Drowned Cats

Run for the Cheetah
Portland, OR
My Time (8K): 0:44:47 (89/214 OA, 35/124 Females, 9/16 AG)
Chad's Time (5K): 0:23:51 (25/288 OA, 16/105 Males, 5/15 AG)

Another fall weekend here in the Northwest had us racing again. Since Chad and I both like the challenge of racing, we're trying to run at least one race a month to keep our motivation up and stay in shape. This month brought us to the "Run for the Cheetah" race put on by the Oregon Zoo to benefit the Cheetah Conservation Fund. It sounded like it would be a fun run through Washington Park.

Since he's still technically in marathon recovery, Chad opted to run the 5K with Nathan and I faced off against the 8K course. The race website was surprisingly devoid of any information about the course (warning bells?) but I'd been hearing rumors all week that it's basically straight downhill, then straight uphill. Heck it's Washington Park. There's no way you could argue that a run of any distance through it would be flat or even rolling. Morbid curiosity had me mapping the course after we got home and I'm glad that I didn't know what was in store for me prior to racing. Fear of the known would have had me worried....


Since the race started at the civilized hour of 8:30 AM, today wasn't quite as early as our previous racedays. We had time to eat our typical breakfast of bagels and peanut butter, drink some coffee, and even read the paper. The weather was overcast and chilly with an 80% chance of rain but we were sitting in a dry spot. Let's hope it stays that way until after the races are over. We piled into the car, drove out to the zoo, parked, then made a beeline for the porta-potties with about 30 minutes to go before the 8K started. By the time we got to the zoo, the sky started spitting on us and the wind was beginning to pick up. We saw and chatted with one of my coworkers who was out cheering for his wife and daughter. The rain started coming down a bit more insistently so we staked out a dry spot under one of the many tents and helped hold down the posts so the wind wouldn't blow it away. They called the 8K racers over to the start line and I reluctantly took off my fleece and made my way over to freeze along with the rest of the would-be cheetahs.

And we're off up a slight uphill before we get to the main road which winds down to the bottom of the West Hills. Down and around we go past the archery grounds. Switchback after switchback occasionally commenting to other racers that we actually have to run back up the monster road. Mile 1...0:8:06...feeling good but it was all downhill. Need to save some energy. Rose Garden coming up and we're still going down? Oy!!! Mile 2...0:15:43...it's a downpour now and I start getting concerned that I started too fast and won't have enough gas to get back up to the zoo so I scale it back a little. We're still descending and finally turn around as the first houses outside the park come into view. A short flat to rolling stretch and the UP starts. Pretty much everyone around me stops to walk but I made a deal with myself that if I wasn't close to dying (not even close though I am breathing harder), forward running momentum will not stop. I slow to a snail's pace but I'm still running and slowly passing many people around me. Mile 3 wasn't marked so I have no idea what that split was. We rejoin the 5K runners at their turnaround and the throng is still slowly moving up, many people walking, but I never met my criteria for walking. Mile 4...forgot to look at my watch...still plugging along. A quick glance at the watch as I pass the archery grounds says that I'm at 39 minutes and change, better than I expected given the tough course. If I push a little more, I can make my goal of a sub-45 minute 8K so I turn on the engines a bit more and sail to the finish where I met Chad, Nathan, and a tri-bud who also ran the 5K....0:44:47! A quick chat then all of us elect to get out of the driving rain in favor of warm cars and hot showers at home.


Musing's of a Mad Marathoner (Chad's RR)
Hill Big. Me Tired.

(I've been told to elaborate)

Nathan and I got our start about 15 minutes after the 8K start. I put the rain cover over Nathan's stroller while we awaited the starting gun. As we took our place near the back of the pack, the other parents and children with strollers gave covetous glances in our direction wishing that their strollers offered better protection from the elements. Finally, the gun went off and a few seconds later...we're walking! AAARGH! They didn't tell us that there would be walkers in this "race". After about 100 yards I found another running dad with a stroller to lead the way around the walkers. Only problem was that he was calling out "on your right" as we passed people on their left. Ooops. We managed to avoid any collisions and soon were running free. As we reached the bottom of the first downhill section, we moved past the other stroller dad and started to push the pace. Nathan and I reached the 1 mile split at 6:58. Pretty good, but it's now dawning on me as we see the lead 8K runners passing in the other direction that we have to run up this same hill. That will not be fun.

We reached the turnaround point sooner than I expected and now faced a moderate climb for the next tenth of a mile or so before reaching the base of the steepest part of the climb. I was huffing and puffing now but managing to keep my breathing under control. About half way up the hill, near the two mile mark I finally had to walk. Many of the runners around us were walking as well, so I didn't feel too bad about it. A 30 second break and we finished our climb up the hill. There was one more climb, past the archery range before we reached the finish. I had to walk up part of that climb as well. Next time, Raquel can carry her own jacket. It's not enough that I had 20 lbs of stroller, 30 something pounds of child, a diaper bag, and my own jacket and pants, I had to carry hers as well.

Now we reached the last tenth of a mile and the course leveled out a bit, so I decided to push as hard as I could the rest of the way. There were two turns near the end of the course before we reached the finish. No problem with the first turn as it was a wide one, but the second curve was sharper and slightly downhill. I always tip the stroller back off the front wheel, since it doesn't turn, and do a "wheelie" when I need to change direction. This time, we were going a bit fast and the course was slippery. I tilted Nathan back and started the turn. I could feel the stroller pulling hard to the left as we turned and was fighting to keep it level. I felt the right wheel lift slightly off the ground and realized I was now pushing Nathan on one wheel, at full speed, in front of all of the race's spectators. I tried to remain calm and managed to keep control of the stroller and land it safely back on all three wheels. We then crossed the finish line as I squeezed the hand brake on the front wheel willing us to stop before we hit the volunteers just past the finish line who were waiting to remove our timing chips. We stopped in time, barely.

I was on such a rush of adrenaline at this point that I forgot to check my watch for a while. I'll wait for the final results to be sure of my time, but I think it must have been around 24 minutes. I can live with that. Overall, it was a fun course to run, and about the worst conditions to run it. I'd love to try it again next year without the stroller just to see what kind of time I can get.