Issaquah 5K

I was up again early in the morning this weekend for another 5K (3.1 mi) race. Unfortunately Eric was still out with his knee injury, so he was on picture duty instead being able to race with me. We are hoping he will be back in time for our next race...the Furry 5K. It was a cool morning so I had the chance to try out my new Livestrong running shirt. Can't miss me in this color! It was a beautiful course at the Lake Sammamish State Park.

www.issaquahtri.com/

And the photo finish...

Beat the Bridge

Beat the Bridge is a race to benefit the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. The race takes place near UW and the course crosses the University bridge at mile 2. The bridge goes up 20 minutes after the race starts and it you haven't made it across before it goes up, you get stuck behind it.

The race took place on Sunday May 28. It was an 8K (5mi.) There was a great turn out; the race was packed. They raised over $1,350, 000 for diabetes research. I set anew 8K PR (personal record) with a time of 39:58.
I definitely didn't get stuck behind the bridge.

Eric was out with his knee injury and couldn't race so he was available to snap some photos. Our new racing buddy Joe Shaw ran it as well. We collected some good post-race swag and we got some cute Beat the Bridge t-shirts.

Here's the link for more information on the annual beat the bridge race:
http://www.beatthebridge.org

Here's Joe bright and early on Sunday morning, ready to race.

Here's a shot from the start of the race. I'm in black and red on the right.Here's Joe rocking his iPod at the start of the race. He looks so serious!

Comparing what we got in our post race goodie bags. We love race swag!

Bloomsday Race 2008

The Lilac Bloomsday Run is one of the largest road races in the US with over 40, 000 participants each year. It is a 12 kilometer (7.46 mile) race coursing through downtown Spokane, Washington . This year it took place on Sunday May 4^th. The course is not easy, consisting of various inclines, one of which being the infamous “Doomsday Hill” at mile 5.

http://www.bloomsdayrun.org/

Eric, Steve, Maxine and I decided to participate this year making it a Scranton Family event. Eric and I took a weekend road trip to sunny Spokane from our home in Seattle to visit our Spokane 'Mom and Dad.'

We had team shirts made as part of our family weekend festivities.



Eric raced in the elite division as a member of the Washington Trust Corporate Cup Team. I qualified to race in the yellow division following the elite group.






Maxine and Steve (Eric's parents) power-walked in the lilac group.

It was the first time both Maxine and I participated in the race. But it won't be the last. I think we are hooked!

It was a gorgeous warm day with an unexpected temperature of about 65 degrees. Both Eric and I finished with respectable times beating our personal goals. Eric had a time of 59:07 and I followed him with a time of 1:06:25.

Eric injured his knee in a soccer game a few weeks before the race. He wasn't 100% by race day and running the 7.5 miles re-aggrivated the injury. He has been diagnosed with a sprained MCL, PCL, and torn horn ligament in his left knee. Eric is now restricted from running and soccer until he is fully healed.

Eric's knee wasn't his only race injury. He learned the painful way why male long distance runners use nipple band-aids when they race. "Chaffing" doesn't begin to describe his pain by the end of the 7.5 miles. At least the front of his racing singlet wasn't covering in blood like many of the other men we saw crossing the finish line who had made the same mistake. Eric has since fully recovered from his "aereolar injury" and will be using preventative band-aids next year in Bloomsday.

We hope you enjoy these images of our proud Team Scranton Team! We are showing off our "finisher" shirts. Washington Trust Bank was the main sponsor of the race. Their logo is on the sleeve. We were very pleased with how the finisher shirts looked this year. For those who don't know, a unique feature of Bloomsday is that they keep what the shirts will look like a secret until after the race, and you have to finish to get one.