When we told Brent Childers, who's from Washington state, that we were running this marathon he busted out laughing, asking us why in the hell we'd want to do that. When people would ask us what marathon we were training for, "Boston, Big D, Cowtown?". "No, Yakima Canyon"....vacant stare...I grew tired of repeating myself, "The run is in a canyon along the Yakima river in Washington state, home to the largest nesting ground of eagles, falcons, and hawks. It's remote. It's located approximately 2 hours east of Seattle. There are approximately 400 marathoners". And that look I'd continue to get, begging why???
Shortly after arriving in Yakima we began to ask ourselves why. We quickly grew bored, as there was not a whole lot going on in town, so we decided to drive the course. Usually we prefer to be surprised, but like I said we were bored, and also, a tad concerned about the terrain, since we knew there were at least 2 "hills" to contend with. We were so glad we drove the course, as it was surprisingly majestic and beautiful! Pictures do not do it justice, but even so, sadly, we did not stop and take many pictures! I think we were too concerned with trying to study the course and the placement of the "hills" during the race. After seeing what was before us we were excited about the race, which was good, because the pre-marathon packet pick-up and pasta dinner turned out to be quite disappointing.
We drove over to the Selah Civic Center, picked up our packets (no expo, as expected), and had our picture taken with Kathrine Switzer, our idol, who was to speak at our pasta dinner, along with her husband, Roger Robinson. She signed our books and gave us hugs! The dinner itself was fine, considering there was probably nothing better in town anyhow, and it was nice to be sitting among other runners, however, it quickly became obvious to us that we were younger than most of the other runners there! I'm still not sure if some of the folks there were for the marathon or just a good meal. There were members from the 100 Marathon club and Marathon Maniacs, as well as the 50 staters. Not a lot of first timers! Lenore Dolphin, the race director who is in her 80's, takes the stage first, and consumes close to an hour of handing out "You're Nuts awards" to certain runners or organizers within the crowd. This was all well and good, but then they had a bit of a memorial service to a runner from last year's race that was killed in an avalanche, which left less than an hour for Katherine to speak. Then not Katherine, but her husband got up to speak, which involved a bit of a marathon trivia contest with the audience. With 15 minutes remaining and no sign of the trivia ending soon, we decided to leave, so we never did get to hear Katherine speak. Very disappointing, but we had to get back and get prepared, since we had to be back in Selah for the bus ride to the starting line at 6:00 AM!
Race day morning finally came, and FINALLY, at 8:00 AM the race was underway! It seemed like we had waited for an eternity for this moment to come. (Boredom kills!) Another disappointment worth mentioning; the woman singing the National Anthem decides to "hurry it up" for whatever reason, and sings it as fast as she can. So wrong! At least we are off and running at last, into a beautiful sunny morning of peace and quiet into the canyon.
Per usual, Jamie, Laura and I split off right away and say "see you at the finish" as we each settle into whatever pace we need to be. I have my headphones in, but don't turn my music on right away, as I am enjoying the quiet and occasional conversations going on around me. The course, as promised by the drive, was just spectacular. I'd try to look around and take it in as much as possible, and at many times I had those moments where I thought about what Katherine's husband had said about marathons being a celebration of life and really found a lot of gratitude for the opportunity to be in this beautiful place on this beautiful day. There was a breeze, and it did pick up and blow us around a little bit late into the run, but for the most part we couldn't have asked for better weather.
My biggest issue with the course was the camber in the road. My left leg was getting beat up, in particular my IT Band and noisy hamstring, so I kept having to cross the road to find flat ground. It was a twisting turning road, so finding a groove proved difficult. A lot of us kept zig zagging across the road, so this was how it went. Another issue was the water stops. Our first one wasn't until over 3 miles, and they were few and far between after that, so I'd have to drink down a lot at once, causing some stomach issues late in the race. I was taking my electrolyte pills regularly though, so no dehydration issues. I did have issues timing my gel intakes, but it was all good. Time-wise, I was happy to see that at mile 13 I was at 2 hours, and at mile 20 I was just over 3 hours, so a sub 4:10 was do-able. (My new benchmark). I had already tackled the first big hill without walking, but the second one was looming just past mile 21, and it was a doozy. Fist of all, this "hill" was a MOUNTAIN PASS. Over a mile long, up and up and up! I found myself walking before I knew it, and tried to get moving again, only to find myself walking again. I had no control over my legs saying time to walk. Ok, so I enjoyed the walk, took in big long breaths, looked around and took it all in. Thank you God. The view from there was wow, so worth it. After the summit I realized I had eaten up too much time and was cutting it too close, so I tried to focus on getting under 4:10, but my stomach was acting up, so I backed off and came into the finish at 4:10:51. I'll take it!
When I saw Jamie and Laura at the finish I played poker face, not saying I thought the course was brutal before I heard what they had to say, because honestly, I wasn't sure if it was me or the course. (My training was good, but I had the injury recovery and quality had been an issue). Immediately they started saying how hard it was, which made me feel better! They even said it was harder than Big Sur, which they did last year. Maybe my Big Sur memory is flawed, but I thought Big Sur was harder. Even so, it didn't have a MOUNTAIN PASS in it, so maybe they're right. Or maybe it's apples and oranges. Anyhow, trust me, it was hard. But it was also beautiful, and as Laura said, spiritual.
Ok so the finish line was a tad lack luster, off on the side of the road just outside the canyon, which was fine by us, as we had no intentions of lingering around. We were going to high tail it to Seattle and get our party on! Well....not so fast...Jamie's not feeling so good. She's shivering uncontrollably and suddenly can't move AT ALL. Her left hip seizes up entirely, so they have to carry her to the medical tent. Another disappointment, which is HUGE, is that they have absolutely no IV's, and not even Ibuprofin! Pathetic! So they have to CALL AN AMBULANCE (keep in mind there are already 3 parked ambulances right there), to come get her and take her to a hospital! Ridiculous! Old Lenore Dolphin race director rolls herself over in the wheel chair to check it all out, while the local EMTs stand around eating their chili hot dogs. (We didn't have anything like that there for us, by the way). It took forever for that ambulance to come, which begs me to question what if something more serious had happened. Finally, after Jamie is on her way, Laura and I proceed to take the bus back to the car, then hotel, then hospital, and then, with 7-11 snacks loaded up we are FINALLY on our way to Seattle, through the torrential downpour with Jamie in the back, feeling much better! Poor girl didn't get a shower as we had to check out and pack up her stuff for her.
We pull up to the Mayflower Park Hotel in Seattle, let Jamie get cleaned up while Laura and I head to the bar, finally, for that post marathon beer! We just looked at each other with tired but happy faces, "Cheers".
The remaining trip in Seattle was filled with great food and fun and lots and lots of laughter.
As for this marathon....it really needs a face-lift. A changing of the guards. The only redeeming quality is the course itself. They have their act together with the buses and a few other things, but for the most part everything else is just flat out sub-standard or out-dated. Cheap tin and plastic medals, cotton T shirts instead of tech tops, hand drawn rudimentary maps on an outdated web page, no frills start and finish lines, etc. etc. For anyone wanting to run this course, and I say YES, run this course, but possibly stay in Seattle and pick up your packet race morning. And whatever you do, do not end up in the "medical tent".
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| Laura S-P, Jamie, and myself |
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| Elevation Chart! |
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