Album: Rock 'N' Roll Half Marathon 2009 (50 images)

I ran in the inaugural Rock 'N' Roll Seattle Half Marathon, and completed it in (personal) record time! After 1:46:21 of running I finished 100th in my division (of 592) and 970th overall (of 15668) with an average pace of 8:07. Since I was running I didn't have time to take pictures of my own, but these were conveniently taken by the photographers along the course. There's even a video of me finishing.

Click a picture to see a larger view.
This is the course map. I did the half marathon (blue line), 13.1 miles from Tukwila to Qwest Field. Talk about intimidating! These are the elite runners at the front of a pack of 25,000 people. And we're off at 7:00 in the morning! I'm somewhere back there around the big #6. I'm probably still waiting my turn to start, it took 3 minutes for me to get to the start line from where I was. The faster runners led the way out of Tukwila. This was near Seward Park along Lake Washington. I'm about mid-way back, black shorts and sleeveless blue shirt. Haha, I just noticed the guy in the white shirt and red hat is taking a picture of the photographers. People still had energy to cheer at this point, somewhere around mile 6.5. Here's a closer view of me. 45933_2265_012f.jpg I didn't know it at the time, but her number is only 1 higher than mine (6599 and 6600). We must have registered at almost the same time. The was a pretty happy group. This is probably around mile 8 or 9, when I started picking up the pace because things were going well. I don't think I saw this photographer until I'd already passed him. Coming up on the finish, just a few meters to go! I ran so fast the photographer couldn't keep up! j/k Not the most flattering picture, I admit. What is going on with my hands? I should pay more attention to that when I'm running. At this point I was wondering why there were puddles right before the finish line. Getting close! 4 more seconds! You can just see my legs under the 'N'. 3! 2! 1! Done! Nice finish shot. I made sure to land my timing chip right on the reader bar. From another angle. Yes, 'Roll Seattle.' Working on slowing down. Finally relaxing. It felt so good to put my arms down. A very happy guy behind me. Posing for my post-race shot. I even managed a smile! Note the already drained bottle of water. My stats. I just barely squeaked into the top 100 of my division (M 25-29). The rest of the pictures are generic shots that came with my order. These are finisher medals for the full marathon. Mine looks similar, but is blue instead of green. Boeing Field. Downtown from SoDo. Safeco. It was so nice to see Qwest Field as I ran in on I-90. Only a couple of miles left at this point. Some fountain along Alaskan Way. 45933_512_009f.jpg 45933_512_010f.jpg 45933_512_011f.jpg I actually had lunch here the day before the race. 45933_512_013f.jpg 45933_512_014f.jpg 45933_512_015f.jpg 45933_512_002f.jpg 45933_512_003f.jpg Nice shot of Mt. Rainier from along the course. I think that's a light rail bridge in the foreground. Of course, the Space Needle. I actually didn't see it on race day, but the full marathoners ran past it.
Copyright © 2012 David Seater