Another Seattle Rock’n’Roll Half marathon is in the books! This was my third time running the Seattle Rock’n’Roll race and it was another awesome experience especially since I ran with MyTeam Triumph. It was so great to push Captain Anthony and seeing his smile when we pushed him was wonderful. It was so cool that so many people came up to us and/or cheered us on. It was such a fun and rewarding experience!

The day began in the wee hours of the morning. I think my sister and I left the house just before 5 am. We bought the parking and shuttle pass from the expo the day before so that we would be taken by bus to the start line. The parking garage was right by the finish line at CenturyLink Field. We were early enough that when we got to the busses we didn’t have to wait long to ride. Being one of the first shuttles, the bus driver did not know where to go and we got lost for a little bit and had to turn around. A policeman finally waved us to go on through the area the bus driver thought was closed. When we finally arrived by the Space Needle, close to the start, we headed for the bathrooms. There were plenty of Porta Potties and there was also indoor bathrooms in the Armory building. We had to meet up at the start line early, 6:15 am, since the wheelchairs and strollers started ahead of everyone else. We were scheduled to start at around 6:50 am. The race was actually delayed about 15 min. I’m not sure why.

Here’s a pic of me and my sis in front of the Space Needle.The start line.It was great meeting with Sal for the first time from Google+.

MyTeam Triumph consisted of Captain Anthony, Michelle, my sister, my good friend Jovanna, and Lindsay (not pictured below).Here’s a pic of some of the people who started after us in corral 1. There were forty something corrals and it was pretty cool to start before everyone else.

I thought the weather was great for racing. According to my Garmin it was 55 deg F. It was nice that it didn’t rain until after we had finished. They changed the course a lot from last year and I liked it especially since there wasn’t the big hill right before the finish. It was still hilly in parts but overall it was not bad. Here are pics I took along the way:Here is the first tunnel that we ran in.We ran on the Alaskan Way Viaduct for the last time since it will be gone next year.There’s the Great Wheel on the right.Do you see Gumby?Nice nuun costumes.The Alaska Airlines part was cool because there were a lot of inspirational quotes on the ground, which were fun to read.Cheerleaders.Loved hearing the drums here.Nice Mariachi band on the bridge.The Brooks rocker is always great to see.My awesome teammates.Captain Anthony was great! He loved singing Pop Goes the Weasel when we ran. We joined in at the chorus many times.Here’s where the split point was coming up, for half and full marathoners.Here’s where the blue mile, run to remember began along Lake Washington. The blue mile is there to honor and remember those who have served and sacrificed as part of our military. It was during mile 9.This was a really memorable spot because it got really loud when we ran through as everyone cheered for Anthony. It was pretty awesome!Here’s a steep part and it was really narrow. On the right you can see a sign that says, “Running Keeps Me Sexy”. Here’s the second tunnel we went through on I-90.There’s Safeco field. We knew we were getting close to the end.

Here’s a pic my sister took of me pushing Captain Anthony.It was a great finish with all of us crossing the line together. My time was 2:19:25.Here’s Captain Anthony with his medal.Pic with my sister, Jovanna, and Michelle with our medals. Photo taken by Joe.My sister and I with our Simple Hydration bottles. These bottles rock if you haven’t checked them out yet.

We took a picture with Michelle at the #GarminRocks inflatable.We had to jump for joy in front of it, lol.I also got to meet up with social media friends. It was so awesome to meet everyone!

The headliner for the concert was The New Pornographers. I didn’t get a chance to see them since my sister and I had to leave early for a wedding reception.

Here’s the cool medal.This was another terrific Rock’n’Roll race. The experience running for Anthony and MyTeam Triumph made it even more amazing. I would love to run another race with them. It would be nice to run the Seattle Rock’n’Roll race next year. I’m curious on what the course will be like. But it would be nice if the series came back to Portland.

Do you have a race coming up? Have you ran a Rock’n’Roll race?

Happy racing!