My Eugene Marathon Adventure Part 1 Getting There

Hi Friends,

On April 28th I finally became a Marathon runner when I finished the 2013 Eugene Marathon. But before running the race I had to get to Eugene and do all the things that need doing before the gun goes off.

Brenda and I left Reno on Thursday headed to our first stopping place in Medford, OR for a couple of nights. The weather was beautiful and the traffic was relatively light making the trip pretty uneventful. After a day resting in Medford, I left early Saturday morning for the trip to Eugene. To say i was excited would be an understatement. I felt like a kid that was waiting for Santa on Christmas Eve.

The highway to Eugene was so beautiful. Everything was so green and clean it really needed to be explored at a more leisurely pace. Time was not on my side this trip but I learned my lesson. Next time make it a real adventure and take some time to enjoy the drive without blowing through neat places along the way.

I made it t to Eugene in about 3 hours. Really it felt like less as I was so looking forward seeing Eugene again. Had it really been about 30 years between visits? The little town had grown up quite a bit but I could still see the town I explored as a you dude with my friend Chip Crouse.

My first stop was the expo to get my bib and my race tee.  I thought the expo was fun. To be honest this was my first expo and I was having a blast checking out all the neat booths with all kinds of products and services. My favorite booth was the one from The Oregon Track Club. They were staffed with fun and informed people at their large booth. They even took my picture in front of a photo that made it look like I was a finisher at the Olympic Trials in Haywood Field. It was way too cool.

While at the expo I saw a post of a Facebook friend, John Bouvier and he was ... he was standing in front of that same backdrop looking like he had just finished a big race. I sent him a text and was lucky enough to be able to shake his hand, share a couple stories and take a picture before we parted.

With the expo behind me, it was off to the Hotel and the Team in Training Dinner ....

Don