What we did not do
Many months ago I suggested to Carl that we should walk the Seattle Half-Marathon. He rather poo-poohed the idea, although he had done at least a 10 mile walk at that point. I thought he would enjoy the slightly competitive edge it would add, but he was dis-interested. So I let it drop.
About 1 month ago he asked when it was, like we were going to do it. Hmmm. Have not signed up, long since missed the early sign-up rates. But we kept talking about it. Last week I decided I should finally actually sign us up – only to find out it was too late to sign up on-line, had to do it in person on Friday or Saturday (Sunday is race-day). Friday we were busy with Liz & Zack, so still waiting. Saturday they were open to 8 PM, so plenty of opportunities.
After some deeper thought we decided that we could do our own walk, and it would not be quite as pricey. And since we had not trained really at all (outside of the 10 miles on Thursday) we would not be disappointed if we could not go as fast as we wanted to. [I am not a really competitive walker normally, but I always enjoy the catching the walker in front of you during the “races.”]
So this morning we slept in until 9 AM (race started at 7:45), ate breakfast and got out the door around 10:30 AM. We first encountered the race course at our Mile 3, entering the Washington Arboretum. We encountered the runners at our Mile 4, leaving the Arboretum. We stayed on the sidewalk watching them climb a hill to their mile 21 as we skirted a gated community and golf course. Back into a neighborhood, and caught up with the runners again when we had to climb same said hill. We basically stayed with the runners (actually were passed by) for the next mile.
My route had us continuing with them on a road through a park (Interlaken) but Carl wanted to separate, so we turned left – straight up a big hill, skirting the edge of the park and then back down again where we once again joined the runners. This added 1/2 mile and about 50 feet of vertical gain, and then loss.
We did stay with them for the next mile because they were following the best non-motorized route over both Highway 520 and I-5 – big obstacles. Then we bid them adieu and headed north as they went south and west to their victorious finish line. We stopped at a french bakery for croissants and coffee before finishing the last two miles up a long, sloping hill.
In all we saved about $190 ($200 late entry for both of us – $10 at the bakery) and got a good walk in to boot (12.5 miles). But no t-shirt, and we didn’t get to catch and pass anybody! [Yes, that is me talking, not Carl.] Maybe next year.
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