Tri Cities Marathon Relay

The more time I spend with Evan the more I see that we were meant to be friends.  This was probably the most fun we have ever had.  As you can see we are really two peas in a pod.

 

 

I hope Evan won't mind me saying this; Evan was born deaf and, from my understanding, has not heard anything his whole life.  However, that doesn't define him, and it certainly doesn't limit him.  I have always been impressed that even though he can't hear, he successfully made his way through public education without special classes, graduated from college, has a great career, lives in his own house, has excelled at triathlon, and is emerging as one of the best distance runners in Montana.

 

He certainly doesn't need me there, but I understand my opportunity to help him live his adventures on all these trips.  We are getting pretty good at talking.  I don't know sign language, but we have it figured out now that neither of us have to use a pen and pad.  Through a combination of lip reading and gestures we can both understand each other. 

 

Evan loves food, fancy food, and he always has places in mind that "we have to eat at."  I can't tell you how many times we have had a dinner for two before and after races.  The place he picked for Saturday was delicious, but we timed it perfectly so that we had our table among all the homecoming couples...awesome.

 

*I razzed him good about the candlelight dinner gesturing, "Why did you bring me here?!?"

 

For this race we were competing against all relay teams; two-person, three-person, and four-person teams.  There were about 100 teams competing and I knew that if we wanted to do well then we would have to combine for a sub three-hour marathon.

 

The day before the race I got sick and I was really worried.  Racing sick is never fun, it added a lot of pressure that I was a critical part to the race.  If it was just a regular half marathon then I probably would have just watched Evan.  I didn't have that luxury given it was relay, so I prepared myself to just do my best.

 

 

*The cable bridges are awesome!

 



 

Evan ran the first half marathon of the race and took it out strong.  He did a really good job putting us in a good position.  After I watched the start I made my way to Veteran's Park which was the transition point for us.  It didn't take very long before I saw Evan.  He took his 13.1 miles out in about 84 minutes, which is ridiculously fast.   

 

 

 

We made the exchange and I took over.  I really enjoyed the Spokane Half Marathon two weeks ago, I ran it and it was effortless.  It seemed like I would blink and the miles would fly by.  I ran 94 minutes there and had a blast.  I am not going to say I didn't enjoy this race, but it was nowhere close to being as effortless. 

 

*Let's do it!

 

For this race the miles went by a lot slower.  Part of it was because I was sick, another part of it was I didn't want to let down the team and get passed.  This was a race after all.  I ran and ticked off the miles the best I could (still enjoying myself for sure).  I see why people love distance running the more I compete in it.  A funny note; my race plan involved stopping every two miles to sniff up a bunch of nasal spray to clear my sinuses. I carried with me, if that wasn't a sight to be seen. lol



 

 

8 years ago I ran the full marathon here, but I have not been back to the race since.  It was really nice to be back in the Tri Cities running again. The miles ticked off as I ran next to the river, enjoying the view.  The fall colors were pretty to see and run through.  

 

 

Evan took it out in 84 minutes, and I brought it back in 94.  That was the best I could do, it was a grind.  Mile 12 was really tough, so tough that I had to stop and stretch out my cramping legs, you can see it all over my face at the finish.  I still enjoyed the race, but it was tough. 

 

*Grinding to a halt :)

 

Overall we did a good job, we ran 2:58 which was good enough to win the relay by about a minute.  I wish I could take credit here, but Evan was our team's saving grace.  He did a great job getting us a good lead, a lead that I used up completely while I drug my anchor to the finish. lol.  I am just happy with being there, with finishing, and with not letting our team down.



*We won wine glasses as the winning relay team.

 

Evan had a Mexican restaurant in mind for after the race.  The owner, Victor, knows Evan and was very gracious in conversing with him, asking about his parents, and just taking a general interest in what we were up to.



We stopped at an apple factory.  They had every treat you could imagine, and the apples were the size of  softballs.  Evan bought a huge $30 box of Fujis.

 

Overall it was a very fun adventure.  I had a lot of fun and laughs.  Even though I was sick, the race was still somewhat enjoyable and I am glad I was able to run it.  There is something very special about distance running. Thanks to Evan for being part of it, and thanks to his mom for all the treats.