It’s taken me until this moment to realize why the next two towns in this series are named what they are. Situated on the banks of the Snake River, one is on the border of Washington State and the other is on the border of Idaho. Lewiston, ID, and Clarkston, WA, are named for famed explorers Lewis and Clark respectively.
Separated by a drawbridge, these two cities would serve as the locations for Days 3-6 of the Northwest Series. Days 3 and 4 were to be held in Clarkston. I stayed in Lewiston so had a “long drive” to the start line this morning.
It would be another 14 loop course, although it would prove to be a bit longer than the loops in Pendleton. As a result, with each loop’s extra distance being tacked on each trip out and back to the black cone turnaround meant the final distance would be 14 times as long… in this case, close to a mile long at least according to my not-always-100%-accurate Garmin.
The starting line at just prior to 4 AM:
Daniel ran out with me to do some last minute marking of the course with glow sticks. The original start time of 6 AM would have enabled the trail’s lighting to be on and active but because we were going “super early” not even the automated lighting systems were up and running yet.
This is a lousy snapshot of the black cone turnaround — I wanted to capture the darkness and the glow sticks, and just generally give a flavor of this beacon in the night that called to us, that egged us on just a bit farther in each loop. Which I got, even though I physically stopped and framed the shot hoping to get it, is a blurry mess. But that might capture the feeling of running at 4 and 5 AM quite nicely.
Even without the desire to “beat the heat” with the early start, I always prefer the dark early morning for running. There’s a peacefulness and tranquility to running in those pre-dawn hours. Not many folks are up and about (even in the city, if you run at 3/4 in the AM you’ve probably missed most of the closing time drinking crowd and are up too early for the early morning shifts). As we were near an RV Park, Mainly Marathons asked us to be respectful and quiet. Whispers of encouragement, not too loud to preclude disturbing the RV crowd, contributed to the peace and quiet.
For me, somewhere around loop 8 the sun came up. And unfortunately these photos don’t remotely do justice to the ball of fire in the sky — it was something to behold, especially as it reflected on the Snake River’s calm waters.
I was really struggling at the end. I’m feeling better overall although I’m still coughing up gunk that makes one think I’m Typhoid Mary’s Secret Lover. And the third day of marathoning, and the 192nd day of sleep deficiencies aren’t exactly helping. Still, I powered through the course, trying to snap the final turnaround at the black cone which had been decorated by fellow runners with plastic toy sheep and a sheep beanie because it’s a “EWE” Turn.
In the end, I rang the newly installed victory bell and clocked in at a 3:51 and change final time. And thus I treated myself to some silver-dollar blueberry pancakes.
Tomorrow we’re back at this course once again. Knowing it’s not just long but close to a mile long will prove a mental challenge. So I may treat myself to an Effie Burger tonight. What’s an Effie Burger? I’ll post photos later. Let’s just say (Gondwanaland! Do I hate that phrasing!), it’s an effin’ big burger at Effie Burger.