Running

Ten of us (Melissa, Rachele, Leslie, Dan, Bethany, Dan, Roger, Schelley, Patrick, and me) got together this year to run the 23rd Annual Henry Weinhard's St. Patrick's Day Dash in downtown Seattle. The race starts at the Seattle Center every year, runs down the failing Viaduct, and finishes at Safeco Stadium in Seattle's SoDo. Despite the poor weather, more than 15,000 runners come out for the slightly longer than 5K run. That's a record number of participants, exceeding last year's number by almost 3,000. We finished the race and made a rainy dash to Kells Irish Pub for some mid-morning breakfast. The route map was recorded with my Garmin Forerunner 305.

Melissa -- now the proud owner of an 8GB iPod Nano (Product)^RED -- turned me on to the best workout mixes I've ever heard. DJ Steveboy mixes hour-long tracks of 130 to 180 beat-per-minute ear candy. It's the sort of music that makes you want to throw up your arms and dance while you run. Not even the music from Rocky touches the sort of nerve that PODRUNNER tracks tickle. Take a dose for your next run.

You can get it through iTunes:

Homecoming Week at the University of Washington is kicked-off with the Dawg Dash 5K and 10K races. This marked the 21st year of the Dawg Dash, and the third or forth time that I've run the race. It's difficult to recall how many times for certain since another race I run (Nordstrom's Beat the Bridge 8K) starts from the same location at Husky Stadium. Unlike Nordstrom's Beat the Bridge, the Dawg Dash 10K zigzags through the University's campus in a manner reminiscent of a Freshman's first day of classes, when they have no idea how to get from their English 101 to Stats 111 in the 10 minutes allotted by their class schedule. We ran through the Quad, around the Business School, behind Denny Hall, and next to Drumheller Fountain (twice). I could almost swear that the same route was required in one of my class schedules.

There were 1,200 runners in this year's 10K race, a number they announced just before the start. Blue skies and a temperature in the mid-50s greeted us. If it weren't for my lousy performance at this year's race, I'd say things were perfect. My legs were exceptionally heavy, and I finished at miserable 1:00:07. Let's hope that my ChuckIt training regimen gets me ready for the Seattle Half Marathon (November 26th).

In the beginning of October for the past four years, I've hopped on the Victoria Clipper at the Seattle waterfront, and headed to the island capital of British Columbia. For the past four years, I've lined up in the early morning of that October weekend with several thousand other runners to enjoy 13.1 miles of a thoroughly pleasant half marathon. The weekend has become a very special ritual, which includes a stay at the funky Ocean Island Hostel, a visit to The Wine Barrel for my annual stock of the extremely rare Ice Merlot, and melancholy memories of the good times running the race with my ex-girlfriend (before she was my ex). Unlike previous years, I wear this year's race shirt and bib as a badge of shame, because I am a fair-weather runner. Although Saturday was a beautiful Autumn day, perfect for running, Sunday was cold, rainy and miserable. As much as I really, really wanted to add that metal to my collection, I couldn't get motivated to do the race in the rain. Having run a full marathon in a torrential downpour, I can do without another experience involving bloody socks and chafing. I can respect the people that run races in the rain, but I don't envy them.

I'll return for next year's race with my fingers crossed in hopes of good weather.

Jeff Smith and I met in Fremont this morning for the annual Oktoberfest Brew Ha Ha 5K. I've run the race at least three times, maybe four. The last two times I've noticed that they miscalculated the distance. 5K is roughly 3.1 miles, whereas the Brew Ha Ha 5K measures 2.9 miles. I guess it can't always be perfect.

This morning's race was also very warm -- the warmest I've ever experienced for a Seattle morning in late September. The heat radiated off the pavement of 34th Street like you'd expect on a mid-Summer day. Will there be an Indian summer this year?

This weekend's 5K Furry Fun Run definitely lived up to the trend that I've noticed over the past couple years. Plain and simple, more people (and pets in this case) are getting out and running races. At least it sure seemed that way until I looked for the quantitative data to support my anecdote.

According to Perfect Time Events, there were 865 runners in 2004, 881 runners in 2005, and only 881 runners in 2006. It's a little hard to believe that the past two years would see exactly the same number of runners. It also doesn't "feel" correct that the races for the past three years only varied by 16 runners. These numbers don't at all jibe with the Seattle Animal Shelter's annual report on the race, which counted over 2,600 runners and walkers in 2005. (I'll contact the Seattle Animal Shelter and ask if they'll provide summary registration information for the past several years, and then I'll update this posting.)

Whatever the case, there was excellent participation at today's race. As a fundraiser, it generates between $90,000 and $100,000 annually for the Help the Animals Fund. The Google Earth map of the race acquired with my Garmin Forerunner 305 will give you a virtual tour of the race path so that you can decide for yourself.