Rock 'n' Roll Portland Half Marathon

This past weekend, I had a couple firsts happen for me...1) I took part in an inaugural race; 2) I ran in a race with an Olympian; and 3) I broke 2 hours in a half marathon!

The Inaugural Rock 'n' Roll Portland Half Marathon consisted of a field of over 11,000 strong and included one very important runner indeed, the incredibly talented Kara Goucher!

Now, while I never actually got to see Kara Goucher in person, and I was absolutely nowhere near her during the race (she finished only slightly ahead of me...lol, yeah right, in my dreams...she kicked my butt!), I did run the exact same course that she did, and there was a stretch where we were both running at the same time (although definitely not in the same places along the course haha), and it's just cool to know that I ran in the same race as someone who is going to be representing the United States in the 2012 Olympic Games in London in just a few short months...GO KARA (we're totally kindred spirits now)!!!

I had been looking forward to this race for a long time, as I signed up to run it almost half a year ago...so I was up bright and early at 5 am Sunday morning, ready and raring to go.  I had even gotten my racing belt ready the night before I was so anxious to run!

I made my way downtown and got to the start line a good hour before the race started, but with so many people around, I was never lonely.  Plus it gave me a chance to take in the sights and get my jitters out before the gun went off.  I was feeling great that morning, and I was bound and determined to get a PR.

I am always so amazed at how wonderfully friendly people are at races, willing to take your picture and chat with you simply because you are a fellow runner...such a fantastic community of people to belong to. 

As the race drew closer to starting, I got into my assigned running corral, #5, which was farther away from the start line than I had anticipated...

...thank goodness for timing chips eh?!?!

One of the nice things about the race was that groups of runners were released in waves, a couple minutes apart, so there wasn't one huge crush of 11,000 racers all trying to push across the start line at once.  After approximately 8 minutes of (impatient) waiting, it was finally corral #5's turn to start the race.  As soon as we started going, my adrenaline was pumping and I was excited to be moving...but soon realized that this course would not be the easiest one I had ever run.

For one thing, the first half of the course was almost entirely uphill.  For another, there were several rolling hills in the second half of the course that really took it out of me.  Yet still was the total elevation gain of almost 600 feet and the fact that the entirety of mile 5 was one long uphill battle.

All of these factors served to thoroughly exhaust me throughout the race, but I was, as I mentioned before, determined to PR this race.  So I pushed myself hard, pacing with runners I thought would help me reach my goal, and as I got to the last straight away stretch on Naito Parkway, I picked up my pace even more, so that by the time I had the finish line in sight, I was at a full out sprint to the end.  When I crossed the finish line, I was almost positive I had PRed, but as the clock displayed the time from when the first runners started the race, I was unsure by exactly how much I had lowered my time.  Coming into the R'n'R Portland Half, I had just PRed two weekends earlier at the Tacoma City Half Marathon with a time of 2:05:35.  As I had my medal placed around my neck and my foil blanket wrapped around my shoulders...

...I was sincerely hoping for something right around 2 hours.  Little did I know, as I stepped up to the engraving station to have my name and finishing time inscribed on the back of my medal (very cool extra at the R'n'R Marathons) that I was in for the surprise of my life.  I took my medal back from the engraver...

...turned it over...

...and discovered that not only had I PRed, but I broke 2 hours with a time of 1:58:57!!! (I know it's hard to see, but the medal does say my name under Finisher...it's my medal, I promise!)  I was so happy that I almost started crying and was extremely tempted to hug the engraver, but stopped myself when I realized just in time that most strangers do not appreciate being bear hugged by weird, crying, sweaty females.

My stats for the race...

Bib #: 11224

Finished In: 01:58:57

Pace: 09:02

Overall Place: 2501/11033

Division Place (25-29): 177/897

Gender Place: 1141/7744

...some of the best stats I've ever had after a race! I was extremely proud of myself.

Some of the other cool swag I got at the end of the race (though I have to say the medal was the best part)...

...the official shirt we got at the expo before the race (the front)

...though I couldn't bring myself to wear it until after I had finished (the back).  And then I got myself an official "finisher's" shirt at the booth afterward...

...I liked it specifically because it said finisher on it (the front)

...which, as much as I liked the other shirt, it did not say (the back).

And this was the cool mug I got for buying the shirt, which made me doubly happy that I bought it!

Overall, the race was a huge success for me, and it allowed me to add one more notch to my running belt...a place in the Half Fanatics!

That's right, I'm now officially Half Fanatic #2440!  Can't wait to take my new singlet out on it's inaugural race!

What do you consider your most successful race and why?