Photo by Glenn Tachiyama
What a weekend! I traveled to Tacoma to meet my mom for our shared birthday dinner on Friday night. We had a spectacular time eating and visiting on the waterfront. I then drove to Olympia to spend the night for Saturday's run. Shawn met me at the hotel at 4am and I followed her to the start of Capitol Peak. When the sun started rising I knew it was going to be a great day. The sky was clear and the moon was lighting the trails. John (race director) started the run promptly at 6am and we were off! The course had to be adjusted due to snow but we still encountered plenty of the white stuff and it did not lack any climbing! I was told by several people that this course tended to be muddy but I did not think it would be too bad since we had a couple dry days before the race. I WAS WRONG!! Deep mud. Poor Kendra had her shoe pulled off her foot by it. My Cascadias felt great. Even with the mud and snow my feet dried out quickly and the shoes were able to grip the ground to keep me from falling (which I have a tendency to do). I drank a lot of Nuun and felt well hydrated throughout the run. Although the course was well marked, I got turned around several times. I think I was enjoying the views so much that I was not paying attention to the bright ribbons. Brian Morrison was first male and I was first female. It seemed that a great day was had by all. Congratulations to Shawn for breaking 10 hours! Thank you to all the volunteers and to John Pearch for organizing such a perfect day!
