on September 30th, 2012.
Thanks for reading
Chris
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