Rock 'n' Roll Half Marathon and 10k

Last weekend's race was a success!  What started out as a chilly, rainy, Sunday morning turned into the perfect day for running!  Portland is typically a pretty wet city but it was raining harder than usual which made me a little worried at first.  The race started at Waterfront Park so it looked miserable, but once we got started it felt perfect!
 

The Rock 'n' Roll was my favorite Half Marathon I've run so far.  Cam had a great time too, and although we didn't run together it was really fun to chat about all the things that went on when we were hanging out afterwards.  The first 4 miles of the course were the same for the 1/2 and the 10k, and went through the streets downtown.  At every mile there was live music ranging from rock n' roll, to jazz bands to banjo drums!  There were a TON of spectators too, cheering everyone on from the sidelines.  The support from the community was great.  Both routes ran across the Williamette over the Hawthorne Bridge, and then the 10k went left and headed back to the finish over the Morrison Bridge, and the 1/2 took a right.  We headed up (and up and up and up!) SE Hawthorne Blvd,  ran across Belmont to Laurelhurst Park, and then back to the finish over the Steel Bridge. My dad met us at the finish line and got to see both of us cross. I'm super proud of us both ~ we did great!

               

The race was followed by a special performance by G-Love and Special Sauce!  We were really excited and got spots right up front.  G-Love made eye contact with me but Cam thinks he was staring at him : ) We got to hear our 2 favorite songs while "enjoying" a Michelob Ultra (it was the free beer they gave away...gross) and then we made our way back to the MAX station and headed home to clean up and dry off!  Check out our G-Love video here!

The rain really started coming down when we got back to the house, but that didn't stop us from going to the Annual Kenton Neighborhood Street Fair on Denver Street!  There wasn't quite the turnout as the year before because of the weather, but we still managed to buy a few things, reward ourselves with a couple beers, and have a fun afternoon. 

There are more races in our future....Stay Tuned!

First Half Marathon! 4/29/12

I did it.  I ran my 1st Half Marathon...in less than 2 hours!  Boy oh boy what a feeling.  As soon as I crossed the finish line I thought "I'm never doing that again!" but later on that day I started having the "post half marathon blues" so will be doing another one for sure!  It's one of those things that you prepare for for so long and then when it's over you feel kind of down.  Good thing I have Rebekka and Lauren though because they keep me motivated!  We actually ran a 5K Fun Run this morning at Columbia Park.  It was Elia's first participation in a run (with Bekka pushing him in his stroller of course) and he even got a ribbon :)

Anyway back to the Half Marathon!  It was in Eugene, OR so Saturday afternoon we all drove down and checked into our hotels and picked up race packets and bibs at the Expo Center.  We went to dinner at a Sushi place and had a couple of beers and lots of yummy food.  Eugene is the home of the Ninkasi brewery and I swear the beer tasted even MORE delicious there!  Lauren went to college in Eugene so is pretty familiar with the area, and after dinner she took us to Max's Tavern in Springfield which is supposed to be what Mo's Tavern on the Simpsons was created after!  No minors were allowed so Rebekka and Damien switched off watching Elias in the parking lot while we all had a quick beer in "Mo's"  Afterwards we headed back to the hotel (Cam and I booked our hotel too late so it was a DUMP!  Rebekka and Damien luckily had a suite and me and Cam slept on the pull out sofa) and "the guys" minus Elias went out for some evening brews while the girls all got some rest.