Yes, that photo is correct; on June 21, the summer solstice, I was up before the crack of dawn. I can already hear you asking me why. Well, I wanted to hang out for a few hours with about 18,000 of these people:
In addition to being solstice day, June 21 was the day scheduled for the Seattle Rock 'n' Roll Marathon and Half Marathon, and Mr. D and I signed up months ago to walk in the half-marathon.
The race wasn't scheduled to start until 7:00 a.m., but all cars had to be parked by 6:00, so that is why that pesky alarm went off before 4:30. Once we got there and connected with Sarah, Martha and Tom, our walking buddies, there was time to look around.
Sadly, because of the events at the Boston Marathon last year, we had to see this policeman and
his dog at work.
Do you think he ran the race dressed like that?
Here are, left to right, me, Sarah and Martha, in a before the race selfie.
At seven o'clock, the race started, and we were off—NOT! Because we were walking , and our predicted half-marathon times were slower, we were positioned in a "corral" at the back of the race. It took us almost a full hour to get to the start line. By that time, Mr. D was really impatient to get started, so he took off like a shot (and finished about a half-hour ahead of Sarah and me).
This year, unlike the Narrows Half-Marathon last year, I actually took a few photos with my phone along the way:
Seattle's tallest building, the Columbia Center Tower, right, and the Seattle Municipal Tower, left.
The first rock band, at the mile 2 marker.
The giant guitar player, near the half-way point.
The view between mile 11 and mile 12.
Happy finishers. I finished in 3 hours, 33 minutes and 26 seconds.
All this was good fun, and a great way to celebrate the solstice. To find out what else I've been up to in the last month, watch the blog in the coming days for another hike, a knitting triumph, and some other fantastic events.
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