Starting at 8 a.m. (without fail) loud off key renditions of "Rollin' on the River" and "Johnny B. Good" begin playing outside the Solof household. Good morning COACH SOLOF! What day is it? 10/10/2010.
Sunday was the Portland marathon. It was hard to miss it because the university was blockaded by a steady stream of runners for several hours. Willamette Blvd., which separates UP and the bluff from the rest of the world, was almost impossible to cross.
Even though we did not have official team practice, a lot of the team met to cheer on the marathoners (specifically some UP cross country alumni). Some team members even pulled out lawn chairs and sat in their front yard and watched the marathon festivities go by. Only thing better than running is watching other people running….. (I guess?) Or maybe it’s the enjoyment of watching other runners struggle, hobble down the street, get booty lock, and hit the wall. Runners are SO WEIRD!!!
I ran towards St. Johns (which is North of campus) and ran into Nora Panitz. She was running right behind the 3:40 pacer guy. It was easy to tell he was the pacer for this group, because there was a large crowd gathered around him and he had a lizard shaped sign displaying what pace he was running.
Nora made the qualifying time for Boston running under her goal time of 3:40. Both Adriene (Nova) and Bobeya (Krishnek) also ran an impressive 3:09 and placed in the top 20 for the Portland Marathon. Way to represent UPXC!
After the main stream of the race had gone through Willamette Blvd. it was an absolute mess. Water cups, special energy shot goopy packets (I think they are NASTY), gummy bears (that were growing and soggy from the rain), and running clothes lined the street.
Of course the Sunday marathon racers enjoyed an absolute down pour for however many hours their race endured. ….And of course, Monday morning it was sunny out. Don’t you love the northwest?
-Lyndy Davis