As the sun was coming up, I checked out the location of my start corral, used the porta-potties before the lines got long (they did!) ate free bagels and bananas, and visited with some of the other runners in my corral.
The starter kept talking up the sponsors of the race, interviewed the mayor of Tukwila, and gave some stats, Turns out 70% of the racers were female. His theory is that since the race sold out, only the diligent women were able to get into the lineup. Finally they began the rolling start! Corral 13 took 18 minutes to get to the start, but my time did not start until I crossed the start line with my timer chip in my shoe.
I wanted to reach the halfway mark before any of the elite racers actually finished. I made it on chip time and in real time. They have timers with the clock times evey mile and at the 13.1 post. I crossed it at 2:17:00 or so, giving me a chip time under two hours. I found out later that the Kenyan who won crossed the finish line a minute or two after that!
Cindy walked down from our hotel and cheered me on twice. This picture was at about mile 22.
I finished at 4:17:34, taking more than 30 minutes off my best time. I was dizzy and cramping up the last two miles, maybe from the heat. An ice bath at the Nutrilite booth was just what I needed.
The two-mile walk back to our hotel was probably good for my legs as a warm-down, but it took the rest of my energy. We had our victory dinner in the room with some take-out pizza. Cindy entertained herself while I slept 14 hours by taking candid photos and posting them on the internet.
The two-mile walk back to our hotel was probably good for my legs as a warm-down, but it took the rest of my energy. We had our victory dinner in the room with some take-out pizza. Cindy entertained herself while I slept 14 hours by taking candid photos and posting them on the internet.
