Four on the Fourth

There's a local race in a small town called Steilacoom on the edge of the Sound that hosts a wonderful Fourth of July run. It's called Four on the Fourth. If we are in town for the holiday, we run it. This year we are and we did. Today there were about ten Y Run Club runners there, plus all the other locals we usually see at these things. Steilacoom has a street festival and parade as well. Vendors are setting up just before the race, friends are chatting on the lawn outside the town hall, the sun is shining, kids and dogs are milling around and smiles are everywhere.

Rob came by the house this morning so we could carpool in. Eric, Rob and Steve planned to get there early, run the course, then run it again for the race. After finishing they tacked on another two miles. I ran with Margaret and Angela. Angela is 26 months pregnant - I am amazed by her determination to do this race today.

The race starts down hill, flattens out, then finishes up hill. I wasn't going to run it at all because I thought I should be resting my leg, but you know how that goes. I decided if I went easy I could do it. I finished in 47:05 and ran up the entire hill to the finish, which made me happy. I was pleased with my 11:50 pace and not too much pain in the leg, plus the wonderful fun of running and chatting with Margaret and Angela. Rob asked me at the end how it compared to last year's time and I couldn't remember. I came home and checked - last year I did 40-something. I was shocked! I didn't remember having a 10-something pace at all. I'm still happy to have run today - I got what I wanted - to participate and to go easy.

I went back and read last year's report on this race. I was surprised to read in the last few paragraphs that I thought Portland would be my one and only marathon. I guess I'm not too good at predicting the future!

We followed the run with showers and a BBQ at Margaret's house. Last year we went to the local parade too, but this year we skipped out on that part. It's been a fun day so far. This evening we'll attend a neighborhood BBQ, but will probably be party-poopers and skip the fireworks afterwards. I think we'll come back to the house and watch a movie instead. I love the low-key, relaxed pace of this holiday!