Helvetia Half Marathon June 13th 2009

Addy and I had signed up for this run months ago and now that the day was here, we were excited, but nervous. This would be the longest we had run (13.1mi), the next longest being the Pear Blossom (10mi). It is really not that much longer, but the words, half marathon, make it sound so much harder. We left with what we thought was plenty of time to get to the start, but hit race traffic 2mi from the actual exit. I was having a stubborn, high and mighty day, apparently, because I refused to cut into the left lane and cut back to bypass all the traffic. It drove Addy crazy because it was getting closer and closer to the start time, but we were still sitting still in traffic. The race started at 8am and we didn't get parked until 8:15!!! From there, we had to walk to the start and still check-in. As we walked past the starting line to the packet pick-up, we heard the announcer say that they were going to start taking down the timing apparatus in 2 minutes. I felt pretty bad about getting us there late. We got our packets and put on our bibs and got to the line just as they were taking the timing strip away. We swallowed our disappointment, stretched, and got started.

The weather was great and the course was as beautiful as they advertised. It is 13min through the "countryside" outside of Hillsboro. It was basically a course of gently rolling hills and had some nice pastoral vistas. I felt great during the race. One thing that I'm learning about my race habits, is that I like starting at the back of the pack and passing everyone that I can. Having started 30 minutes late, I got many opportunities to pass other runners. Just before the turn around point, I saw Faith and got excited that I was catching up to runners who were running at a good pace.

At the end of the race, I was ready to be finished. I was tired, thirsty, and famished. I got some water and a banana and went back to watch for Addy to run into the finishing chute. I never saw her finish through a fluke of the universe. But we met up and grabbed some grub and sat on the lawn for a while cooling down and easing our appetites.

We both did great and set PB (personal bests). We don't have official times (since we didn't get to cross the start line when the timing apparatus was up), but Addy was wearing the Garmin and I was able to use the finishing clock to get a fairly accurate time.

Brett 1:45

Addy 2:07

We got pretty nice "technical tees" with the Helvetia Half logo on it and medals to say that we completed it. I don't know how I feel about the medal, I don't feel like I necessarily deserve a medal just for finishing, but its a nice gesture.

All in all, it was a fun, challenging experience and we did it together!! Next race, Hood to Coast!