I anticipated this race would be a tough one, and I was right. Post-race, I have some mixed feelings about my performance, but we'll get there.
Armed with my new fueling strategy and a plan for dealing with the nagging pain in my lower legs, I went into race morning feeling confident that no matter what happened, I'd have another half under my belt.
Last weekend, Nick and I ran what will probably be my last race of 2025: Captain Jack's Treasure Run. This was the race Nick signed up for six hours after we finished the Orca Half because he "wanted that stupid beautiful medal" that runners get after participating in three Orca races in a calendar year.
I would say that after this race, he absolutely earned it.
Running, addictive? Who knew.
One of the things I love about living in the PNW is getting to experience spring. Daffodils are the first flowers to pop up, usually in February when most days are still cold and snow isn't totally out of the question. By March, the trees burst into gorgeous blossoms of pink, purple, and white. Plum blossoms line our street, but the main attraction is always the cherry blossoms.
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| How could you not want to run here?! |
To start, the race had about 10,000 registrants, which was quadruple the number they'd ever opened up to in the past. People could run either Saturday or Sunday, but over 5,000 were signed up for the Saturday half and 5k. Because of the numbers, packet pickup was only available the day before the race. It was a drive-through setup between noon and 7pm on Friday, so I asked Matt to go for me, since I was working until 4:45pm.
He was in the car line for literally three hours.
The lack of volunteers and the poor organization turned my excitement into dread. I realized that there was a reason the race page recommended parking by 6am, even though the start wasn't until 7:30. And honestly, that's just silly for a 5k.
I meant to turn this race into part of a long run, so I thought, okay, I'll get there early and have time to do one or two miles before the race, and then do a mile or two after.
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| I felt like my outfit really fit the theme. |
Well.
I got to the lot to park around 6:30 and had plenty of time to use the bathroom and warm up, but I was so uncertain about where the start actually was, I ended up not warming up at all. I finally realized the corral was an unmarked path leading to an unadorned scaffold — there was a total lack of signage or announcements.
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| The staging area was so crowded that I didn't realize this was even the corral until I got to the front and saw the timing mat! |
By the time I was in the corral, it was 7:25 and I was anxiously awaiting the gun. I ended up waiting another twenty minutes, because the start was delayed for some unknown reason. Twenty minutes doesn't seem like much, but it's about 2/3 of my running time for a 5k. My delicate balance of pre-race inhaler-food-water-bathroom timing was all thrown off.
After growing increasing frustrated at the lack of communication, we finally started at 7:43, and I was already mentally done. The first half mile or so was on a dirt access road, complete with mud, potholes, gravel, and loose rocks. At least it was flat!
Leading up to race day, I had been dealing with some leg and foot issues that I thought were possibly caused by my new shoes, and luckily my legs felt better than they had, but not as fresh as I would have liked. Still, when I hit mile 1.5, I thought to myself that I couldn't believe the race was nearly half over! It felt like it had flown by!
And then, the rolling hills started. The fact that I wasn't expecting them was a total rookie mistake on my part — I should have checked the course map! The entire 5k consisted of intense rolling hills. I ended up walking about half of them. I also had to stop completely around mile 2 to tie a shoelace that had come undone.
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| The elevation was gradually uphill with multiple sharp elevation climbs in the second half of the race. |
Although I walked the majority of the hills, I kept a pretty good pace until the last half mile, where the steady ascent got a little more steep and my legs and will just kind of...gave up. When I finally climbed the last hill and began the descent toward the finish line, I picked up some speed and managed to pass one more person, coming through the finish at full tilt.
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| Blue = slower |
It was the slowest 5k I've run in awhile, and although I felt that it wasn't awful, given the hills and the circumstances with my legs, I wasn't really happy with it, either. Of course, then I saw how I'd placed and felt much better, because while I wasn't at the top of my game, I still managed to finish in the top 10 in my age group and top 10% overall.
After the race, I grabbed Matt a cherry blossom donut (as promised, to make up for the packet pickup fiasco) and got some pictures in the quad. After all, that was what I signed up for!
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| At least the medal was pretty! |
The last nail in the coffin for this race was finding my car. I had dropped a pin and knew how to get there, but the participant guide had promised there would be big purple stickers marking the path back to the parking lot. Those stickers were nowhere to be seen and it just felt like one more thing the race organizer had promised and failed to deliver.
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| I have forgotten how to pose for pictures. |
By the time I got to my car, I was cold and tired and it had started to rain. My disappointment in the race had put me in a bad mood and my legs were already feeling the hills. So, I shelved those extra three miles I'd been planning to do and instead went home to enjoy a hot shower and a nap.
Now, since the race, the race director has reached out to all participants to apologize, explain where things went wrong, and express future plans to fix the issues. I appreciate the transparency and the commitment to improve, but I'm still not sure I'd do this one again. At the end of the day, it was a hilly 5k with a beautiful finish line but an ordinary route. Nothing special...and I can run on campus and see the cherry blossoms every spring — for free and as often as I want.
ABK
I've always wanted to ring a PR bell, and this weekend, I did just that!
It should come as no surprise that I love to run a race on my birthday weekend. Last year, we were still so new to Seattle (and COVID was still so present) that it didn't really cross my mind...and that ended up being for the best, since it absolutely dumped snow that weekend.
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| February 2021. Yeah. Not racing in this. |
But this year, I didn't want to pass up the opportunity. I found the My Better Half race early in the fall and was immediately interested in running the 10k, but wanted to wait to sign up until I was sure we wouldn't have another snowpocalypse. Then, when I finally went to register, it was sold out.
I added myself to the waiting list and found a backup race that would suffice but wouldn't be nearly as exciting, just in case. I kept a close eye on my email for two weeks, wondering how long I should wait before I officially gave up and signed up for the backup race.
Then, the Wednesday night before race weekend, I was doing my warmup ride on the Peloton when I saw the email come through. I'd been selected!
I signed up right then, as Alex Toussaint urged me to "ride to greatness!"
A couple weeks before this, the second toe on both my feet had been hurting on and off, so once I knew I'd definitely be running a race that weekend, I changed my schedule, deciding to skip my runs for the rest of the week so my toes would be rested for race day. That worked out okay, seeing as Matt and I were dog-sitting Brewsky and Kogi all week, so I had access to the Peloton.
Race Morning
Race weekend brought some deceptive weather: sunny skies and freezing temps. I expected it to be 45° or 50° on race day, but when I lined up at the start, it was 31°. The grass was frosty but at least we weren't getting snow.
I've never felt as blasé about a race as I did this time around. The route was at a park I'm familiar with, I hadn't been training specifically for a race so I didn't have a goal in mind, and I've been running at least 10k for my long runs every weekend since October, so the distance felt more than doable. Basically, everything felt like just another weekend long run.
I was also feeling strangely comfortable with running this race alone. It's been awhile since I've raced by myself, without even a spectator at the finish line, but something about being alone lowered my anxiety and expectations. I was truly just racing for myself.
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| Unbeatable views! |
The 10k was set to start at 8:05am. During the 30-minute drive to the park, I ate half a large banana and sipped some coffee. I was trying something new with the banana because my usual pre-long-run breakfast of overnight oats hadn't been settling well the last few weekends.
The drive was incredibly foggy — I'm talking barely 20 feet of visibility and invisible streetlights — so I drove slowly and was worried I'd be late. Still, I only missed one turn and arrived around 7:35. I found street parking a block away. I changed shirts (since it was colder than anticipated) and got my bib on, glad that I'd made the trip to pick it up the day before. Gloves, Shokz, headband, gum. I meant to bring Honeystinger chews, but forgot to stick them in a pocket.
Around 7:50 I got out of the car and jogged the half mile down to park bathrooms, using that as my warmup. Only one stall had toilet paper, but just as a line was forming, the custodian came by with a sack of rolls to distribute, like a Bathroom Santa Claus. I did my business and jogged to the start. I barely had to wait three minutes before the 10k runners were given the Go! I couldn't have timed it better!
The Race
My plan for this race was vague. "Take it easy" and "just run it" were my top priorities. Having run a similar course on Halloween, I knew the big hill in the first half mile was really a lot and I gave myself permission to walk it or walk at the top. Whatever I needed.
What ended up happening was that I ran up the hill, quads burning, and somehow managed to just keep on trucking at the top. The worst part was actually that the hill was divided, so passing people meant getting in the way of half marathoners already on their downhill sprint. Having to run slowly on the heels of a bunch of people while going uphill was tedious and burned worse than if I could've just powered up at my own pace with an open road ahead of me. Then again, maybe the forced slower pace kept me from totally burning out at the end.
Once I cleared the top, there were two additional, gentler hills, but there were some downhills, too, so all in all that first mile was taxing but it didn't sap me the way it did back in October. This was my first indicator that I've made some amazing progress since then, but I wasn't too focused on that at the time because I had no idea how I'd fare the remainder of the race.
Once I came back down that first major hill, I knew the rest of the course was flat. I settled into a comfortable rhythm and let it roll.
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| Mile 2.5 and feeling fine! |
I'm about to age myself, but around mile 2.5, a group of cool-looking young adults were walking on the dirt trail adjacent to the course, against race traffic, shouting compliments and encouragement to runners. I don't think they were there to spectate but had gotten swept up in it during their own morning walk. As I started coming up to them, one of the women shouted to me: "Great outfit, I like the look you got going on!" and I swear I started flying. (Compliments from Gen Z just hit different.)
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| I couldn't ask for a prettier route. |
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| You can see where I slowed down for ice (dark blue) at the north end of the park. |
Of course, as soon as I did, I began to feel fatigued. My breathing was getting a little ragged and my legs were tired.
I told myself I could walk at mile 4, but I passed that same cheer squad ("Still looking good!") and managed to get myself to 4.6 before I finally took a break. By mile 4.65 I was running again, but my watch was showing dashes where my pace should be. It hadn't connected to GPS at the start, either, and when it finally kicked back in a few minutes later, it said my pace was in the 12s. I knew that had to be wrong and decided not to let it worry me. I just kept trucking along.
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| Just a l'il walk break selfie. |
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| Digging in around mile 5. |
I found I didn't have a lot of energy left for my usual sprint at the end, which tells me I pushed myself just enough during the race. As I drew closer to the finish, I heard the emcee call my name. "Welcome to the finish, Alison!" There's nothing quite like that at a race!
Post Race
I grabbed my medal and water and shuffled off to the water's edge to get out of the crowd and take a look at my watch. I had seen the clock as I came in, but I wasn't sure how behind I had been on the gun.
I went to the race website to confirm. 57:12.
I looked up my old PR. In 2012, the first 10k I ever ran, I ran a 58:41. That was so long ago that for years I've thought my PR was an hour because I forgot I'd ever broken 60! And now, ten years later, I broke that record by over a minute without even trying!
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| 6th place got me by a second! |
I was flabbergasted. I knew I'd run a great race but I hadn't realized just how well I'd done until that moment. There was a PR bell in the finisher's village and I worked up the nerve to ask someone to take my photo while I rang it. I'd never gotten to do that before!
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| Bucket list item, fulfilled! |
I didn't hang around long, although the vendors and oatmeal bar were tempting. If the oatmeal had been gluten free, I would've! I'm annoyed at myself for not finding the photo booth before I left, but I wasn't thinking straight — too excited about my PR — and being alone post-race always makes me just want to get in the car and head out.
Back at the car, I took stock. My toes were feeling good. My legs felt pretty good. My asthma was starting to set in now that my adrenaline was cooling, and I took a puff off my albuterol. I sent my race results to Elizabeth, Sarah, and Matt. I was still in shock.
All told, this was a fantastic race and a great way to say goodbye to 35. I had a great time, it was so well organized, and I feel like it's the first kind of "big" race I've done since the move. I will definitely be back next year, barring another mid-February snowpocalypse. I may even do the half, finally reinstating my birthday half marathon tradition.
ABK
Finding an in-person Turkey Trot was tricky this year, but not impossible. In the end, I had two choices: a brand new route or another 5k around Green Lake. While running in a new place was tempting, I liked the idea of being able to compare like-to-like to see if I'd progressed since the 5k I ran last month. (That route was a little short, so I was hoping for a faster pace but not necessarily a faster time.)
Matt decided to run it too, seeing as we're that annoying family that runs on Thanksgiving, after all.
We got to the park around 8:45am and picked up our bibs. The weather was cold and windy, but luckily the rain was holding off. We met up with Sarah and did a little warmup jog, but I was beginning to regret not wearing ear warmers and a heavier top.
When it was finally time to line up at the start, Matt went ahead of us in the corral. My goal was to keep a pace between 8:30 and 8:50 but I forgot to actually set the workout on my watch, so I had to just go by feel. And really, I was feeling pretty damn doubtful, despite having a good six weeks of work under my belt.
The first half mile or so felt much harder than it should have. My quads felt cold and heavy even after our warmup. Then I noticed we were keeping an 8-minute pace. Oops.
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| My bad. |
We reined it in a bit and I finally started to feel warm. I never felt good and the pace never felt easy, but that's 5ks for you.
What's there to say about a 5k? You dig in and commit to the pain, but luckily it's over in less than 30 minutes. I've run Green Lake so many times, I barely had to concentrate; I just focused on picking up my feet. The few little "hills" on the route, which usually don't even register, felt like mountains.
I started to really flag about halfway into mile two, and pulled the pace back again. The inner loop around Green Lake isn't quite three miles, so to add mileage they led us out and around the perimeter around mile 2.8, and when I say I wanted to take a walk in that last third of a mile, I really mean it. The only thing that kept me moving was wanting to keep up with Sarah, who was just ahead of me.
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| Considering how much I slowed down in mile 2, I was pretty pleased with how steady mile 3 turned out to be. |
As we turned down the path back toward the finish line, I somehow found some energy to give myself an extra kick. (Seeing someone over my shoulder will do that for me! I refuse to be passed in the finishing chute!)
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| Not today, Blondie! |
While my gun time puts my pace at 8:54, my chip time and Garmin very satisfyingly show 8:50, and that's what I'm going with! I barely met my goal, and given how uncertain I was the entire time, I feel pretty proud!
I came in 7th in my age group (the woman I held off in the finishing chute crossed the starting line 1 second ahead of me, so even though I edged her out at the end, she still technically beat me. Curses!), 30/100 women, and 70/197overall. Not too shabby!
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| Just as I'd hoped, I managed a faster pace than last month's 5k. Any improvement on a race of this distance is hard-earned. |
After the race, we took some photos and waited for age group awards...until we realized the fasties at this race finished a good five or six minutes head of us. Sometimes I think "small race" means "less competition", and I've only ever placed in my AG at races with a couple hundred people or fewer, but I seem to forget that Seattle is a running town and people are fast.
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| Matt finished in 24:19. You'd never know the last time he ran was in August. |
I don't have another race on my calendar this year, so this may be the last of 2021 for me. Considering COVID had me thinking I might never race again, I can't say I'm disappointed. It's a good way to end the year.
ABK
This race marked a milestone for me: it's the first time I've ever raced in a costume. Maybe I'm using costume a bit liberally here, but I was recognizably a black cat at the Run Scared 10k, and that counts for something.
There's something pretty damn ironic about putting on a whimsical headband and drawing whiskers on your face in the name of levity...and then absolutely suffering through a run for an hour. Yeah, I suffered, but I looked cute doing it!
Going into race day, I pretty much knew my strategy would be to treat the race as a long run. 10ks are my least favorite distance and neither Sarah nor I felt incredibly optimistic about breaking any records. We agreed to run the race conservatively, plan to walk at mile 3, and pick up the pace in the last mile or so if we felt strong.
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| Race day breakfast: oats with protein powder and a cup of coffee |
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| Seeing this filled me with such an odd feeling of nostalgia and gratitude. It's been so long since I've seen any sort of race expo |
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| 45F, cloudless and sunny...the perfect race weather! |
The race started promptly at 9:45am. We ran into another friend from our running group, Ankush, and chatted a bit while we all warmed up in the first half mile.
Sarah's and my plan was quickly thrown when, within the first mile, we encountered two long, steep hills. I knew the route would bring us through Seward Park, where I ran the Amelia Island Virtual 12k last year, and as such I expected a flat race. However, to add some distance to the first lap, the route veered off the main path at the perimeter of the park and onto a road within it.
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| That interior loop really threw us...for...a loop... |
The hills were back-to-back and by the time we were halfway through the second one, Sarah requested a walk break, which I was happy to grant. Ankush ran ahead.
We let our calves cool off and then picked it up again. As we finally began to feel the road level off, a volunteer told us there were no more hills in the course...but the damage was done. We both felt gassed and a bit deflated by the rough start.
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| At least it really was smooth sailing after the hills! |
Still, we trucked along. Despite weakening resolve around mile 2.5, we got ourselves to mile 3 before our next walk break. By now, I was warm. I was glad I hadn't worn a vest but I kind of regretted wearing long sleeves.
I also began to suspect that the course would be short. My watch wasn't aligning with the mile-marker signs, and when we passed the 5k sign and bypassed the finish on our first loop, I could tell something was off. Honestly, knowing the course was short made things mentally a little easier in the moment.
I needed one more walk around mile 4. I have a tendency to walk frequently in 10ks, so all these breaks were par for the course. What did surprise me was that in the last two miles, I found some fortitude and powered through. Usually I walk around mile 5.5, but not this time. I told Sarah I wouldn't have anything left for a sprint at the end but I could manage without anymore walks if we just kept steady.
We turned the last bend toward the finish line and there, waiting along the route, were Sarah's husband and kids. That surprise gave us a little extra pep and we actually did manage a final sprint!
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| Looking at this, I feel like my pace was better than I realized and pretty solid for a 6 mile long-run. |
I'm having a hard to deciding how I feel about this race. My biggest gripe is that the course was significantly short — 5.93 on my watch, 6.09 on Sarah's. I think we could have kept up our pace for another quarter mile if the course were measured correctly, so I'm happy with our average pace (9:51) but I'm disappointed that I can't really use this to measure my 10k fitness right now.
On the other hand, the plan was always to treat this race as a long run, and we did that. We kept a great pace, comparable to our last 6 mile run (which didn't have any hills). And I can at least use the comparison data to see how we did in relation to others in our age group etc, and I'm not displeased with that!
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| The pace here is skewed, but at least I can see how I did in my AG! I really always do fall smack in the middle. |
After the finish we took pictures and got in line for snacks. This is the first race I've ever run with gluten free anything at the end (they had WOW cookies, which I really like!). They also had a candy corn tasting bar, a costume contest, and top-3 finishers awards in male, female, and nonbinary categories. Basically, this race felt inclusive and fun, and I'm happy I ran it.
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| If you look closely, you can see my whiskers. |
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| Post-race loot |
After the race Sarah and I went to brunch at Portage Bay Cafe. I had the gluten free French toast and will definitely be back again to take advantage of their self-serve berry and whipped cream bar.
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| Their gf bread is baked in-house and was absolutely fantastic. |
ABK
