Wednesday, July 07, 2010

Foot Traffic Half Marathon
Portland, Oregon
Sunday, July 4, 2010

The Foot Traffic Half Marathon was held on Sauvie Island in the Columbia River near Portland, Oregon on Sunday, July 4, 2010. The temperature varied from 53 degrees to 60 degrees with little wind. The sunny skies gave way to a heavy overcast after about 30 minutes. The course was flat with one lane of the rural road dedicated to the participants and the other dedicated to traffic which was light and moved slowly. A few police officers and fireman controlled traffic at the few intersections. Water stations were located every 2 miles and had no electrolyte drinks available when I arrived at the stations. The volunteers were plentiful and enthusiastic. If you wanted a race shirt, you had to pay extra. Surprisingly, there were no age groups awards for the event which had 1937 finishers in the half and 395 finishers in the full marathon. An unimpressive medal was given to each finisher. Fresh picked strawberry short cake and hot dogs that were provided to the finishers were delicious. I did enjoy seeing many of the Marathon Maniacs and Half Fanatics at the event and being a tourist for an extended weekend. On Saturday, July 3, I had the unique experience of watching snow skiers and snow boarders on Mount Hood and less than an hour later seeing kite boarders and wind surfers on the Columbia River. I enjoyed myself as usual.

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