Although I've lived in Portland for over 10 years now, I had never been on Marine Drive, so it was quite a pleasant experience running along the Columbia.
But I'll back up. This race is run by Foot Traffic, the company for whom I coach runners and walkers to cover a variety of distances from 5k to full marathon. Although this is not the featured race for the training group, there were several of my athletes out there doing either the 5k or the half marathon. I mingled a bit pre-race, and led a dynamic warmup for my group, although all were welcome and many joined in from the crowd at large. The Easter theme was really fun, and there were people dressed like bunnies, eggs, and carrots, as well as various pastel-splashed springlike outfits. I wore my pink Hammer Nutrition shirt, but decided to opt for aerodynamic rather than bunny-eared.
The course was really flat, with only a few overpasses provided the only real texture to the course. Since I was using this race mostly as a quick tempo run rather than racing to win, I planned to stay at 7:50-8:00 per mile for the first 10 miles, and see what I felt like in the last 5k. Frequent checks of my Garmin found me in the 7:40s, so I kept trying to slow myself down, wondering if I had a gentle wind at my back, and wondering if that would turn into headwind on the return trip. The view was nice - the Columbia River on one side, and PDX Airport on the other. I tried to stay slow and not worry about the runners around me, and just stay consistent as I headed out. Because of an initial neighborhood loop, the turnaround for the largely out-and-back course was at mile 8.5 or thereabouts. When I turned back, I was pleased to see that there was not a headwind, and I was feeling pretty strong. At this point, I started to think about whether I wanted to accelerate into the last miles.
I was running next to a dude wearing an R2D2 shirt for a moment, and we passed a walker still on her way out to the turnaround. She smiled and said "I like your shirt!" I said "Thank you!" and realized halfway through the word "thank" that she was of course talking to R2D2, and not just a Hammer Nutrition fan. Oh well.
There was a woman in a yellow top with whom I had been tag-teaming. At least that's what I call it. She'd be right behind me for a while, then she'd pass me for a bit, and we'd go back and forth. I wasn't feeling that feisty about beating her, but I did wonder which one of us was inconsistently pacing. My garmin told me it wasn't me, and I hoped that was correct. Anyway, around mile 10, she was about 5 seconds ahead of me, and I thought, "you know, I bet she's between 45 and 49 years old." I kept my eye on her, and considered whether it was going to be a race for our age group in that last mile. Mile 10 was too early to really open up, so I just stayed there with her and maintained my 7:46. I'm pretty sure she was aware of me, too, and wondered if she was planning a strategy.
But then something funny happened. At mile 11 there was a water station right before we crossed over the road. And she stopped for water! I wondered if she was super thirsty or just not competitive, because it would not have occurred to me to stop for water at mile 11 when I was jockeying for position with another runner. Maybe she just wasn't competitive. Anyway, I passed her without accelerating, figuring she would catch up to me and we could race the final .25 or whatever. I wasn't sure how far behind me she was on this flat, straight course. When I got to mile 12, I found I still had quite a bit of energy, and thought maybe I could finish strong, so I kicked it up a bit. Honestly, the best I'd hoped for was a 1:44-something, but I ended up finishing in 1:43:15. Not a PR by several minutes, but the fastest I'd done at this distance since 2014, and good enough for a win in my age group.
A quick check of the results later showed me that the yellow shirt woman, who finished about 30 seconds behind me, was in fact in my age group, which satisfied the competitor in me. Ultimately, however, it gave me a good steady tempo run, and adds to my confidence going into my upcoming marathon.
Foot Traffic knows how to put on a good post-race party, and I heartily enjoyed the egg-croissant sandwich and mimosa that awaited me. I'd definitely run this one again. Fun race.
