Richard Huff's Seattle Social Blog

Both times I've run the Capital City Half Marathon (2005, 2007) it has rained. The nice thing about the rain (in both cases) was that it only rained hard enough to provide a bit of cooling.

Melissa kicked me out of bed at 5:00 AM, and we drove from Seattle to Olympia. Parking and getting to the start was no problem. I'm also happy to report that this year's shirt was gray, long-sleeve, technical, and printed with an appealing logo design. Very nice! Worth keeping. I can toss another cotton race shirt.

There was only a moment to stay warm inside a Starbucks before our group was called to the start line. A cannon -- not a pistol or air horn -- signaled that the race was on. The quintessential Western Washington scenery of Puget Sound vistas and Douglas Fir trees lined the race course. The dome of the State Capital Building would appear and disappear in the trees as we made our way around the city. Melissa pulled ahead, and finished a full 15 minutes before me. She was grinning ear-to-ear when I saw her near the finish (where Chuck took the above photo of me) because she knew that they were handing out finisher metals -- something they didn't do in 2005, and something I'm still sore about.

We rewarded ourselves with a breakfast at McMenamin's Spar Cafe.

With the 2007 Seattle to Portland Classic (STP) just around the corner (July 14th and 15th), we're taking every chance we can get to "be in the saddle". Being back from a business trip earlier than expected allowed me to join Melissa and a couple other friends for the 2007 Skagit Spring Classic on May 12th. The Skagit Classic is in its 17th year, and offers four different routes: 25 mile, 45 mile, 62 mile, and 100 mile. Most of us rode the 62-mile route (a "metric century"), which included a picturesque climb up Chuckanut Drive. My fears of excessive automobile traffic competing for the extremely narrow roadway were somewhat unfounded.

The ride started out pretty rough. Although the terrain was flat for the first several miles, we had to battle head-on, gale force winds, heavy dust and poor quality pavement. The relative protection of the trees and elevation once we reached Chuckanut Drive gave us a much needed reprieve. Most of the route (until we dropped back into the Skagit Valley flatlands, near the end) was good. Volunteers with the sponsor (Skagit Bicycle Club) staffed rest stops along the route, and handed out homemade cookies and other snack foods.

My only regret is that I didn't take my camera.