Seattle Rock ‘N Roll Marathon Wrapup

My experience at the inaugural Seattle Rock ‘n Roll Marathon, by the numbers:

• Number of minutes we had to sit around and wait for the race to start: 100 (At the same group’s inaugural race in San Antonio last year, we and hundreds of other runners were late to the start because the shuttle buses got hopelessly behind.  We overcompensated this time around.)
• Number of Michael Jackson tributes I saw: 2 (One was just a sign that said “Don’t stop till you get enough.”  The other was a poster collage of MJ photos, along with a women dancing and swinging around a boom box playing Jackson 5 tunes.)
• Number of pregnant women in their third-trimester I saw running the race: 1 (I didn’t ask or anything — it actually said “Third Trimester Marathon Mama” on the back of her shirt.  I do not know if the fetus got his/her own mini-medal at the finish.)
• Number of people I saw laid out on the asphalt, being attended to by the medical staff: 2
• Number of people I saw getting loaded up into an ambulance: 1
• Number of dead squirrels I nearly stepped on: 1
• Number of dead animals I saw which were no longer identifiable by species: 1
• Mile marker at which I “hit the wall”: 14 (In my previous three marathons, I hit that dubious milestone at miles 20, 23, and 19.)
• Number of miles I therefore had to run while being painfully aware of every step, unable to distract my mind from the task at hand: 12.2
• Number of songs I made up during that stretch, all of which revolved around choosing death over finishing: 3
• Number of minutes it took me to finish: 300.383
• Number of my previous 3 marathons which I ran slower: 1

And that pretty much sums up the race.  The course was not up to the high standards we’ve come to expect from the Rock ‘N Roll race series.  The marathon course had three lengthy “out and backs” where you run out a road, turn around, and run back.  It’s a bit demoralizing looking over and seeing the people who are a few miles ahead of you streaming by.  (And not nearly as equal a boost when you’re on that side looking at the people behind you.)

As far as Seattle itself — I’m sure it’s a great city, but we apparently stayed in the wrong area (right by Qwest Field and Safeco Field).  It was very close to the finish line, which was nice, but all the other days we were there, it sucked that everything around us closed at 5 PM or so.  If we wanted that, we could’ve went to downtown Pittsburgh.

A summary of the touristy things we did:

1. Space Needle – yawn
2. Experience Music Project – interesting enough; it was too crowded to actually get to use any of the exhibits that let you “experience” things, though.
3. Science Fiction Museum – this is connected to the EMP, and we found it to be far more interesting.  Right now they have an awesome Jim Henson exhibit.
4. Pacific Science Center – interesting enough, but it’s no Carnegie Science Center.  It does have two IMAX theatres, though.  One for commercial films, and a smaller one for the educational-type ones (we saw a film on Lewis & Clark there).
5. Woodland Park Zoo – a nice zoo.  On par with Pittsburgh.  Has a new penguin exhibit that seems similar to what they’re doing down at the National Aviary.

And that’s about it, I guess.  Oh — one restaurant recommendation.  If you like Spaghetti Warehouse here, check out The Old Spaghetti Factory out there.  It’s very similar (down to having a caboose to sit in), except each meal there comes with free ice cream for dessert.  We went twice.

Next up is the half-marathon in Chicago in early August, also a Rock ‘N Roll event.  Woo.