Seattle Rock 'n' Roll Half Marathon

On June 22, we ran the Seattle Rock 'n' Roll Half Marathon!  This was my 5th half marathon and Johnnie's 2nd.  Rock 'n' Roll Marathon Races are extremely popular and hotels fill up fast.  Therefore, we planned this trip, signed up for the race, and booked a room last year.

10 Reasons I love to run the Rock 'n' Roll Marathon Series races:

1. There are thousands of people who run, creating an exciting race atmosphere
2. There is a big health and fitness expo in the two days before the race
3. You get a technical t-shirt and medal for participating
4. The races are well organized
5. There are bands and cheer squads all along the course to keep you motivated while running
6. There are drink stations all along the course to keep you hydrated
7. There are medical stations along the course if you need them
8. There are many photographers all along the course to provide you with photo memories
9. There is a festival and headliner concert after the race
10. You get a special extra medal if you run two or more races in one year

There were an estimated 20,000 runners signed up for this race!  Everyone was organized by corrals, corral 1 being the fastest.  We were waaaayyy back in the corrals so it took about an hour before we even reached the starting line.  Johnnie had signed up for a faster pace than me and my running partners so he started further toward the front, crossing the starting line a little under 20 minutes from the first corral.  Everyone gets an electronic tag to wear on their shoe so your race time doesn't start until you actually cross the starting line.

It was a chilly morning so Johnnie and I both wore a shirt that we were willing to part with.  Near the starting line, there were places to discard any clothing you didn't want to run in.  All of this clothing was donated to a good cause after the race.  It was so nice to have something to keep us warm until we started running and great that we didn't have to run with it tied around our waist.  Once we started running, it was the perfect temperature for shorts and a tank top.

My running buddy and I each have goals of running a half marathon in each state, and hope to run many of them together.  Whenever we do run a big race together, we coordinate our outfits... for this race, we picked purple.   I always run races in running skirts because they are comfortable and cute.  Running skirts have tight shorts attached underneath so you don't have to worry about flashing your underwear to anyone.  I loved the hidden pop of yellow under the skirt I wore!

The race course was great!  We ran on the streets of downtown Seattle, along streets of quieter neighborhoods, through some residential areas, along the shore of a lake, through two tunnels, on the express lanes of the highway, and on the viaduct above the waterfront.  There were many hills on the course but most of them were gradual inclines/declines.

There were a lot of water stations along the course.  Every other drink station also had Gatorade available.  There was one GU station around 8.5 miles.  The drink stations were manned by companies or groups.  This station was manned by Alaska Airlines - they had fun airplane hats!

This drink station was manned by pirates... Arghhh!

The course took us on the tree shaded boulevard along Lake Washington.  This was so beautiful!

This road was lined with members of the Wear Blue Run to Remember group which is a running community that honors the service and sacrifice of the American military.  The road was lined with photos of military members who died in combat and dozens of people holding American flags.

We ran through the I-90 Express Lane Tunnel.  It was slightly uphill but very neat to run through!  The GU energy gel station was inside this tunnel.

The end of the course took us down the scenic Alaskan Way Viaduct which follows above the Waterfront area.  The Seattle Great Wheel is a new permanant ferris wheel on the Waterfront.  It is the largest observation wheel on the west coast, standing 175 feet tall.

The weather was perfect and the course was beautiful.  This was a really fun race that we will definitely run again someday!

Another finisher's medal to add to our collection!  This won't be our only one for the year.  I plan on running two more half marathons this year and Johnnie will running his first full marathon.  We are running fools this year :)

*******

"It's very hard to understand in the beginning

that the whole idea is not to beat other runners.

Eventually you learn that the competition is against

the little voice inside you that wants to quit."

~George Sheehan