Foot Traffic Marathon 2013 – Race Report

Marathons: Paul #24, Leah #14, State #9 : Foot Traffic Marathon 2013
4th July 2013, Portland, Oregon, USA
Finish Time = 3:54:52

This is the first marathon we’ve started on a farm with a rooster, goats and llamas.

Yes, the starting area was on a farm and while getting ready for the race we were able to go into some of the animal stables and see the animals. We met “Ruffles” the llama which became my nickname for Leah while on the run as he had a cheeky grin and what looked to be fast running legs.

It was a nice course around the picturesque Sauvie Island in Portland. After running a 3:30 I thought to myself that if we “just” run a sub 4 it should be nothing to us now and the race should be easy. I think this blasé attitude is what led to it hurting a lot more than I expected. I’ve come to realize that no marathon is easy. It doesn’t matter how fast or slow you run them, if you run them fast it’s tough on your body, if you run them slower you’re out there on your feet for that much longer and it’s still tough. There is no way to run these without it being hard. I didn’t fully comprehend this at the time and, expecting it to be easy, I was in for a shock as the marathon proved once again that you should never underestimate it.

The Power of Ruffles

Ruffles the llama really got us through the last few miles. Whenever it got tough we thought “What would Ruffles do?” and we knew the answer: chew grass and carry on. We substituted the grass for energy gels and heeded the rest of his advice.

We managed to finish in under 4 hours though and being 4th July weekend (Independence day), the marathon was just the start of our plans. We then flew from Portland to Sacramento, picked up a car and drove to wine country, staying at The Lodge at Sonoma Renaissance Resort & Spa and spent the rest of the holiday weekend relaxing in sunny California. We watched the fireworks from our balcony with cheese and Sonoma wine.

Oregon State completed

Oregon State completed

Elevation Graph from my running watch:

2013-FootTraffic

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