When the comic came out, the Oatmeal said if he got enough positive feedback he'd sell shirts based on it. I e-mailed him and told him if they were tech shirts I'd be in it for two. He e-mailed me back telling me they'd be tech shirts and available soon. I bonded with my friend Chris Taylor over our understanding and bitterness towards the Blerch. We dubbed ourselves Team Blerch Killers. In December of 2013 we ran the Bellingham Trail Marathon together. Chris, my Mom, and me, in our Blerch tech shirts. But this is not a race report about that marathon. A few months ago the Oatmeal announced he'd be throwing a physical race. Thankfully, the Oatmeal is an ultrarunner from my home state, and runs on many of the trails I do when I'm home. The race was slated to be in Carnation, Washington, in September. The day registration came I sat at my computer with my credit card in hand, ready to register. I was on the phone to my mom, and we both barely made it in. It filled up in minutes.
A few months later the Oatmeal announced due to demand that he opened up a Saturday race. My mom and I were able to transfer our registration to that day. I booked flights via Virgin America and counted down the days to Beat the Blerch.
Friday morning my husband dropped me off at LAX at 5am. I hadn't slept well and the coffee was not strong enough, but it was a delight to see my mother pick me up. I got in the car and drove us to Greenlake and Road Runner Sports. There was a line out the door to pick up our packets, but while my mom waited in line I looked around. I grabbed a water bottle, a calandar, and 4 of the Oatmeal's new book. My mom and I picked up our packets, and got in line to have our books signed by the Oatmeal himself. We made friends with a marathoner from New York ahead of us, named Vladimir, who was also going to run the full marathon. When we got to the Oatmeal we told him about our friend Chris and his quest for a buckle, so he drew our friend in his book. He signed the book for my mom and my friend Freddy, and he drew me a demon bunny. We talked to him about trail running a little bit, and the trail the race is on, since we've all ran it before. He wished us luck and we thanked him for putting on the race.
Mom and I had fish tacos for lunch, and then I went out for Bellingham Beer Week and celebrated at La Fiamma and Elizabeth Station, having too much dark beers. I carbo loaded a wee bit too much. My mom picked me up and took me home to get a few hours of drunken sleep.
Four A.M. came too soon. I drove us down I-5 to Monroe, where I pointed out where the wheel fell off my '90 Jetta going over the railroad tracks, and when we got into Duvall and on highway 2 I was driving through soupy fog. Staying awake with a bit of a hangover and malty stomach was difficult, but my mom needed rest more. She'd recently suffered an allergic reaction to bactrim, so we were probably on the same level at that point of feeling like ass.
Carnation, Washington, is a very small town. I mumbled "we all float down here" and spooked my mother as we pulled into the grass field of a parking lot. She put a sweater over her head and took a nap as I put my Hokas on.
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It's so great being from Washington, and having so many running friends in the PNW. I instantly ran into my friend Carrie, and some others.
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The first mile was paved, then it went onto a packed crushed gravel out and back. The trail was surrounded with fields, frisbee golf, and blackberry bushes. I stopped and ate a few blackberries. The course was lined with maple trees, and I got a great satisfaction crunching orange leaves on the run.
Around mile 5 or so Chris turned off to make a pitstop with another runner, and we kept going. There was another out and back, which I believe was next to the Snoqualmie River, but it was so damn foggy I could barely see it. This few miles was river dirt with smooth rocks jutting out. The fog was starting to lighten up as we ran up a slight hill and merged with the 10k runners. The merge was difficult since we'd already ran 6 miles and they were just starting, and faster, but we moved into the middle of the bridge we were running across and found out place. Finally, after a few water stops with just electrolytes, we found cake. I stopped and ate a piece of cake, and it was glorious. I never thought cake during a marathon would be a good idea, but this was the first of many pieces.
At the turnaround for the 10k we found beautiful blerches demotivating us, and a couch. A couch! Nutella sandwhiches... purple grape drink. It was just amazing.
There was Sasquatch in the bushes too. It felt good to see the 10k runners turn around as we kept running. The path cleared up a bit giving us more room, and it was a bit quieter, which was enjoyed.
The Snoqalmie river trail is an amazing place to run. I last ran there in July from Snoqalmie pass to North Bend, and this time we were running from Carnation to Snoqualmie Falls. The trail was foggy, and lined with doug firs, cedar, maple, and birch trees. The light filtering through the trees was a beautiful green, and sunbreaks through the branches would occasionaly break through and warm your eyelids. The smell of moss, wet soil, ferns and stinging nettles, and almost-too-ripe blackberries took turns overwhelming the senses. The crushed gravel under foot offered a good bounce, but was still... crunchy.
after the half-marathon turnaround we had the trail to ourselves. A lot of runners were faster than us that day, so we cheered on those running back, and worked our way to the end. It was so peaceful, so quiet, and so pretty. We saw more cake, and I ate way more cake. I put nutella sandwhiches in my pocket for later.
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We came across an aid station that had a tunnel past it. We ran through the tunnel, and there was a small stretch of single track soft dirt lined with ferns that we ran down, and the turnaround was so anti-climatic with a volunteer sitting in the woods on a folding chair telling us "turn around". Very strange. We went back to the aid station where I ate yet another piece of cake. My mother commented on it, and I told her that I was hungry.
Most marathons start around 6 or 7am. This marathon started at 9 am. Around mile 15 it was lunchtime. I was so hungry. How blerchy. So, deadpool served me my cake lunch. So many amazing volunteers at this race supported us and cheered us on.
By mile 18 we were well on our way to the finish. My mom and I were talking about everything from our upcoming races we have, to shoes and shirts, and other secret marathon things. She started to feel bad, so I had her switch the Garmin to a 2:1 run:walk ratio. I told her she should have ran the half, but she got mad and said "I'll finish!" Of course, finishing wasn't an issue, duh, but she did not feel well. I started thinking "Shit, I should have brought a phone in case something happened." but she was fine. By mile 20 I said "Hey, just a 10k left!" "Hey, pft, 5 miles! Easy." "Lets stop and eat more cake." A boy at the aid station was wearing a shirt that said it was his birthday, so we stopped and everyone there sang happy birthday to Eric. I saw Sasquatch chillin' on a couch with a blerch. I went over and asked him if he preferred Sasquatch or Quatchi, and he said Quatchi. I asked if we could cuddle for a minute, because I was tired. He patted the couch and I plopped down. He was very soft.
I ate more cake.
We ran.
People cheered us on.
I love running. I love running in the woods. I love running with my mom. I just love it all.
We ran across a bridge, down a little slope that gave us some ommpfh. We were a mile away, and the road was paved. People started cheering us on. We kept running. We saw the finish line. We crossed the finish line. It was great.
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Thank you to the Oatmeal for throwing a great race. I'm thrilled it was a trail marathon in the woods of rural Washington. The swag bag was great with stickers, and the shirt provided - a long sleeved partial zip collared shirt - is really nice. Some people lamented the price, but I think for what we got it was worth it. When I first signed up I said I'd be happy just running it once, but after running it I want to do it again. Perhaps next year when the run comes to Southern California or Portland I'll run it again.
Strava data: http://www.strava.com/activities/199269080
LOVE this......hoping to see a SoCal one! looking great girlie!
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