To give some perspective on what’s happening, here are two photos from Clarkston, WA. The first is from Monday and the second is from 24 hours later.
They were posted by Dee Dee Urquhart, a Marathon Maniac legend that should be inducted into their hall of fame any day now. I’m not sure if she took them or they were sent to her so if I’m failing to correctly credit the shooter, my apologies. My gut says they were taken by Dennis R Smeltzer as he’s shooting some great stuff this week. But I can’t say for sure.
What I can say is that the air quality has taken a smoky turn and these photos perfectly capture it, better than all my prose and failed photos from yesterday could.
In light of that, late last night the good folks at Mainly Marathons sent an email out to folks. It reads:
These guys are doing everything they can to ensure runners have a safe, fun, and positive experience… even if that means people decide to opt out of the run. Here’s a look at that air quality indicator.
I’m pretty sure we are smack dab in the middle of the harshest coloring.
But like the apocryphal US Postal Service slogan, neither rain, nor hail, nor dark of night, nor smoky horizons, nor typhoon, nor zombie apocalypse is likely to deter the majority of us from doing those loops and getting those rubber bands. But they made the effort and that’s a testament to how these folks roll.
To be honest, the air this morning was probably a little better than yesterday. Unlike yesterday’s solid color haze of sky, driving into Hells Gate we could even see the moon. It looked just like the sun yesterday (or even later today). It was a shiny red orb in the grey sky. Who needs an eclipse when wildfires can simulate the experience?
I had written a long explanation for the tough day I had on the course. But I’ve cut it. See? I’m capable of editing when the mood strikes me. It’s not always half-assed prose that goes up on this site. Sometimes it’s three-quarters-assed!
To make a long story short (too late, as they say in Clue), this was a mentally grinding and physically draining day. Again, the air was easier to swallow if not breathe, but I think maybe the cumulative effects of miles, of smoke, and of life in general are taking a toll. The course itself was a flattened figure eight – we ran out a half mile to a black cone, turned around, ran back past the aid station and ran out another half mile to a second black cone (there are two?! But… but… ) and then ran back to the aid station to complete the loop and start again. As all courses have been this series, it was 14 loops for the marathon. And while today was still slightly long on the loops, it was much shorter than Clarkston. Nonetheless, I wound up with my (so far) slowest time of the series.
I didn’t take many photos – the darkness and haze made shooting pics on the run extra blurry. But here’s what I did capture “in motu” as a bunch of dead Romans might have said in Latin:
***
Because I feel like this is a particularly skimpy recap, here’s a shot from downtown Lewiston I meant to put up earlier. I imagine it’s a tribute to a lost second verse of the famed “Shave and A Haircut” bit.
A Shave and a Haircut? Two Bits!
A Beer and a Haircut? One hundred thirty-six bits!
***
One last race tomorrow and then a 6 hour mad dash through flames and smoke to Sea-Tac Airport for a flight out of dodge… or in this case, Passage out of the Northwest. Which I guess makes me the antithesis of Lewis and Clark who were seeking the Northwest Passage.