Hatcher Pass Marathon

Tough race today at the Hatcher Pass Marathon. It was a beautiful sunny day. But that meant it was also pretty warm for running up a mountain. We were all grateful for a cool breeze that helped keep us cool and also blow the bugs away. I carpooled with my friend, Roxana from California so we didn't need to plead with strangers to find a way 26 miles back down to our cars at the start line. She left her car at the finish line and I drove us to the start. Once we finished, she took me back to my car, There was also a 50 mile race. Those people started at the Hatcher Pass Lodge, ran up to the pass, then 24 miles downhill to the place where we marathoners started. Then they ran all the way back up to the pass and down to the lodge to finish. I was happy just to run the race in one direction. It was hot enough that I did as much fast walking as I did running. Roxana quickly left me in the dust because she is a faster runner. But at the high point at the pass, the course turns sharply and steeply downhill for 2 miles. I run like a 100 year old grandma on the uphill, but on steep downhills, I'm more like a 6 year old boy. Totally unafraid of falling and running as fast as I can letting gravity take me down. I finally caught up with and passed Roxana, beating her to the finish by a couple of minutes. But she was clearly the better athlete on this race. We were both so happy to finish, even though we were the last two marathon finishers. On our drive back to my car we passed several diehard runners still on their way to the 50 mile finish. I have nothing but deep respect for them because that must have been excruciatingly hard! They were all amazing. Of course Roxana and I are the same age and I'm sure much older than any of the rest of the runners out there. Yea for being 77 and still completing 26.2 miles. I think we will both be out there when we are 100.

This was marathon 165 for me and 408 for her.