Last year I took the plunge and decided to try the Helvetia Half Marathon. I had such a good time, I did it again this year.

The Start

My friend and I had been training together, so we started the race together.

The Course

The course was similar to last year – first the flats, then up the hills, down the hills and back to flattish.

Since my friend is a bit faster than me I thought at some point we would separate and meet back up at the end. But, due to health concerns she didn’t mind slowing her pace a little. Also, I felt good and was able to keep a decent pace the entire course. I did less walking than is typical for me. And, my friend encouraged me out of my comfort zone to really fly down the hills.

This pic cracks me up. I felt like I was going strong and looking good… then I saw this pic of how I really looked…

The Finish

Wowee! That last mile was tough. Had I been by myself I totally would have walked a bunch of it. Thankfully, I had a good friend pushing me through all the way to the end.

I PR’d last month on a flat course. It didn’t even cross my mind I could PR on this hilly course. Thanks to Darci, I did! It was an amazing feeling.

Beer and burgers were waiting at the end.

The Swag

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The Hippie Chick event is a women’s event, which takes place Mother’s Day weekend. It is part of the Hood to Coast race series, which always has good events.

I have a soft spot for the event because it was the first race I signed up for when I started running. That year I finished the quarter marathon. The next year I did it again, beating my previous time by 23 minutes. The year after that, I skipped the Hippie Chick for Disneyland and finishing my first half marathon. Which brings me to 2017, 4 years after participating in my first run event. At the time, I didn’t know how far I would go with my running. But I have stuck with it, ran multiple half marathons and even one full marathon.

SWAG

The swag I received at packet pick-up included a tshirt and snacks in a cute little bag. Plus, I got a towel for registering early.

PRE-RACE

One of the fun things about participating in a larger event are visiting the vendors. In this case, it was especially awesome. Franz, the bread company, had a wheel to spin and I won donuts. Not a bad way to start the morning.

Since it was raining pretty good, I sat in my car and ate half a donut. Yes, yes I did.

THE START

I’m not sure how many women ran the half, but it didn’t seem too crowded.

The rain stopped for the few minutes I waited to start and for the first few minutes of the race. For a second, I thought the rain for the morning had passed and the event would be dry. Ha!

THE COURSE

I knew the quarter marathon was flat, I was hoping the half was too. It was. I’ll make up for it next month when I run the hilly Helvetia Half.

It rained. And, rained some more. So, I didn’t take many pics. At one point I looked down and saw soap suds on my capris. What? I thought it was a fluke and wiped them off. Then a bit later, there were bubbles on my other leg. This time I decided it deserved a photo. Weird. Why isn’t our washing machine rinsing our clothes better? Apparently I need to run in a downpour to get all the soap out.

At the turn around point, there was a guy spinning fire. That was something I hadn’t seen as on course entertainment previously.

Mile 10 is always my gauge of a race. I don’t often run over 10 miles on my training runs, so I’m usually about ready to be done by the time I reach that mile marker. I thought I might be able to PR at this event. I was hopeful if I could hit mile 10 in under 2 hours then there was no good reason I couldn’t PR. It was exactly the motivation I needed to finish strong. I did reach mile 10 under 2 hours, so I knew I just needed to keep up my pace and I would PR. And, I did! I was pretty stoked last April when I my PR’d. I beat that time by 10 minutes.

The last few miles the rain finally let up. It didn’t really matter by then, I was already soaked. But, I was glad it stopped.

THE FINISH

Because the Hippie Chick is a women’s event, finishers are awarded necklaces as opposed to medals. When I earned my first one I thought I might actually wear it. I don’t. I’m not a jewelry person. But, I do have the necklaces with my other bling.

Vendors and band on the field at the finish line.

After the race you can grab pancakes, oranges, and chocolate milk.

You can also get a mimosa and ghiradelli chocolate bars. This was an excellent way to end my already exciting day of PRing.

That’s a wrap. Another half marathon in the books.

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I’m trying to limit the events I sign up for this year – mainly because they get spendy. But…

I am signed up for another RunDisney weekend later this year. (Woop, woop!) I can finish their races at the 16:00 pace. But, I like to dilly dally. I like to stop for photo ops. I like to look around. I’m not there for a PR. I’m there to run a good race, feel good when I complete it, and have fun. That being said, I prefer not to be assigned to the last corral. I want all the extra time I can get, so I don’t have the pressure to need to run my hardest.

I signed up for Race for the Roses 10K with the hopes to PR – so, I can submit the time to RunDisney with the hopes of it moving me out of the last corral.

PRE-RACE

The race started at the Convention Center. I loved that!

It was great having a warm(ish) place to be while waiting for my start time. More importantly, I got to use a real bathroom before the race began.

There was lots of swag you could grab, if you wanted it – champagne glasses, pins, tattoos, hand sanitizer.

THE START

I waited inside until about 10 minutes before the start. Awesome! The start line was literally right outside the huge door of the conference room.

THE RACE

The course took us past the Moda Center, over the Broadway Bridge, through the Pearl District, to Vaughn Street, and back. I enjoyed the route. I don’t often go to those areas of Portland. I’m pretty sure, though, that was not the route that was posted. Not sure what’s up with that.

THE FINISH

It’s always a great feeling to cross the finish line! I was greeted with a rose, medal, and water. So many thank you’s to the volunteers.

Did I PR? Yes. Yes, I did. It was a couple minutes faster than my previous PR, but also a couple minutes slower than what I was aiming for. Either way, I updated my 10K time with RunDisney.

DONE!

Back in the room at the Convention Center – mimosa’s, photo op, and a lovely assortment of food.

I would absolutely sign up for this event again. I can’t think of anything I did not like. It didn’t even rain!

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The Helvetia Half Marathon had been on my bucket list for awhile now. However, the course made me nervous. I had heard it’s hilly and difficult.

A friend was interested in doing it and asked if I would do it with her. Of course, I said I would do it – hills and all.

Since I knew there were hills, I did a bit of hill training prior to the event. Not a lot – just about once a week.

This was my first half marathon completed with a running partner. I thought we were well matched, pace wise. Although it was still a workout, the time seemed to pass more quickly having a partner to chit chat with.

THE START

The start was at the stadium in Hillsboro and began like any other start. As far as I could tell, things ran smoothly.

THE COURSE

The first mile or two were fairly flat.

Then gradually the hills came. We did run/walk intervals, walking up the majority of the hill sections. The course meandered passed Helvetia Tavern, Roloff Farms and the picture perfect country church. It was a beautiful place to run.

I was thrilled when we made it to mile 10 and I still felt good.

THE FINISH

We did it! This was my 6th and my friend’s first half marathon. I am proud of how we did. The course was challenging, but we handled it well. I’m certain our hill training helped us power through.

At the end of the race, we were rewarded with a Helvetia burger. I was starving and it was fabulous.

I was worried about this event mainly due to the hills. But, I had trained and felt good through the entire race.

For the first time, I completed a half marathon distance and wasn’t sore the next day. My body was tired. I could tell it had a good workout, but I wasn’t sore. That’s amazing.

Woo hoo, another successful half for the record books!

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