Just kidding!

While road running can be pretty boring, it is a necessary evil.  So, yes, I'll write about the Earth Day Run.

Event 16 in the 50@50 Project was the Earth Day 5 Miler, held in Tigard, OR.  Ah, the suburbs!  Clean air, wide open spaces, strip malls, and everyone drivin' an SUV for no reason whatsoever.  

You can read all about Earth Day at www.earthday.org  The first one was held in 1970 and was organized in part by a senator from Wisconsin, Gaylord Nelson.  That first event drew 20 million people to the streets, all across this great country.  Most were hippies, of course.  And coincidentally enough, this was also the day that set a record for the single largest amount of marijuana consumed in a 24 hour period.

The race was held in Cook Park in Tigard, a very nice area with playgrounds, soccer fields, trails, woods, water, etc.  Really, a very cool complex.  With a full slate of events set for the day - our 5 miler, a 5k, a 5k doggie walk, kids races - the park was jamming!  Lots of earth-friendly sponsors were there, including Bottle Bill from OBRC, the beverage container recycling co-op.  Bottle Bill is a person in a large green bottle costume - I presume his name is Bill.  The Disney Channel or Disney radio was also a sponsor - there were 4-5 minivans emblazoned with logos for Disney shows.  And Chez Marie was there to serve up veggie burgers.

Neat story for them:  a small local business, one that (to their surprise) landed the Burgerville account.  So they now provide 'dirt burgers' to all the stores in that chain, usurping big bad Garden Burger.  I like Burgerville!  Check out Chez Marie and their story at www.chezmarie.com while you're checking out www.burgerville.com .

As we were getting set for our run, the event organizers called us all to the start line to get ready.  He called up a few people who had been at the Boston Marathon, either running in it or watching a loved one.  There was a moment of silence, then a short prayer for all those impacted by the run.  But then it was time to make the ultimate statement - by running.

The course meandered through the park for a while, then hooked up with another trail system.  I say 'trail' but not the fun kind, in this instance - all paved.  We looped around and wound up on Durham Road for a long straight stretch.  Our route joined up with the 5k'ers, who started after us so it was kinda fun picking off that group, passing them one at a time.  It was a nice distraction to spot someone, then push to pass them, then do it all over again.

Camera Crew and I got separated somewhere within the first couple of miles.  But, again, I knew she was not far behind me.  After the mud run the previous day, we were both feeling sore in odd places - core, shoulders, triceps, etc. - basically the non-running muscle group.  This race was a good one for just shaking out the sore spots!

I am happy to say that I finished in just over 57 minutes - for me, my fastest 5 miler of the year.  And Camera Crew was a just a wee bit back and finished in under an hour!!  I was quite pleased!  We did the requisite hanging out thing, had some water and tasted some tea from one of the sponsor tents.  And... GASP!!

We were a little put off that we then proceeded to pick empty plastic water bottles out of the garbage at the tea booth.  Not their fault - the garbage can just happened to be placed by their table.  But - what the hell, people???  EARTH DAY, remember???  That was a little discouraging, actually.  My two cents - given the theme for the event, the organizers could have made recycling options much more obvious and maybe even staffed them to TEACH families, especially the kiddies, about recycling.

Soap box time:
I feel that any sponsor who shows up at a race should be required to provide recycling for everything they bring in.  Prime example: a few years back, Vitamin Water showed up at Bridge to Brews (a Terrapin event) and proceeded to hand out thousands of bottles of their product.  Great, right?  Except all of them are recyclable and there wasn't a recycling bin/bag/box in sight.  So all the empties went in the garbage.  If a sponsor brings in 10,000 full bottles, they should be prepared to take back 10,000 empty ones.  Peace out.

Except for the recycling thang, the event was great!  We had a beer from HUB www.hopworksbeer.com and a surprisingly tasty 'burger' from Chez Marie, then headed for home.  Another double header weekend in the books!!

Now comes the weird part!  We have NO events set for this weekend (April 27/28) or next weekend (May 4/5).  I just may go through withdrawals!!  Actually, it will be good for us.  Camera Crew is fighting a cold and we each have little nagging injuries and soreness, so this break provides some healing time.  We'll keep running and riding, though.

This is a good thing because up next in the 50@50 Project is Event 17, a 50 mile road ride in the beautiful Tri-Cities, WA. www.inlandempirecentury.org  We'll be riding with our dear friends, the Miller's - Kyle and Raynee - our hosts for the weekend; and with my brother Rich, who is coming down from Spokane to join us.  Can't wait to go to the Beautiful Burbank Tavern!!