THIS EVENING IN PICTURES

There's a photo club at work with a weekly theme.  So far, I've entered three times and won once.  Not terrible and it's re-awakened the urge to shoot pictures.  So with a North wind blowing I hopped on the E Bike and headed towards the other end of the marina to Golden Gardens.  Always fun to shoot pictures there.

Here are the other  pictures I entered.  First was a sunset  shot and the theme was 'sun'.  I don't think there were that many entries.  Plus it was my first time.  I think they just wanted to draw me in.

The one below was one I chose not to enter.

Here's my entry for 'Friends and Family'.  I got 'most inviting' which is kind of a consolation prize.

This weeks was 'motion'  Here's my entry.  I'll find out the verdict Wednesday.  I suspect it doesn't show enough motion.

In any case, it's fun.

MOTHERS DAY WEEKEND UPDATE

Google maps makes it easy to watch the traffic flows and the typical Friday evening congestion was congealing on north bound I5 so I pulled the rip cord and headed north to catch the 6pm boat out of Anacortes.  I timed it just about right and at 6:05 I was in the ferry's cafeteria with a bail breaker IPA in hand and my book laid out in front of me.

Perfect way to start the weekend.

Friday Harbor was still in it's pre-season sleepiness, but you could tell there was more activity than the previous month.  Summer, and all that it brings both good and bad, is coming.

The house, as usual, was serene and Mom had been working most of the day in the yard.  Wine was served and good conversation followed.

The planks offered the lions share of Saturday's challenges.  Buzz had them dropped off and had rigged some saw horses outside to lay out the 4 planks.  The planks are 12 feet long, 18-20 inches wide and were milled from the cedar tree that fell in the February wind storm.  2 of the planks were bookend pieces and will be perfect for making....something.   One of the other pieces is destined for an outside bar at Leigh's house but first all the wood needs to dry for at least several months an maybe more.

The task involved moving these impossibly heavy piece from the guest cabin lot up to the shed.  Wheels and leverage are wonderful concepts.  

The drying rack

Stacked, supported and separated.

We took a quick trip over to Buzz's place to thank him for helping with the planks.  His shop is huge and he has projects lined up well into the next century.  He's got some beautiful wood pieces and there are times when you have more raw material than ideas on how to use them!!!  

After a day in the yard we went into town and had a pint at the new 'Oar House'.  Friday Harbor's only brewery at the moment.  This being a small town, Mom knew the two guys who built the brewery and the woman pouring beer behind the bar was an old acquaintance of mine.  Fun place and we'll be back.

Sunday morning.  Sunrise was perhaps not on par with some, but great nonetheless.

Mom made breakfast and then it was out in the yard for work.

The end result was nice and a nod to the coming summer.  It can't get here soon enough.

BLOOMSDAY

I should have trained.  

That thought kept running through my mind as we lined up with some 40,000 runners at the 41st start of Spokane's annual Bloomsday run.  It was to be Leigh's 27th time running the race.  It was my first.   Leigh has come close, but not quite cracked, the top 10% of runners in her age group in her previous races.  She hit 11% and 12% but has always finished in the top 20%.

Until today.

Leigh was adjusting her pace to mine.  In short bursts, I can run faster than Leigh, but that ability counts for exactly zero for Bloomsday.  The race is 12 kilometers long.  A 12K.  Or 7.45 miles long.  With hills.  One called 'Doomsday hill'.  With a big vulture at the top.

I should have trained.

Leigh's daughter joined us briefly prior to the start but worked her way up to the faster group starting ahead of us.  In the end she would finish some 30 minutes ahead of us. 


After four decades of running the race, the organizers have developed great ways to manage 40 to 60 thousand runners and walkers.  There's one starting line, but people are queued up by speed.  The wheel chair racers fire off first, then the elite runners, then the very good runners and so on with the walkers starting last.  The start is on one street, Riverside, but sets of side streets are used to access the starting processional on Riverside.  As each group starts, the remaining throng shuffle forward, closer to the starting line.

The Bib has a RFID chip and your start is automatically timed when you cross the starting line.  Cool technology. 

Also after four decades, traditions have set in.  One was the beach ball.  Despite rules that forbid it, several beach balls appear and the crowd keeps them airborne as we all await the start.  Tortillas also fly around like floppy Frisbees.  Some runners wear old shirts to ward off the morning chill and as the clock winds down they fling the shirts in the trees lining the street. 

The start went well and Leigh and I set into a comfortable pace.  We ran most of the first 3 miles, with the exception of a few small hills.  Scattered crowds line the streets.  There are political messages, religious messages, and several bands along the course.  Always something to look at.  One band had an annoyingly catchy blues song entitled 'My bi-polar baby'.  "She's up, She's down, she's all around, my bi-polar baby...".  It stuck with me a while for reasons unknown.

The organization of the race is unbelievable.  At the high water mark they had close to 60,000 people racing and today 40,000 had turned out.  One example was the water stations every 2 miles.   They were staggered, and the first one had a long line of volunteers offering water on the left side for perhaps half a block then more volunteers on the right side offering water for another half a block or so.  As you approached, the tendency was to go left and grab the first available water.  But a fellow on a loudspeaker was exhorting runners to go the right.  'Our water is cleaner, cheaper, colder on the right side'.  The result was a more or less even distribution of people grabbing water.

Leigh's niece graduated from medical school and is currently doing her residency.  She and her husband were volunteering on the sidelines just beyond mile 2 offering medical support.  Mercifully I didn't require any assistance then or later (but I should have trained!!).  We saw them as we passed and waved.

Vulture atop doomsday hill.  With Leigh waving.

Doomsday hill was not bad, but we walked it.  We walked it quickly, but we walked.  Leigh could've run it, but I would have really struggled.  The vulture at the top is a nice touch.

One humorous sidelight was a guy on the side of the course in a chair.  He had a case of Coors Light beer and some small cups.  He was filling them up announcing himself as the 'coors light water station'.

Mile 3 gave way to 4, then 5 and 6.   Leigh could have run the entire thing without walking, but I needed to walk a bit then resume running.  I really should have trained.  This is a race that is both fun and one should take seriously.  The  Bloomsday run has become part of Spokane's DNA.   The school system has programs to get kids fit enough to run Bloomsday.  There are a few 'I've run them all' T shirts.  We didn't see one but Leigh's daughter did.

Every race has a T shirt specially designed for that year.  Each year has a poster. 

 

And back to our race.  Every half mile or so there's a band playing.  You can vote for the best band at the end of the race and there are incentives and awards given to the best band.  Leigh made it a point to cheer and clap for each of the bands, showing appreciation for coming out to the course.

Mercifully mile 7 finally appeared.  A little less than a half mile to go. 

The finish line.  YES!

Looking forward to the finish line

Looking back at the finish line

Happy finishers.  The drive back to the house.

Spring in Spokane

All and all a fun day.  I'll train for next year.