Marathon #7

Jack and Jill's Downhill Marathon

Hyak to North Bend, WA

Northern Washington in July is wonderful!  I am not a fan of big cities, so Seattle was a bit intimidating.  Thankfully, we stayed outside in Issaquah.  This race was different for me.  I wore my trail shoes as it was a former train route.  Trails I've done, but all downhill was new.  The course was mostly gravel and dirt and not completely downhill. The hills were not terrible. I hurt differently and longer from this race. I am usually okay the day after a race, but the stiffness lingered a few extra days.  The race starts in the mountains near Snoqualmie Pass, about 30 miles outside Seattle.  The temperature was in the 40s at race start, perfect!  A mile in, is the above tunnel.  It is 2.5 miles long. I got really warm in the tunnel, as there was no wind.  Once I left the tunnel the wind was back and stayed for rest of race, very refreshing!  We ran 95% in the mountains and the last bit was in North Bend, mostly in a park.  I would do this one again, just because of the mountains and temps.  One thing I noticed though, Washington's pine trees do not have a strong scent, I missed that. Back to Alabama where pine trees smell amazing!