Shamrock Run

It's a week late, but I thought I'd let you all know how the Shamrock Run went.

I was so nervous the morning of the race because I thought I'd have to run the 8K by myself. All of my friends were running in the 5K.

Eric dropped me off quite a long way off because there was so much traffic. That's what happens when 32,000 runners decend on downtown Portland. After walking through the rain to the race area, I was looking for where I was supposed to line up to start when I ran into a couple friends who were running the 8K. They were happy to have me run with them so we found the starting line together.

There were 11,000 people who ran the 8k. We were told to line up according to our minute mile. Since my friends and I all ran over a 10 minute mile, we made our way to the back of the line.

From there, we couldn't even see the starting line! It took us a good 15-20 minutes to even get to the line because they released us in groups.

Once we got to the start line, we were able to start running. I was surprised that we were able to run the whole time with all the people around us.

I really wasn't prepared for the hills through downtown Portland though. You never really think about how steep they are until you're running up them. I would say that over half the course was uphill. Thankfully the last bit was a nice downhill so we were able to really book it to the finish line.

As I crossed the finish line at full speed, I heard someone cheering for me. I looked over and it was my husband and all my kids. That was cool!




My ending time was 54.57. About the same as I normally do, but the terrain was definately a challenge.

Despite the rain and hills, it was a fun event that I'll probably do in the future. I think next year I'll try for the 15K Shamrock Challenge. (Goes up Terwilliger hill!)