Race to Robie Creek
 

I ran the Race to Robie Creek Saturday. It was a rough one. They call it the toughest half marathon in the Northwest. Eight miles uphill followed by five steep downhill miles. It was my first time, so I wasn't sure exactly what to expect. I finished in 2:01:57 which was 454th of 2,309 and 66th of 174 in my age group. Not a spectacular finish, but I guess it's a decent benchmark to try and beat next year.

The race was an odd affair. They went with a Scottish theme this year so there were bagpipes and Gaelic bands. It started with a woman on a horse painted up like Mel Gibson in Braveheart chopping of the head of a wooden cutout of a person. Then in the first 100 yards I almost stepped in a pile of horse poo.

Near the crest of the trail they had a "temptation station" where volunteers offered Twinkies, Ding Dongs, beer, cigars and Jello shots as we ran by. And the ratio of beer kegs to Gatorade bottles at the finish line was about 1:1.