The 1st annual Vancouver USA Marathon and Half Marathon debuted at Ester Short Park and the Vancouver Hilton this past Father's Day weekend. They did a fabulous job putting on a first class race. Jay and I picked up my packet at the Hilton just before it closed on Saturday night. The picket up was smooth and easy and my only complaint is the cotton tee shirt instead of a tech tee. Who doesn't love a tech tee to use for future training runs?
Sunday came around and it was chilly and gray but perfect race weather. There is a slight drizzle at times but no inclement weather at all. I got dressed, had a cup of coffee, took my nuun to drink in the car and clif bar to munch on. Parking downtown was much easier than expected. All parking was free and I easily found a spot about three blocks from the park. I got down there just after the marathoners took off, so other than the line coming out of Starbuck's, it was pretty calm and quiet. I did some laps around the park, used the bathrooms(of which there were plenty), and with about 20 minutes to race time, took off my sweats, put on my armband and got ready to run. Gear check was a simple handoff and off to the starting line.
Now, I felt just fine getting started but in hindsight, I was not hydrated enough. We had spent the previous two days in Seattle and I didn't keep up on my normal water intact, let alone increase the volume. This wouldn't be a problem until the end. I did get off a bit bumpy, as my music wasn't playing through my Runkeeper. Knowing, I wouldn't want to go 13.1 miles of no music, I stopped to get it adjusted. Between that stop and the long trip under an overpass, my Runkeeper isn't showing all 13.1 miles. After juking and jiving to get out of the crowd and into a good pass, I was pleasantly surprised at how quick the first mile was. My only complaint in the first few miles was the sidewalks they tried to keep us on. We really needed more room.
The entire course was scenic. It had great views of the Columbia River, downtown, Officer's Row and Pearson's Airfield. It was pretty flat with exception of three hills, none of them too bad, with exception of the last to get back up to downtown. But, four days later and it's a dim memory, so it must not have been that bad. I drank water and gatorade at every stop. I was lucky enough to not get stopped by the train that came barreling through the course about 3 minutes after I went over it's tracks. I'm not sure how the marathoner's thought about that...
About mile 9, my fast pace started to show and I started to get tired. This is where I needed more hydration. I have done one long run with a camel pack and I think I will continue to use it. My body just needs more water. I don't remember a lot about the last mile or so. I was zoning out and just pushing myself to get it done. I crossed the finish line strong and got my very cool medal.
Instead of meeting up with Jay and the kids, they got to come track me down at the med tent. After walking the finisher's chute, I felt very dizzy. Lucky for me, the med tent and the Mt. Hood Ski Patrol Volunteers are right there. They got me sat down and brought me water and food and blankets. After letting Jay and Presley in and sitting there for about 5 minutes more. We found out my heart rate wasn't recovering and my blood pressure was dropping. They moved me to a chair that lay flat. After about 25 minutes, two bottles of gatorade, one bottle of water, bananas, oranges and love from my family, the volunteers cleared me to go. I'm sure I scared Jay half to death but luckily I didn't get sent to the hospital and my body recovered, just a little slower than normal. Lesson learned on pre-race hydration.
Official Results:
Time: 1:52:12
Average Pace: 8:34 per mile
Age Group: 9/85
Females: 47/912
Finishers: 223/1418
All in all, I thought this was a great event! Great course and cool medals. The finisher's area was great. the med tent volunteer's were awesome! I would do it again!
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