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Henry Wienhard's St. Patrick's Day Dash - Run


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Seattle, Washington
United States
45F / 7C
Sunny
Total Time = 30m
Overall Rank = /
Age Group = 40-44
Age Group Rank = 0/
Pre-race routine:

Had breakfast and headed out to Seattle. Parked and headed over to the race start. Danced a few Irish jigs to warm up and ogled at the goofs dressed up like freaks. Fun!
Event warmup:

Irish dance music and lots of silliness.
Run
  • 30m
  • 3.5 miles
  • 08m 34s  min/mile
Comments:

This is a fun race and one I look forward to each year. Everyone is in green, but many take it much further. We saw green people, green dogs, lots of men in kilts, lots of green hair, priests chasing a can of Guinness, Irish Dancers, Irish Setters, and Irish Beer. Starting out is difficult because there are 10,000 runners in all. We were in the first wave, but we started towards the back since we're slower than the elites (obviously). Next year I want to start up a little further.

Finally about half a mile in I was able to make some breaks. There were some fast little kids out on the course. It's so great to see them out there running with their parents. I try to avoid being behind them, though. They tend to stop when they get tired...not slow down, but just screech to a halt. Roy paced with me well the entire time. I lost him a few times, but then he'd be right up next to me. At one point I thought I'd left him behind, I heard a cough, looked back but didn't see him. Looked ahead and there he was, in front of me! Well we simply canNOT have that! I ran up next to him and paced right behind him for awhile then said "Thought you could beat me, huh?" He turned startled and said "DAMN!"

I passed him and ran it in. He came in about 40 seconds behind me, so gone is the excuse that he can't run as fast I can!
What would you do differently?:

I'd wait for Roy at the finish line and not go get water. I lost him for 50 minutes...yes, 50. I guess with 10,000 people all wearing green and grey (the shirt color), it's probably a good idea to make plans to meet...huh?
Post race
Warm down:

Wandered around and around trying to find a needle named Roy in a haystack. After we finally found each other we walked back into downtown Seattle and had coffee, then walked in and had copious amounts of sushi for lunch.

What limited your ability to perform faster:

Starting further back than we should have, but oh well!




Last updated: 2006-03-12 12:00 AM
Running
00:30:00 | 03.5 miles | 08m 34s  min/mile
Age Group: 0/
Overall: 0/
Performance: Good
Had a great run. I was surprised to come in as strongly as I did since I ran almost 13 miles yesterday.
Course: The course is a straight out from Mercer Street to the Safeco Field. It's not a 5k (although for some reason it gets put in as that all the time). It's an "almost four miler" as advertised in some venues, or 3.5 miles. I was hoping to break 30 minutes, but I came in right at 31 with a chip time of an even 30. There are hills, vales, and a few tunnels rife with screaming. One long tunnel gets warm, even on a cold March morning. The sites are, of course, beautiful with the Olympics overlooking the Sound as you run down the Viaduct. Definitely not a flat course, but what do you want in Seattle.
Keeping cool Good Drinking Not enough
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall: Good
Mental exertion [1-5] 5
Physical exertion [1-5] 5
Good race? Yes
Evaluation
Course challenge Just right
Organized? Yes
Events on-time? Yes
Lots of volunteers? Yes
Plenty of drinks?
Post race activities: Good
Race evaluation [1-5] 5

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2006-03-12 6:03 PM

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Subject: Henry Wienhard's St. Patrick's Day Dash
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