The rumors are true: There IS magic in Eugene

First things first - Becka and I finished in 5:17, which is 1. not a PR, but is 2. MUCH faster than 7 hours, and 3. exponentially better than being dead.

I feel like it COULD have been a PR kind of day, but I was kind of hurting, and... well, I just really enjoyed the course, and I'm glad I wasn't too distracted to keep yelling "OHMYGOSH THIS IS THE PRETTIEST PLACE EVER!".

There is always, always, always another race.

In hindsight, I will admit that I was a little sad when we let the PR dreams go, but considering the state of my entire right leg today (48 hours later), it was a good call, and probably one I should have made earlier in the race.

Anyway. Apparently I personalized my bib! I forgot all about doing this!

We met up with Alma and Kim Saturday afternoon (after a quick stop at Voodoo Donuts {x2} and Lululemon in Portland - which, btw, is a colorful city...). We had a lame dinner at Amici in Springfield, then headed over to Hop Valley Brewing to continue our carb loading festivities.

After morning arrangements were made, and parking tips provided, everyone headed off to separate rooms, and I think we were in bed by 10? Early birds!

We stayed at Holiday Inn Express in Springfield, about 10-15 minutes from the start line, and I can't reccommend this place enough - in addition to being adjacent to a brewery, they also provided a super late checkout (2:30!), so we could even come back and shower after the marathon. Sweet!

We left around 6am, for the 7am start, and found parking pretty easily - we got SUPER lucky that we got where we did, because by the time we got out of the car and back to the main street, it had been blocked off already. So, of note, getting there around 6:15 was okay, but close - and there was plenty of parking to choose from. The shuttles sounded like they might take forever, so I'm glad we made this choice. (that is, I was until we ran right by our car at mile 9.5, and thought, huh, wouldn't it be kind of nice to just stop here? And we were joking, but some people weren't....)

Ran into SR at the awesome bathroom lines....

Tip: There were lines lines lines lines lines like mad for the bathrooms. If you can hold it, do - there are TONS of bathrooms on the course. If you cannot wait, head to the very back - lines were WAY shorter. OR, if you're a risk taker, once the race started, there was zero line - the race is chip timed, so if you don't mind dodging a bit, that might be an option.

The course is BEAUTIFUL. It never felt too crowded, and there was plenty of room to maneuver.

The first 9 miles run through some residential areas, and the crowd support is amazing.

Dear H: It's so pretty here, I might just stay forever.

I took this picture on the giant hill at mile 8, because Gabby LOVES dinosaurs. Turns out, it's Kim's friend, Maureen! Happy coincdence!

At mile 11, you cross over the river, and head into a little section of trail, and then a residential area again.

Dear H: This is my new running path....
 

Miles 13-16 are through kind of a commercial area, and on a coned of section of the road - not my favorite, but it wasn't the worst ever.

it's true, there is!

The thing that I was REALLY excited about, when I decided I wanted to do Eugene, were the miles on the Willamette River. It looked so, so pretty. And it was, which I yelled to Becka about 437 times.

Dear H: It's for real, I'm staying.

We found the Hash House Harriers around mile 22.6...

You stay on the beautiful river path until mile 25, then you run through some funky industrialish not-pretty route, until you're suddenly back out in the street at mile 25.5. And, just when you're saying, "Maybe we can walk until mile 26....", you turn a corner, and like magic, your friends that ran the half are somehow RIGHT THERE ready to take your picture!

See? Magic. In Eugne.

Post race, there was the standard medical, photographer, food, etc., but we knew there were people waiting for lunch, so we headed out expeditiously. After some delicious food, B, L and I started the long, beautiful drive up to Portland, to complete the Voodoo Trifecta.

Did you know, there are three Voodoo locations - two in Portland, one in Eugene. We managed to hit all three in just over 24 hours. BEST CHALLENGE EVER.

 

The end.

Eugene is a GREAT race, and I would totally do it again. Kim was a fantastic hostess, and even though I didn't love Pitch Perfect (sorry, ladies), I loved being there.

Excellent, excellent weekend.

Let's do it again, yes?