50@50 Project - Event 7 - Five Miles in Hazel Dell

Event 7 in the 50@50 Project took us north, across the mighty Columbia, to Hazel Dell, WA which is either a neighborhood in Vancouver or a suburb of it - not sure, actually.

The event was the Hazel Dell 8k which was a fundraiser for an animal rescue group called Panda Paws www.pandapawsrescue.com  They even had one of the rescued animals there, a beautiful dog named Winter.  She was born with an affliction that caused her eyes to be too small for her head.  This led to frequent infections and ultimately to her eyes being removed and lids sewn shut.  I know, it sounds horrible.  But this dog was gorgeous and so friendly!!  I wanted to bring her home!

It was a cold morning, high 30's.  We arrived and got checked in, then... back to the car to stay warm for a while.  It was that awkward temperature where trying to figure out exactly what to wear was difficult.  There is the standard (for us anyway) 'twenty degree rule' - knowing you'll work up a sweat, add 20 degrees to whatever the temperature is and dress for that.  But I still second-guessed myself into wearing pants, which I regretted about a mile into the run.  Shoulda gone with shorts.  Oh, well - next time.

Bex! entertained with her 'I'm trying to stay warm by dancing' performance - video out soon.  We heard the race organizers announce that the 8k would start 15 minutes after the start of the half-marathon, which was news to us.  We thought they started at the same time.  Sigh.  So it was back to the warmth of the car for a bit.

It's a small event, not a lot of participants.  Had a nice community feel to it.  Our event started at 8:45 and took us around the strip mall in a big loop then off onto residential streets.  Up and down, up and down - small rolling hills - an out and back course, meaning we 'fro' the same route we 'to'.

I am always impressed with the volunteers at these things.  People getting up early on race day, way before the runners show up, to get route signs up and to be at intersections to send us in the right direction.  They also set up water aid stations and the start/finish lines.  In my experience, they almost always have smiles on their faces and an encouraging word for the participants.  It's really cool and I always make a point to say thank you to them as I trundle by or refill a water bottle.

There was one pretty steep hill - no trouble bombing down it on the way out but coming back up, my right knee made this strange 'pop' sound.  It was a little sore after that but I kept going.  When you run, especially the longer distances, your body does all sorts of weird things and you learn which things are serious and which ones to ignore.  This was an 'ignore' situation, I knew, but still stayed aware of it and how it felt as I finished up.  And it's fine now, so - whew!

About the finish... (ahem)

Camera Crew will be the first to tell you that I am the romantic in our relationship.  We've agreed that for these early events we want to stick together to encourage each other, knowing that the time will come when we each run our own race and that we'll meet up at the finish line.  I was slightly ahead of Bex! as we approached the finish line, so I held up a little, reached back to take her hand so we could cross the line together.  Which we did.  But upon checking the race results, she somehow finished one spot ahead of me.  I think she kicked her toe across the line while smiling and batting her eyes at me.  Oh well - whatcha gonna do.

After a post-race slice of pizza (okay, I had two) and a red velvet cupcake, we headed south to P-Town, feeling pretty good about the race, given we had Event 6 the day before.  We noticed that in Vancouver they give you food after races; in Portland they give you beer.  I will take this into consideration going forward.

I am feeling pretty good about my progress on the 50@50 Project thus far!!  We are also excited that we only have one event this coming weekend - the Red Lizard 5 Miler in Lake Oswego.  Of course, not being normal folk, we're fast filling up our day off!

Thanks for following along.

See you next time!  Dave - out.