Rock 'n' Roll Seattle Half Marathon Race Report

On Saturday, June 21, I ran my 9th half marathon, the RnR Seattle Half Marathon.  This was my first trip to Seattle, and my first time on a plane in over 20 years, so it was a big deal for us.  (I will be posting more about our trip in future posts.)

Hubby and I went into this race planning to have fun, take lots of pictures, and finish, of course.  

We flew into Seattle on Thursday, and after dropping our bags (and the kids) off at the hotel, we headed to the expo, which was at Century Link Field, where the Seattle Seahawks play.  

I really love expos, as does hubby, but usually there is some reason that we have to rush through.  But this was a perfect day, and it wasn't that crowded, so we got to really enjoy it.  We picked up our bibs, bags and shirts and then went to explore.  I picked up a few things (a new Moving Comfort sports bra, a Sparkly Soul Seattle headband, and some Nuun) and hubby bought some shoes, shorts, and fuel for the race.  

On Friday, we did the speed tour of Seattle, walking many miles, climbing many hills and steps, and my calves were super sore when I woke up Saturday morning.  

We got dressed and headed for the start line, which was about a mile from our hotel, near the Space Needle.  It was a nice place to start, since the Armory has a food court (we ate at the hotel, but other people were eating a quick breakfast) and bathrooms that were open before the race.  The line was long, but it was nice to get to use an indoor bathroom.  After that, hubby and I said our goodbyes (he was in corral 3 and I was in 33) and headed to our corrals.  

RnR had speakers set up even in the later corrals, so we could hear the National Anthem and start of the race.  Then the waiting began.  The race started at 7am, but my corral didn't get to the start until nearly 8 (and there were 7 more corrals behind me).  So my nice warm-up walk had worn off and my legs were stiff from standing around so long, and I could tell I was going to have to use the bathroom again along the course.  Fortunately, I was not looking for a great time, so I told myself not to worry about it too much.

Killing time, taking Space Needle selfies in my corral...

The one good thing I will say about the long times in between corrals starting was that it was never really very crowded.  In a lot of big races, I feel like I spend the first few miles dodging people and weaving through groups, but we were more spread out.

The first few miles were fun, running down 5th Avenue where there are a lot of stores and restaurants to look at.  I decided I really wanted to take this race in, so this was the first time I ran a half without music.  The bands and cheer stations were really great.

Around mile three, we turned the corner, and I started looking for a porta potty.  I wasn't paying much attention to what was in front of me, as I scoped out the side of the road, and I heard another runner say something about this being the coolest race ever.  I looked up, and immediately understood why she said that.

I know it's not as pretty with the poor quality pictures my cell phone takes, but that's Mt. Ranier ahead of us.  It was a breathtaking view!  

We ran with the mountain in view for quite a while, and it was awesome!  But this wasn't the only beautiful scenery...

About the time I was 5 miles in, I realized that hubby had likely finished the race, and he, not knowing it had taken me almost an hour longer to even start, would be waiting for me.  So I called him and I was right.  We talked for a few minutes and I told him he could probably head back to the hotel and shower and we'd meet up later, since I knew it would be a while.  He told me what a great race he had and that though he never takes pictures during a race, he held his phone the entire time and took plenty.  He didn't worry about the time, and told me this was by far the most gorgeous race we had run, and to take my time and enjoy it.

So I did.  And the course did not disappoint.

Besides the normal RnR scenery such as...

and several Elvis impersonators...

...about halfway through the race we turned to run along Lake Washington, and again the views were amazing.

The pictures really do not do this justice.  It was incredible with the beauty of the water, with the mountains in the background.  Absolutely gorgeous!

Along this part of the course, there were also signs with pictures of members of the military who had given their lives for their country, and people standing with flags, cheering us on.  

This whole section of the course really choked me up.  

After we finished running by the lake, we walked up a very steep path to get up to the interstate, where we ran for several miles, including a very long tunnel.

Terrible, blurry picture, of a DJ near the end of the tunnel, with loud music and lots of fun lights.

At this point we started heading back toward downtown, and the views of the water and downtown landmarks were awesome.

We ran back toward the Space Needle for the finish.  My Garmin was off or the course was long, because when I hit 13 miles, we still had 1/2 mile to go, uphill, no less.  Hubby's Garmin showed the course about 13.6 also.  

As I approached the finish line, hubby and the kids yelled out for me, so my delayed start time allowed for them to get back to see me finish, which was nice.

All in all, I think this was my favorite half so far, because the weather was perfect, the course was gorgeous, and the support was excellent.  This was my slowest half yet, but I stopped to take a lot of pictures, and it was worth it to soak it all in.

(At our post-race lunch - I'm wearing the race shirt, which I forgot to take a picture of, so this will have to do.)

If you are ever looking for a west-coast race, I highly recommend RnR Seattle!