After an uneventful but loonnngg flight from Albany-Baltimore-Tacoma, Ted and I were in our room at Hotel Murano by 3:40 pm. Just in time to see Mt. Rainier before it was engulfed in cloud cover.
The Tacoma City Marathon Expo, small and quiet. There were only a few vendors, a couple of massage booths, Bart Yasso, and Marathon Maniacs. I checked in with the Maniacs and got my orange ribbon which will attach to my bib so I get the “special” finishers medal after the marathon. Exciting! *Tacoma is low key. Not many people on the street but when you do see someone, they’re wearing a Maniacs jacket/shirt.
Back in Baltimore while boarding our connecting flight, we met a fellow Maniac. Nick is trying to complete his 200th marathon by the end of this year. He told us about the “Ghost Marathon” which takes place Saturday, day before the Tacoma City. Not for me but for Nick and fellow half and full maniacs, this was a fun event.
Two runners coming in from the marathon at 1pm.
Race Information: The Ghost of Tacoma is a low key event for those who wish to run two marathons in two days. It is a course for those wishing to qualify for the Marathon Maniacs and Half Fanatics as well.
If you are going to qualify to be a Maniac on Sunday you may wear your Saturday Ghost bib number under your Sunday Tacoma City Marathon bib number and show the medal distributor both bibs and you will receive the special Maniac Medal.
Discount Eligibility: You MUST be registered for the TACOMA CITY MARATHON 2014 to use the discount, no exceptions. Participants registered for the Tacoma City Marathon will receive a significant special discount code for the Ghost of Tacoma registration. You can find it on the Marathon Maniacs and Half Fanatics Discount Bulletin Board or email TCMA once you have registered for the May 4th 2014 Tacoma City Marathon.
Course: The race course will be 2 out and backs for the Marathon and 1 out and back for the Half Marathon. Beginning and ending at Theas Park on Dock Street, runners will follow Dock Street, Schuster Parkway, and Ruston Way, there are two major road crossings to the turnaround. . – SOURCE
After a quick trip around the expo, we decided to find the restaurant we had booked for dinner. It was a 2 mile walk from our hotel on a not so flat route. The neighborhoods we went through took us back in time. Ted said he felt as if he was back in the 70’s with the old cars and such. Even though the area was old, offering few signs of modernization, it wasn’t dirty and only displayed a couple of homes/buildings which were run down.
Up steep hills and just as it began to sprinkle with light rain, we made it to our restaurant:
The hostess, waitress and all support staff were so attentive and happy. Not only was the service great but the food absolutely outstanding. Ted was enjoying his meal so much he said it made him sad to have to finish it.
The bread tasted soft, a little chewy,with a flavor crossing between pancake and bagel. Just wonderful!
Fresh mixed green salad topped with a slice of Romano cheese, mandarin orange, blue cheese crumbles on the side with oil and vinegar.
Grilled opa on top of grilled asparagus (super char grilled taste!) with pico de gallo tomato, herb sauce on the side. Tender, juicy, melt in your mouth delish!
Stuffed pork (a little jalapeno in the stuffing) over cheddar mashed potato. Topped with small batter dipped onion rings. Ted said it couldn’t get any better.
Another 2 mile hike back to our hotel and early to bed, although according to our body clocks, it was late. The plan was to get up early to go for a shake out run and explore a little of Tacoma, or at least the Museum of Glass.
Saturday: A quick recap.
The day before race day AND Kentucky Derby Day.
A 2 1/4 mile run to the pier.
You can barely see them, but there were plenty of men fishing off the pier.
It was back to the hotel, clean up and eat a big breakfast before heading out to the Museum of Glass.
Working the beginning of a large, 18 century styled vase.
A very hot ball of glass.
The glass formed outer shell.
The above is called “stuffing the glass” where a formed ball of colored glass is carefully put into the formed glass, patterned bowl.
The entire process takes about 3 hours. We watched for 1 1/2 hours. It was so interesting.
Finally, a nice lunch at Steel Creek
before heading back to our room for legs up and the Kentucky Derby. *Go California Chrome!
We’ll be eating early at Pacific Grill Saturday night before getting plenty of rest before run time early in the morning.
“It is better, I think, to begin easily and get your running to be smooth and relaxed and then to go faster and faster”. – Henry Rono
Hopefully the above quote by Henry Rono will be etched in our minds tomorrow.
I hope the race went well for you!! How exciting to race at one end of the States and then the other in just a couple weeks! I love how you take in some of the local sights while you’re there too. I was in Seattle back in 2002 for a long weekend and loved it (but too much traffic for me, I’m a wimp!)
I’m glad you got a peek at The Mountain before it disappeared behind the clouds— hope you got more looks at it later. And I’m glad you got to see the Museum of Glass– I love the Chihuly walkway there. Nice to have you visit the Northwest, hope you had a good race!