Timberline Lodge
Event Stats:
Name Timberline Marathon
Date 09/15/2007
Location Mt. Hood,OR,USA
Event Marathon
Finish Time DNF
Mount Hood was the mountain I saw everyday when I got out the door in my six months in Portland. And it surely is a great mountain too look at. So what better way to end my stay in this fantastic city than to run the Timberline Marathon,a point-to-point course that starts at Timberline Lodge and is mostly downhill.
Arriving at Timberline Lodge by bus,having parked the car near the finish,I notice that is is rather warm,which,at 7 in the morning and 6000 ft. is a good thing. The race,which is rather small,starts in a very informal a-couple-of-persons-at-a-time manner.
Downhill,baby
The first part is steep downhill,with some cold air pockets on the way;then the course settles into a more comfortable forest track. The going is good (I’m big and downhill certainly is my forte),I pass the first aid-station all right,top off my drink bottles and shuffle on.
Suddenly,at km 12 or so,I feel a sting in my right ankle. Instinctively I stop,lift my leg,and swish whatever it was on my ankle away. Alarmed I see that there are about 10 small wasps (I later find out they are called ‘yellow jackets’) on my ankle. Within seconds,I have 5 or 6 more stings. Panic hits me,I run full out for a couple of hundred meters before stopping. The yellow-jackets are gone,but my ankle is already beginning to swell. I do have an allergy to insect bites,but the severity differs widely by insect,and I had never encountered this one,so I was very unsure what to expect.
End of the road
Since swelling is primarily a function of time,I decided I would be best to run as fast as I could towards the next aid-station. I reached that after another 3 km,the swelling at that time had gotten worse. The paramedics had some general creme for insect bites,which I put on,but it was clear very soon,that my race had ended here.
I guess it is only a question of statistics,but nevertheless,before it happens,every runner fears the three letters. DNF. Did Not Finish. Although it bugs me no end not to finish this race,I am also relieved. For one,that the swelling is already back a bit and nothing serious happened. And for two,that I got my DNF (at least my first one) for something that really was out of my control,and not for simply giving up.