Marathon #35: Newport Oregon, June 1, 2013

The Newport Oregon marathon has been on my marathon wish list for a long time, but for some reason it never showed up on my radar to run it, as was the case for this year, originally. It turned out that getting to the starting line of a marathon, any marathon, was going to be a challenge. The Newport marathon turned out to be my "Plan C" marathon, when all else failed. What's funny is that it turned out to be one of my favorite marathon experiences ever, so in the end it all had played out as it should have.

As I began to taper from my never-ending training I was pretty tired and felt like the marathon party train had already passed me by. As everyone started heat acclimatizing on shorter distance runs, I had to pound out one final 20 mile run, which wasn't exactly what you would call a confidence booster. It was pretty ugly. Still, I was determined to finish a marathon, so off to Newport Oregon we went.

Not a lot of people seem to know where Newport Oregon is, and seriously, until I signed up for the marathon I had no real clue either. Newport is along Oregon's central coast, about halfway between Portland and Eugene. Its population is roughly about 10,000 people who rely primarily on fishing and tourism. Here is a map of the marathon course, which helps to describe the layout of Newport as it relates to the oceanfront area and the Yaquina Bay:

Newport marathon course

We stayed on the oceanfront in the Nye Beach area, but the majority of the course ran along the bay. The brief run along the oceanfront came within a block of the hotel. Ok, onwards to the race details!

The Newport marathon was capped at 1000 runners, but oddly enough my number was 1007. That mystery was never solved. I only know there was no line when I went to get my number in the 900+ section at the "expo". To be fair, they never called it an expo. They called it a "packet pick up". So that's pretty much what it was. Very disappointing. And no shirt. I'd have to wait until the finish line to get it. (One of my pet peeves). I know it's petty, but I obsess over things like the shirt not fitting and getting the right size and that's the last thing I want to take care of when I cross the finish line. Anyhow, the highlight of the "expo" was having a guy say, "Hey, aren't you Teresa from Luke's Locker in Dallas?" As it turns out this guy Jim Bob from Commerce Texas had just gone to Luke's the day before to get new shoes, said he was coming to Newport to run a marathon, and one of my co-workers mentioned that I was too. So he asks if I am fast runner. My co-worker, who I have not yet hunted down and beaten to a pulp, said, "No she's OLD and she's SLOW". Ouch. So we had a laugh about that because he and I are the same age, but I am thinking about this comment and really not laughing inside, because slow, I don't like to think I'm slow, although admittedly, I have slowed down, and it's a tough pill to swallow sometimes.

Come race morning I am not overly nervous, mainly because it's a low profile and stress free marathon, but also because what glimpses I have had of the course have left me excited about the scenery I am about to see. Toby and I drive a few miles down to the start in Yaquina Bay park, which is yet another breathtaking spot in Newport:

Without ANY fanfare at all, we were off and moving. I do prefer some fanfare, even if it's just the national anthem or a cannon or heck, even a cheap air horn would have been nice. Initially we headed towards the coast for a brief jaunt to the oceanfront:

This stretch was scenic, but tricky, with lots of sharp turns, steep ups and downs, and one brief section on a gravel road. We made our way back to the starting line, which normally would have annoyed me, but I really needed to re-visit this:

This time we headed in the opposite direction--out along the Yaquina bay for the remainder of the course.  At this point I'd seen Toby several times, but knew I wouldn't see him again until the turn-around point, around mile 15-16. This stretch of the course reminded me a lot of the Grandma's marathon, with the nice, gently rolling terrain, and peace and quiet that comes with no bands, no noise, and very few people. At about the time it became a little tiring the front runners were making their way back, so for the next several miles there was excitement in seeing fellow runners in the opposite direction. I high-fived Jim Bob as he came flying by.  Then I got excited because I knew I'd see Toby soon. He took this photo as I approached him, then handed me Gatorade, asked if I wanted my music (no, I was liking the quiet), and said I was looking good. I love this guy!

After that I knew I wouldn't see him until the finish, but knew the hard work was coming up, and sometimes it's best that your loved ones don't see that. ;)

I had been keeping my pace SLOW and steady for the majority of the race, which was between 9:00 and 9:15. I knew I couldn't hold anything better than that for very long, and it felt good and comfy up until mile 19, which was 9:19, so I changed the goal to sub-9:30 from there. I think my original comfy pace and focus was a little blown out by the stench and eventual visual of OYSTERS on the half shell, glistening in the sunlight, free for our taking! So after my stomach calmed down somewhere around  mile 22  I really needed a water stop and a gel. I heard a lot of noise up ahead, so I opened up my gel, thinking it was a water stop. It turned out to be a bunch of idiots banging on pots and pans, hooting and hollering--no water, nothing! Seriously? The sun was starting to get to me. The ugliness in me was clearly surfacing, so at the next stop I stopped to walk to take in the gel, lots of water, and regroup for the rest of the run. (And throw the pace goal out the window entirely--just finish). I got back to the business of running, keeping the ugly beast inside of me well contained for the remainder of the race.

Unlike Grandmas, there is no crowd build up leading to the finish. The last mile of this run is just as remote as the previous ones, with the illusion that the finish line is nowhere near. As you crest a final hill you finally see the finish line before you and before you know it it's all over.

I was given a gorgeous medal made out of recycled glass, and a goodie bag of snacks. And oh yeah, that finisher's shirt. It turned out to be a long sleeved zippered tech top--very cool! I quickly made my way to the clam chowder and the beer, yes! Toby snuck into the finishing area, which he should be allowed to do since he clearly earned it by taking care of his wife! He went and got a print out of my results, which showed that I ran a 4:07:58 chip time, came in 8th in my age group (50-54, i.e OLD) and 378th overall, which means maybe SLOW is a relative term these days. I'll take it. We chatted with Jim Bob, then hit the road for more fun and adventure along the Oregon coast.

Clam Chowder!!!

Meeting Jim Bob was certainly a highlight

In summary, this was probably one of the prettiest marathons I've done, and at #35 this is saying something.  It's also what I'd consider a "gentle" course, with a few hills, but overall pretty flat. I lucked out with the weather. June can be tricky, even this far north.  Mainly, Toby and I were surprised at the beauty of the coast in this area. We knew it was pretty, but not this pretty. There were so many places to see and not enough time. This is truly a bucket list marathon and a great place to visit, regardless.

Here is the link to the web-site if you are interested. FYI, it is a charity event.
http://www.newportmarathon.org/