This was a unique trip in that I was way less than 100% for both races. The weekend before the trip I took a spill while riding my bicycle. I lost my balance while trying to dodge some huge cracks in the rode, and went over the handle bars. I landed on my shoulder and vividly remember my head bouncing off the asphalt, which cracked my helmet. I banged up my shoulder, bruised my ribs and hip and scrapped my knees and elbows. Thankfully, I have the Greatest Sports Medicine person to ever own an ice pack. Thank you Denise Vargo. She patched me up, and with the help of Bio-Freeze and Ibuprofen, I was able to finish both runs. If you live in the Pearland area, which is south of Houston and have an injury, you owe it to yourself to go see her. Even if you are not hurt, you might want to consider inflicting something on yourself, just for the experience, she is THAT good.
Washington
On July 9th I flew to Seattle to begin my quest to scratch Washington and Utah from my list of 50 states to run. Over all it was a great trip, though I did have some issues with rental cars, hotels and airlines. Where has customer service gone??
One of the really good things about their trip was the weather, it was outstanding in both states.Coming from Houston, where the temperature is close to, or above 100 degrees every day (even higher with the Heat index) it was a treat to run in the cool weather.
When I got to Seattle, it was about two and a half hour drive to Ocean Shores Wa., where the "Big Weekend Tri and Footfest half marathon" was taking place. Back in 1979-80 and 81, I was in the Navy and was stationed on a submarine that was in the Puget Sound Navel Shipyard for overhaul. The ship Yard was located in Bemerton Wa. which is about a 45 minute ferry ride from Seattle. Needless to say, I could not resist taking a stroll down memory lane, and riding the Ferry back to the old stomping grounds. In the nearly 3 years that I spent in the Pacific Northwest, I can not remember a day like the one then. Seattle is typically overcast and gloomy, but that day, there were very few clouds, the sky was an beautiful shade of blue, and it appeared you could see for ever. I got an amazing shot of Mt Rainer from the Ferry, I am thinking about having it blown up and framed.
The actual race in Ocean Shores, was a very small race, the kind I prefer. There were 3 triathlons on Saturday, a sprint, Olympic, and Half Iron distance and 3 running races on Sunday, 5k, 10k and Half marathon. The half marathon probably had less than 100 entrants. This was not a race for someone who need a lot spectators cheering them on. There were almost no onlookers other than the volunteers manning the aid stations, I must say though, the volunteers were very vocal and supportive. It was a very serene and tranquil experience, running through the quite town of Ocean Shores, and for a while down the beach along side the Pacific Ocean. There was a baby Harbor Seal on the beach, which was being watched over by one of the town policeman. He said that the mother typically leaves the baby on the beach, to go fish for their dinner. The officer was making sure no one touched the baby, because the mother would then have abandoned it, because of the strange smell. Later, after I left the beach, I saw a young female deer. She was quite tame and came right up to me. She must have been used to being feed by the residents around there, because when I tried to take a picture of her, she thought my camera was something to eat, and wanted to take a bite of it. About 50 yards from the finish line another doe and two yearlings (they were just beginning to lose their spots) ran across the road in front of me and jumped a big hedge. It was pretty exciting. I wish I could have got a picture of them.
Like I said the race was small, and it did have some growing pains. Being one of the last to check in at packet pickup, they were out of shirts and promised to mail me one. Haven't got it yet. Also as one of the last to finish, they were out of medals, but there was a lady who gave me hers when she heard that I was from out of town. She would get one later she said. Very kind of her, I wish I knew her name to thank her properly. Overall It was a good race and I would recommend it. If I were to return to participate again, I would want to do one of the triathlons instead of the half marathon.
Utah
The run in Utah was another race I highly recommend. Bryce Canyon is located a little Northeast of St. George Utah. It is in amongst several State and National Parks and the scenery is spectacular. Even if you don't run, it is worth the trip just to take the drive down Scenic Byway 12, which is the highway running through a string of small towns in that area. The race was a point to point which started at 7 thousand ft near the entrance of Bryce Canyon Park, and ended 2 thousand ft lower in Cannonville UT. We parked in Cannonville and were bused up to the start line, where it was so cold, they built bonfires for everyone to keep warm while waiting for the race to start. The race started at 6 am which was just as the sun was starting to rise. We ran the entire race on the Scenic Byway 12. This was a race that was just a Great experience to run. It was not a big deal, but it was FUN. It was almost all downhill, weather was perfect (no wind and Cloudless skies),and the views were breathtaking. We ran through the town of Tropic, in which there was a large number of spectators to get you pumped up for the remainder of the race. All in all, It was an ideal day to celebrate being a runner.
The race was Saturday morning and while driving in on Thursday evening we stopped in Cedar City for dinner. Cedar City was about 100 miles from Bryce Canyon, and I had unknowingly got a room there. After carbing up at the local pasta Hut, I was talking to a young woman who was the cashier. she asked where I was from and I told her. She wanted to know what brought me to her part of the country and I told her about the race. She told me she was running in it as well, and we parted with both of us agreeing to look for each other. Saturday morning, when I got on the bus in Cannonville to go to the start line, I was looking for a place to sit. All the pairs of seats were either full or had a person in them, so I was going to have to sit beside someone. I asked a lady if the seat beside was taken and she said "No". Imagine both of our surprise, when she was the cashier from the restaurant in Cedar City.
If you do get to the area, I have to recommend a restaurant. The night before the race, I had a remarkable meal at the "Cowboy Blues" in Escalante Ut. The smoked chicken was superb.
