Did the 9+ mile Portland Shamrock Run for the first time
this morning. What a fun event! I worked a 9 hour shift at the Restaurant
yesterday, so as soon as I got home we (DH and I) packed up the car and left
for Portland. We stopped to see friends
(Steve and Sue) who we haven’t had a chance to visit with in forever. We walked from their house over to Orenco
Station Grill for Dinner. I was famished
but wanted to eat healthy and not go overboard.
One thing I didn’t want was stomach issues during the night or before
the race. I ordered the Cajun chicken
and asked that they grill rather than fry it.
Yay me! They were very accommodating
and it wasn’t a problem. The chicken was
delish and cooked to perfection. It was
served with mashed potatoes (yes, I did have a little of those) and brocollini
which I just love. I did have a glass of
Riesling with my dinner which was also fabulous. I recently got a $25 off certificate from
Restaurant.com to Orenco Grill and had it with me so that made the meal even
better. I actually got the certificate for FREE (as well as one other $25
certificate) when I booked a rental car through Hotwire. DH had the New York Steak and a few beers, so
with the wine, drinks, meals and tip we still got out of there for $44… not bad!
The start and finish was at Waterfront Park and we got there early as I
still needed to pick up my packet. It was cold but my garbage sack helped!
I really didn’t get a
sense of how many people were there because I wasn’t crowded out on the course
or in the park. I heard the announcer
say 9,000 runners for my 15k event. Wowsa. Later DH heard that there were 9,000 for the
8k run, and 12,500 for the 5k. There was
also a fun run for kids and I have no idea how many for that… also all the observers. That is a LOT of people.
The weather was actually not bad. No wind to speak of which was good as it was
cold. The sun did come out once we got
started and no rain! I wore my running
gloves as well as my head band so that really helped. .. My hands were still freezing until mile 3.....oh and I must mention
my green sparkle skirt of course!
The course was very hilly. I thought the
Pasadena course I did last month was hilly… but this course had an uphill climb
that lastest for several miles and one hill was over 2 miles! The course took us to the top of Marquim
Hill, past OHSU, Vets Hospital and the
Chart House Restaurant. That hill is
steep going up in a car! I didn’t have a
problem with the hill but it did slow me down.
I am a slow runner anyway and am used to getting passed… a lot. I passed quite a few walkers on the hill so gotta
admit that made me smile.After conquering the hill, the reward was a steep
descent… then basically it was flat until the finish.
I haven’t seen my
official time yet but my Nike Run program told me 1:56:52. It will be interesting to see how that
compares with the official time. When I
ran the Pasadena Half last month my Nike Run time was exact to the second.
This was a fun event.
The downside? I didn’t get my
finishers medal.. boo hoo. They ran out
and said everyone with a time over 1:50 will have their medal mailed to
them. I was a bit bummed by that as it
is always fun to get a finishers photo with the medal. This year’s medal is a beer opener!
After all that exercise, I thought it would be fun to have a
splurge meal. DH and I went to Shari’s
Restaurant and I had a Strawberry Belgian Waffle. OMG Good!
Definitely was a fun finish to
the morning. Hope you had a sweet St Patty’s Day!
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