Cascade 1/2 Marathon

This morning was one of my favorite races - the Cascade 1/2 Marathon in Turner, OR. It supports the Tigers at Cascade Middle School, and is a wonderfully flat, rural course. I ran the very first one in 2000, the day of our worst winter storm! I know after running in that (horizontal sleet and ice, winds 40mph gusting to 65mph) that I can run in anything! Today was quite a bit different from the first Cascade 1/2. We're talking shorts weather!

When I got to the gym, I found out my friend, Deborah, hadn't been able to come after all, but I met Jeff, from the Runners World Beginners Forum!



I took my shirt back out to the car, then hit the restroom (lots of them in the school) and stayed walking indoors, for even though it was shorts/long sleeves weather, it felt chilly outside. Then they started sending us out to wait for the start. I started at the very, very back of the pack. That worked well, for once I got into 'my' pace, no one passed me until I started doing the run/walks, then it was mostly leapfrogging with similar-paced runners.

It was misting for most of the race, but I still took my Tyvek jacket off at mile 1, and was comfortable for the rest of the run. Just adjusted my long sleeves up and down, depending on if the wind was a headwind or a tailwind, or from either side. It wasn't a bad wind, but we did notice the loooonnnngggg stretch until the last turn where it was a headwind.

My finish time was 2:18.04, placing 8th in my age group. That's a 10:32 average pace, and considering how bad the weather conditions have been for running and training lately, that was better than I thought I'd do!