Spokane Marathon Relay

Race Date: 10/10/2011

The Lightning Crew: Casey, Adrianne, Lanaia, Rene

The Spokane Marathon gives you the option to do a full marathon, half marathon, 10K or marathon relay.  I did the Spokane Marathon Relay two years ago and had a great time. I like it because it allows you to run and also cheer on your team.  The marathon/half mary course is hilly and includes Doomsday.  If you want to PR this isn’t the race you want to do it at.  ;-)    We participated as a mixed relay, which must include two men and two women.  The weather was cool and overcast so it was a good day to run.

I did the first leg two years ago and this year I did third leg.   This year the teams seemed faster than I remember.  I saw a few guys from the Spokane Distance project on one team; I think it was a mixed team but am not sure.   Lanaia did the first leg, Casey did second, I did the third and Adrianne was our anchor.

I went out too fast at the beginning of my leg.   My plan was to average sub 6:40s.    I looked down at my GPS watch and I was at a sub 6:00 pace!  I slowed it down knowing I wouldn’t be able to hold that pace.  I caught and passed two or three other teams.  The high school cheer squads that worked the aid stations did a GREAT job!  They definitely got me pumped.  For some reason I thought my leg of the run was longer than it was and when I came to the transition zone I had a lots of energy left so I picked up my speed for the last hundred yards or so.  I ended up running 6.43 miles in 42:17 which averages to 6:35 minutes per mile. Our team took third place and finished in 2:54:xx.  WaooooOOO!!  Fun times!

This racing season has been a great one for me.  I finished Ironman CDA, I PR’ed on my 5K time and my half Marathon time.  A year ago I was hoping to do the Tri-cities Marathon.  I ended up having some foot issues and backed out because I didn’t want it to affect my Ironman training.  I have done one open marathon in the past and would like to challenge that time.  I am in the middle of my last build of the year and am hoping I can SURGE one more time.  May I get to the starting line un-injured, may the weather be clear and cool and may the stars align for me one more time this year….may I finally slay this dragon called the Tri-cities marathon.