See Jane Run While Avoiding Thorn Bushes

This weekend was Half Marathon #8: See Jane Run in Seattle, WA. As usually, I had a great time in Seattle meeting up with friends and family. I even did a hike the day before the race. AK took me to Rattlesnake Ridge. It was just under 4 miles and when the clouds/fog cleared we got some great views. It was fun seeing all that lush greenery. And even on an overcast day this trail was crowded!



But the main attraction of the weekend was the Half. There were some great things to like about the run. The course takes you around Lake Union, you get to run across a couple of bridges, the weather and the other runners were really great and the post-race festivities were nice. Unfortunately, this race was also a bit disorganized from a runner's point of view. At packet pick-up I asked if there was a course map, and a volunteers said it was in my bag. It wasn't. There were under 10 port-a-potties for 2500 runners, most of whom were women. The line was so long. Gas Works Park, this cool park on the north side of Lake Union was the start and the finish of the race. There is limited parking and mass transit and the organizers did not arrange for a shuttle. When I asked people at the race how I could get back to downtown, it took four volunteers before I got an answer. Ultimately, another runner gave me a ride back to the hotel. She was really nice and friendly, and said getting a cab in that area would be hard and then offered me a lift back (she was going through town). The course itself was pretty but we were running on local trails which means people other than See Jane Run runners were using it. It also means (for the out and backs) it got very crowded. If that wasn't bad enough, in certain parts, the trail had these thorn bushes, some with really large stems jutting out into the path. I watched one runner narrowly avoid getting a faceful of thorns. There were also some unpleasant smells on this course -- exhaust, which you expect at any urban race, sewage or fish guts ( I don't know what it was, just that it was horrible), and coffee (which makes me want to throw-up). The chocolate and champagne weren't enough to make up for the minuses of this race. That said I ran the race in 2:17:32 according to my watch. (I forgot to pack my garmin), but my official chip time was 2:22:13 (which included one potty-break. If you're asking why, I refer you to the lack of port-a-potties at the start.)