My goal of running a marathon in every state has become quite expensive. Each race can be up to $1,000 with airfare, hotels, race registration fees, shoes, car rental, etc. So when I saw a free race, I was very intrigued. I also noticed that the course was a Boston Qualifier, which gave me no doubts that I could count this race as part of my 50 states based on the 50 State Marathon Club requirements.
The Race: Green River Marathon, Seattle, WA
My Training Plan: For this race, I had about five weeks between races. I was planning on doing some speed work as well. I did one speed session, but my hamstring started bothering me halfway through. After that, I just did my normal runs and gave up on speed work, as I could feel my hamstring hurting slightly during normal runs. I ran four days a week, and my typical week was as follows: Monday – 6 miles, Tuesday – 8 miles, Thursday – 7 miles, Saturday – long run. I used the Providence Marathon and another 20 miler two weeks afterwards as my longest runs.
Weather: The weather was nearly perfect. It started out in the 50s and ended in the 60s, but there was no humidity or wind. The skies were partly cloudy to mostly sunny the entire time – not at all what I imagined Seattle to be like.
Running Attire: I wore a Lululemon tank, some purple Nike running shorts, and a purple Nike sports bra. I also had my yellow Delaware Marathon hat and my iFitness belt. I wore Asics shoes and Balega socks. And, as usual, a lot of Body Glide.
Who I Ran With: I met a few people along the way, but ran by myself for most of the race. I started out at a slower pace to warm up for about two miles, then took off. I ran for a few miles with a guy from the area who was a fellow Marathon Maniac. Toward the end, I ran for a short while with another guy from the area that was nice enough to let me know when we only had a mile left.
The Course: The course was beautiful. We ran along a lot of water and on bike paths. We were probably on bike paths 80-85% of the time. There was one part around mile 6 where the bike path was being worked on, so we were routed onto the nearby streets.
For the 10-15% of the time on the roads, the course was completely open (no police at the intersections) , so on a couple of roads we had to cross, I had to wait for cars to pass or for the light to change before I could cross. There was one part where we crossed the road and had to run on the (very narrow, right-hand) shoulder of the road. Another part toward the end was on the roads as well. At one point, we were running next to an active train track. I could hear the train coming (although they go pretty slow in the populated areas), and had to speed up so I could cross the tracks before the train delayed me.
Organization: I could not say better things about the organization of this race. I met the two guys who started this race. One of them told me the story about how, back in the 1990s he paid $50 for a marathon, and didn’t get much out of it. He thought to himself, “I could buy all of the Gatorade for the entire race for $50.” So he decided to start this free marathon.
There was no expo and no race bibs to pick up. The race director did organize a “pasta lunch” at a local restaurant, where you could come and purchase pasta and pick up your shirts that were purchased at cost. The race director was there, was extremely nice and answered any questions runners had.
The race was small (about 200 people on the course at a time including the relay runners). But the water stops were fully stocked and manned. There were a couple of times where there was just one volunteer and multiple runners at the table at the same time, so I picked the cup off the table myself. But there was water and Gatorade at each water stop. And there were multiple flavors of Gatorade too. It wasn’t just that lemon-lime stuff that tastes horrible. I also felt like the water stops were spaced well along the course.
Swag: The marathon is free, so there are no perks. If you wanted to, you could purchase a long-sleeved technical shirt at cost ($15). Other than that, there was nothing. No metals at the end of the race. No awards for age groups or winners. No extras. But what can you expect from a free race??
Starting Line: At the starting line, they had two porta potties and a table for check-in. Each runner was supposed to check in at the table and find out what their number was. There were no bibs, so the volunteers wrote your number on your arm or leg with a Sharpie. The actual start line was a short walk down the bike path to a chalk line on the ground.
Fans: With only 200 people on the course and not a lot of publicity, I didn’t expect a lot of fans cheering me on along the way. If you need fan support to run your race, don’t pick this race. The biggest fans were the runners who started early that I passed along the way and the volunteers at the water stops. Other than that, there really are no fans. Like I said, the race is mostly run on a bike path, so there aren’t many spots for any fans to wait.
Finish Line: The last mile of the race was beautiful and frustrating at the same time. Since I had never run the race before and didn’t know the area or where the finish line actually was, the last mile felt like the longest mile I’d ever run. However, during that last mile, we were running right along the water, with a beautiful view of the Seattle skyline. Once we rounded a bend and the skyline was out of view, we came across the beaches and ran on the road along the beach until the finish line at the end of the beach.
The actual finish line was pretty minimal, as was most of the (free) race. They had a guy with a stopwatch and a woman with a clipboard to record the times of the people who finished as they crossed a crack in the pavement that served as the finish line. There was a table with cups of water and Gatorade. And to my delight, there was a park bathroom down the stairs at the beach.
Results: 3:37:08, which is 3 minutes faster than my Boston Qualifying time. I also was the first place female finisher and 16th place overall!
How I felt: I didn’t see any mile markers along the way, and I had no electronics recording my distance. This meant that at most times, I had no idea what mile I was on. I was just enjoying running, enjoying the moment. I also didn’t know how fast I was going, so I relied on my body to tell me how fast to go. I think this really helped. Sometimes, I feel like knowing how fast I’m going actually makes me slow down. If I’m going 8-minute-miles, my mind tells me that’s too fast of a pace to maintain the entire race, so I slow down. At the halfway point, one of the guys I was running with told me that I was running at a sub-3:30 pace. Instead of slowing down, I said “I feel great. Let’s see how long I can keep it up.”
Another mind game that I played with myself during this race (and the Rhode Island one before it) was to remind myself that this is not a training run. It’s a race. I should treat it as a race, and run as fast as I can. Also, I knew that I wasn’t going to be running another marathon until October, so I really wanted to make the best of this race.
I think that the lack of electronics, the fact that I treated it as a race, the fact that it was a small field, and trying to make the best of it, since I wouldn’t be running another for several months, all helped me win the race and qualify for Boston.
Travel/Tourism: Seattle is very expensive. Taxes there are high. Minimum wage is high, which drives prices high as well. But the city and the surrounding area is very people-friendly. The amenities that they have encourage an active lifestyle. There are bike paths just about everywhere. People driving will stop happily for pedestrians and wave them past, even when the pedestrians are jay-walking. I’ve never seen drivers so considerate of those not in cars. If someone from Seattle moved to Atlanta, they’d probably be killed by our crazy drivers in the first week.
I stayed with a friend (and former co-worker) of mine, so I didn’t have a hotel cost or a hotel to review. I also didn’t need a rental car, as my friend took me to and from the airport, left me his car and rode his bike to work on Friday, and took me to and from the race on Saturday.
Kevin (my friend) lives in the Ballard area, which is a northern suburb of Seattle. Ballard used to be an old fishing village, but has recently become a trendy area because of the Amazon.com headquarters and the younger Amazon employees moving in.
I arrived late Thursday night. On Friday, I went to the Ballard Market to buy my traditional race breakfast of a bagel, banana, and Gatorade. Then I headed down to Seattle toward the pasta lunch to pick up my shirt. I stopped in at the Hard Rock Café to buy my Seattle shirt on the way.
The pasta lunch was at Galliano's Cucina located at 16435 Military Road not far from the Seattle airport. I prefer a hamburger for lunch the day before the race, so I opted for the meatball sandwich and sweet potato fries. This was probably not the best dish to get to provide a review of the restaurant, as you can’t do much to hurt or improve a meatball sandwich. It was very good, but nothing to write home about.
After lunch (and a short stop at Dick’s to get some GUs), I headed back to Ballard. I was pretty tired, so I took a short nap, then decided to go for a walk. I walked over to Green Lake Park. The park has a 3-mile packed gravel loop around it for runners (and bikers). It also had a very nice view of a snow-capped mountain in the distance.
Near Green Lake was Red Mill Burgers. I decided to try a burger, as I had heard good things about them. They only take cash, so I had to visit an ATM to get some before venturing into the restaurant. The restaurant is small. You order at the counter, and then they call your name when your food is ready. They had a lot of burger options as well as all different flavors of milkshakes. I got the most basic burger and a mint truffle shake. The burger had a “special sauce” which was some sort of mayonnaise based sauce that had a kick to it. I’m not really much of a sauce person, and really don’t like spicy food, so I had to wipe some of the sauce off. I think if I had asked for no sauce, it would have been a delicious burger.
For dinner, Kevin, his girlfriend Lauren, and I went to my traditional pre-race dinner location, IHOP. Nothing special to report about this place; I think everyone knows how IHOP is.
After the race on Saturday, Kevin and I went to Chinook’s at Salmon Bay, which is a self-proclaimed casual, high-energy seafood restaurant located in Seattle's Fishermen's Terminal. The tables are set up in a way that every table has a view of the Salmon Bay and the fishing boats. The bread they give you before the meal is excellent. I ordered the halibut taco (less the salsa), which was delicious. I also had the strawberry shortcake with locally grown strawberries – WOW! I don’t think I have ever tasted strawberries so delicious!
After lunch, we went to downtown Seattle. Seattle has a Smart Car service where you can rent a Smart Car from a suburb and drive it down to the city (and vice verse). They have certain parking spaces reserved for the Smart Cars. This makes it easy to park and relatively cheap to get from the outlying areas to the city. We found one that was close to where we were and drove it down to the city.
We went to the Space Needle first. Kevin left me to go up on my own, as he had done it plenty of times. It is actually not too expensive to go up there with General Admission (somewhere between $10 and $20). As the weather was clear, there were some beautiful views of the city from the top.
After the Space Needle, we walked around Seattle and over to the waterfront. We went to the Pike Place Market, where the famous fish mongers are who throw fish to entertain customers. By the time we arrived, though, the market had already closed (it was about 6:30 or 7pm by that time). We also went to the gum wall, which is exactly what it sounds like – a wall where people stick chewed gum on it. After all that, we took the bus back to Ballard.
Seattle is a beautiful and interesting city. I really enjoyed my visit (and the only marathon that I will likely ever win)!
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