As usual, we all met at the airport car rental counter. We had to get one of the vans transferred over to another runner because Jason had missed his flight and would not be getting in until very late. We split up into our assigned vans and headed out. We had to drive up to Bellingham, WA where we would be spending the night. It would take us just under 2 hours to get to the hotel. My van was pretty hungryso before we stopped off at Sprouts to get some food for the race, we stopped of near the University of Washington to grab a bite.
I suggested we grab a quick lunch at Ivar’s. I always stop into Ivar’s when I am in Seattle. Sometimes, it is just to grab a bowl of clam chowder at the airport. If you haven’t heard of Ivar’s, I think it is one of Seattle's best quick service seafood restaurants and has been in business since 1941. I believe that they have some of the best clam chowder anywhere. The group ordered fish & chips plus clam chowder. Everyone seemed to love it. After we had finished, we headed up to Sprouts.
After we grabbed all of the food we would need for the race plus a cheap Styrofoam cooler at Fred Meyer, we headed up to the hotel. We got to the hotel at about 4:30 p.m. We had dinner reservations at 7:00 pm. We all dropped our bags in our rooms and met back at the hotel bar to grab a beer while we waited for Van 1 to arrive at the hotel. They finally arrived at about 6:00 p.m. They dropped their bags had a beer with us and then we got a shuttle to dinner.We had reservations at Boundary Bay Brewery and Bistro. It has been in business since 1995. They are located in a restored historic 1922 warehouse in Downtown Bellingham, across from the Saturday Farmer’s Market. They had a deck for outdoor dining but it was too crowded for us to get our table for 12 outside. So we decided to just eat in the bistro. The food, conversation and beer was excellent. We didn’t stay too late because our start time was at 8:00 a.m. and we all wanted to get a good night’s rest. We did get word that Jason was on his flight and would make it. He wouldn’t get much rest. But since he was in Van 2 he could grab some shut-eye while Van 1 was running their first legs.
We all met in the lobby at 6:00 a.m. to get last minute instructions for the race. We loaded up the vans and headed out to the starting line in Blaine, WA. It only took us 20 minutes to get to Peace Arch Park where the starting line was located. The starting line was in the park. It is an international park consisting of Peace Arch Historical State Park in Washington and Peace Arch Provincial Park in Canada. The park straddles the international boundary between the United States and Canada at the extreme western end of the main contiguous section of the two countries' border, where it reaches Semiahmoo Bay of Puget Sound. The most famous feature is the Peace Arch. While Van 2 (my van) explored the park and took pictures, Van 1 did their safety briefing. When we gathered back together we had about an hour until our start time.
Finally, they called the 8:00 a.m. teams to come over to the starting line. Leslie was going to be our first runner. Ragnar runs very organized races. As planned, the runners lined up with about 10 minutes to go. The gun went off right at 8:00 a.m. and our team was officially on the run. We had decorated our vans while we waited. Once Leslie was on the road, we all split up into our respective vans. Van 1 headed to the exchange where they would meet Leslie. Our Van, headed into Blaine to grab some breakfast before we headed to Exchange 6 where I would take the slap bracelet from Rae and head out for my first leg. We had about 5 hours to wait.We decided to grab breakfast at Over Easy. It is a chain but they have good food. The best part was that it was literally 1 mile from Exchange 6. Since I was going to have to run first, I had a light breakfast of waffle dogs and eggs. It was perfect and not to heavy. Once we had all eaten and paid up, we headed over to Bellingham High School and Exchange 6.
When we got to the exchange, we gathered all of our safety gear and headed over to check in. It takes about 15 minutes to check in and watch the safety video. It is a really corny video and I have seen it at least 10 different times. So I didn’t pay much attention to it. Once we finished, we hung around the van. Some of us napped while we waited to hear from Van 1. It was starting to get warm for Seattle as we waited. I decided to switch out of my running t-shirt and into a singlet. I figured it would be better in the heat than a full t-shirt.
We finally got word that Rae was on the road. She had a hard 6.5 miler. I had about an hour to stretch and get ready for my shortest leg of the race. I had an “easy” 3.8 miler. The temperature was 73o and sunny. The problem for me was it was 57% humidity. It wasn’t too warm for me as I had been training in the Arizona heat but it is a dry heat. I decided to still take the first ¼ mile a little slow to see how it would feel. I wanted to nail a 9 minute pace for this leg to save some energy for my long late night leg. Rae came into the exchange at 12:05 p.m. and handed me the slap bracelet and I was off on my first leg. Finally!
Leg 7 is a beautiful run once you get off the city streets. I exited the high school’s field and headed to the turn onto State St. At the 1 ¼ mile mark, the course turns onto South Bay trail that was well shaded which helped reduce the heat a bit as I ran. This would be the trail I ran almost to the end of the leg. This trail is the closest trail to Bellingham Bay. It is basically a flat gravel-road pathway following the waterline from Bellingham, through Boulevard Park into the Fairhaven District. This district is known for its 19th-century architecture.
As I approached the 2 ½ mile mark, the trail turned and I ran out into Boulevard Park. I could see all of Bellingham Bay now. What a beautiful site. There were people everywhere enjoying the park. This made running a little difficult as I had to dodge a few children. But the view along the waterfront was worth it. There was a slight breeze making it a little cooler despite the clear sunny skies. I was glad I chose to run in a singlet.
At the 2 ¾ mile mark, the trail switches to a boardwalk over the bay. I had to stop and take a couple of pictures. How often do you get to run over water especially if you are from the desert. The boardwalk is about ½ mile long. As I approached the end and the turn to head to the exchange, I found that there was a short but relatively steep grade. The hill was only about 2/10 of a mile and crushed it. I finally leveled off at the top and started to push myself to get to the exchange.I ran along 10th St. looking for Larabee Ave. which is the final turn to the finish. I looked at my watch and found I was slightly off my pace. I pushed a little harder. I finally saw the exchange at the Hillcrest Church. I slapped the bracelet onto Randy’s wrist and he was off and running. The leg was actually 3.84 miles. I had finished in 34:57. That was a 9:06 per mile pace. Not too bad given I stopped to take in the scenery and grab a few photos. I cooled down as we headed to the next exchange. Now I needed to just focus on my big run that would happen sometime around midnight.
Gordon was runner 12 and when he finally pulled in to exchange 12 at Burlington-Edison High School our team was only about 20 minutes behind our predicted time. It was a little after 7 p.m. and we were all pretty hungry. Van 1 only had about 33 miles of running before handing it back over to us. We decided to just grab some pizza and beer so we could grab some shut eye before we had to go again. When we had finished dinner, we headed to Exchange 18 at La Conner High School. I grabbed my sleeping bag and headed into the gym to find a quiet place in the gym to grab a short nap.
At 11:30 p.m. we got the text telling us that Rae was out on the road. I gathered up all of my things and packed them back into the van. After downing a Bing Energy drink, I put on all of my reflective gear and knuckle lights and headed over to the exchange to wait. It was pretty crowded at the exchange. I waited there with Jason and Randy for Rae to come in. Sure enough just past midnight they called our team number and I saw Rae coming in. She handed off to me and I was off and running at 12:05 a.m. We were now only about 15 minutes off pace.This was going to be a tough run. I had had very little sleep in the past 48 hours. Leg 19 of the race is a 10.5 mile run. The first 1 ½ miles was through the town of La Conner which was relatively flat. Then I finally made it to the Rainbow Bridge that lead me over the Swinomish Channel into the Swinomish Reservation. The next 10 miles would be through the reservation. As I ran, I saw very few other runners along the route. This made it a very solitary run with no lights on the road except for my knuckle lights. I love night runs because it is just you and your thoughts. It is a very peaceful and meditative run. With the lack of other runners it was definitely peaceful.
What I didn’t expect was the number of hills along this route. There was a 200’ elevation gain between mile 2 and 3. Another 120’ of gain at mile 6.5. And one last ½ mile hill at mile 9. I pushed myself up and over these hills but it was hurting my pace. When I was approaching mile 9, I misread the signs Ragnar had posted. I kept running straight. Then I heard another runner call out to me and pointed to where I should have turned right. I thanked her as I caught up to her. That is the one great thing about these races, the teams and runners really support each other.
The last 1 ½ miles had 2 turns which I didn’t miss. Then the last mile is downhill and really helped me out as I was starting to fade. Finally I saw the final U-turn under Memorial Highway. At that point I had only ¼ mile left. I picked up my pace and pulled into the exchange at the Swinomish Casino & Lodge. I was soaked in sweat and ready to rest. It wasn’t until later that I realized why the run was so tough. Even though the temperature was 59o the humidity had risen to 82%. At home the humidity is almost never higher than 20%. No wonder it seemed harder than I expected. I looked at my watch and found I had run 10.53 miles in 1:39:28 – a 9:27 per mile pace. Slower than I wanted. But I was happy with my overall effort.
The rest of Van 2’s runs went really well and we were able to maintain the 15 minute gap between goal and actual total time. We handed the bracelet off to Van 1 at 6:20 a.m. Leslie was off and running. We decided to grab a shower before finding a place to lay down and cat nap. Van 1 again only had about 35 miles of running to do. In this race, Van 1 runs around 94 miles of the 200 mile race. With only 35 miles of running, we would only have about 4 hours before we started our final legs.
At 10:00 a.m, we got the text saying that Rae was on her way to the exchange at Coupeville High School. I had actually slept about 3 hours before waking up to get ready. When the text came in I was already grabbing my energy drink and getting ready to go. Van 1 pulled into the exchange and we all hung out at the exchange waiting for Rae. She came running in right at 10:24 a.m. and I was off on my final leg – Leg 21. I was going to redeem myself on this last 6.4 miler.
I left the exchange locking into a pretty quick pace. I knew I had a downhill for the first 1 ½ miles. It would take me down to Ebey’s Landing and the waterfront. I had read that the run would be through Ebey's Landing National Historical Reserve. It is a historic district preserving an unbroken historical record of Puget Sound’s exploration and settlement from the 19th century to the present. The first part of the run was past some of the historic farms still in use on Whidbey Island. When I reached the waterfront, I knew the hardest part of the run was just ahead. I had a 200’ elevation gain ahead of me before the gradual downhill to the exchange.
I attacked the hill as I left the waterfront. My goal was to push myself to come in at a sub-9 minute pace. I was definitely tired and my legs felt really heavy. Despite that fact, I was able to conquer the hill. When I crested the hill and started the gradual downhill portion of the leg. I started to feel good as I passed the 5 mile mark. I knew I only had about 1 ½ miles to go. I pressed on. I could see the exchange in the distance. I pushed to the end and handed off to Randy spent. I had run 6.4 miles in 56:02 a blistering 8:46 per mile pace! Man did that feel good.
The rest of our runners kept pushing themselves. It was starting to heat up as the day wore on. We finally put our last runner out on the road. Gordon was a champ. We headed to the finish line where we met the rest of the team. Van 1 had been hanging out at a broker friend of ours’ cabin on Whidbey eating freshly caught Dungeness crab and drinking beer and wine. Gordon pulled into the finish line just after 4 p.m. and we ran across the finish line as a team. We had finished the race in 32 hours 9 minutes and 2 seconds which was a 9:39 per mile pace. Our goal was to finish in 31 hours and 46 minutes (9:32 pace). Not too bad in comparison. Password Penguin had placed 72 out of 187 Mixed Open Teams and 191 out of 430 teams.
I am sure that this is not the last relay I will run with this team. I don’t know when we will do the next one or where we will choose to go. The Penguins have really bonded as a team. And even though some of the runners switch out, I am always amazed at how much fun we have out there. Sure there is a lack of sleep, nutrition and a lot of tough miles but it wouldn’t be as satisfying when we cross the finish line if it weren’t for those things.
I will close with a quote from one of my favorite runner/authors – John Bingham.
“Suddenly, when the run itself is the goal, there are no more bad runs. Suddenly it doesn’t matter if we don’t finish within our goal time—or don’t finish at all. What matters is that we tried, that we enjoyed the process. What matters is that we got out there.” ― from No Need for Speed: A Beginner's Guide to the Joy of Running
July 8 – 4.00 miles (44:25, 11:07 pace) – Hill Repeats
July 9 – 6.40 miles (1:26:36, 8:25 pace) – Tempo Run
July 10 – 3.10 miles (27:32, 8:53 pace)
July 11 – 1.50 miles (13:28, 8:59 pace)
July 12 – 3.84 miles (34:57, 9:06 pace) – Ragnar Pacific Northwest Passage Leg 7
July 13 – 10.53 miles (1:39:28, 9:27 pace) – Ragnar Pacific Northwest Passage Leg 19
July 13 – 6.40 miles (56:02, 8:46 pace) – Ragnar Pacific Northwest Passage Leg 31
July 18 – 3.10 miles (28:08, 9:05 pace)
July 19 – 3.10 miles (26:39, 8:36 pace)
July 20 – 3.10 miles (30:24, 9:49 pace) – Albuquerque, NM
July 21 – 3.10 miles (27:51, 9:00 pace) – Albuquerque, NM
July 22 – 3.10 miles (29:28, 9:31 pace) – Santa Fe, NM
July 23 – 3.10 miles (27:55, 9:01 pace) – Santa Fe, NM
July 25 – 3.10 miles (27:37, 8:54 pace) – Santa Fe, NM
July 26 – 3.10 miles (27:17, 8:48 pace) – Santa Fe, NM
July 27 – 4.10 miles (38:16, 9:20 pace) – Santa Fe, NM
July 28 – 6.20 miles (58:47, 9:29 pace)
Total Miles: 74.27 miles
2019 Total Miles: 785.27 miles
