I had to get up at 5:30am to get ready and out of the house by 6:30am. Astoria is about 1/2 hour away and I allowed time to get parked and over to the bus for the ride across the river to the starting point. According to the race rules, you have to be in line to get the bus by 7:30 or they won't guarantee you will make the race. I was in line at 7:15 and basically just walked up and got on the bus. It takes about 15 minutes to get to the start point in Dismal Nitch and the race starts at 9:00am. I ended up cooling my heels for over an hour.
This is my fourth time doing the GCRC. The first year I walked, the second year I walked with a few jog intervals, and then last year I ran for the first time. My time last year was just under 72 minutes so this year my goal was to do better... with a real hope that I would finish in under 70 minutes. Since I have been running fairly regularly it seemed to me that I should be able beat my previous time. The conditions were optimal... good weather and no wind. The mornings are pretty chilly so I wore long running pants, a jacket that I could tie at my waist once I got warm, gloves and a head band. I made sure my iPhone was fully charged so I could use my Nike+ running program and I clipped on my ipod.
With a field of 3,000 people, it is pretty crowded as they have everyone start at once. Your official time starts when you cross the timing pad but it is frustrating to be in a big crowd where you can't get through... so I make sure that I start up toward the front. I like to be there to give encouragement to my two nephews also as they are great runners and always place... usually in the top five. This year they came in at 4th and 5th place!
The starting horn blew and off we went. The run from the starting point is about a mile to the bridge entrance. The bridge itself is 4.1 miles long and the last bridge mile has a large elevation gain. That is the river channel and large ships go under the bridge to get through. I started off strong and after a mile checked and noticed that I was maintaining a good pace (for me).... about 10 1/2 minute mile. Yay! At that pace I would be able to finish comfortably under 70 minutes. My right foot was bothering me a bit as my toes were really cold and I hoped they would warm up soon. Mile 2 and 3 were strong and finally toes started to warm up. Mile 4 and still maintaining 10 1/2 minute mile but the bridge ascent was looming. Lots of people were walking now but I trucked on. I typically train with a steep hill at the end of my runs and the bridge ascent while longer than my typical hill run was not as steep.
I lost some time going up the bridge span so decided to pour it on going down. I managed to make up a little time going down getting my pace up to 9.75 min/mile.
After leaving the bridge there was still a mile left to run. Most of my training runs are about 4 miles, but the adrenaline and energy from the other runners kept me going strong. I crossed the finish line with an official time of 1 hour 7 min 11 seconds. My Nike+ running indicated that I ran 10k in 65 minutes and that my total run was 6.4 miles.. but I figure that there must be some calibration issues since the course was "officially" 10k. In any event, I was pleased with my time and for the FIRST time I finished with an above average field time. My Nike App said I set a new PR for 1 mile, 5k, and 10k. I'll take it!
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