Leavenworth 1/2 Marathon 2011

Well, I did it!  I ran 13.1 miles on October 15th 2011 on a beautiful sunny morning in Leavenworth Washington. The whole family and some friends went for the Oktoberfest weekend and we had a blast.

The race started out at the fish hatchery and entered the Icicle River Trail.  This trail is used year round for hiking, biking, cross-country skiing, and horseback riding.  It is very flat, but the terrain is quite bumpy.  We definitely had to watch our step to make sure we didn't twist an ankle or take a nose dive.  Go here to see the race course map.

We continued on the trail for 2 miles and entered the road which I much preferred to dodging horse poo and rocks.  This was a nice flat course for the most part and the scenery was beautiful.  We passed gorgeous homes, horses, and followed the river for 1/3 of the race.

I have to say that when running, I am not all that observant.  My husband and my friend were saying "did you see that house on the course?" or "can you believe that part of the course?" While I was thinking "did we run the same course?"  Although I did enjoy crossing 4 small bridges along the Icicle trail and my husband doesn't remember any bridges so I guess we all have our moments.

The last 2 miles we re-entered the trail and at this point it was hard to lift my legs high enough to avoid the tree limbs and rocks.  I was ready to be done.

I finally finished and my husband (who finished before me) was waiting for me with a fist bump and a hug.  Yay!  I'm done.  The finisher's medal was really cool.  It could also be used as a bottle opener (It was Oktoberfest after all).

 We all finished without injury.  All in all a good race.