Dashing through the… snow?

Posted on Mar 15, 2009 in Life | 4 comments

Like last year, my wife Crystal and I headed out early this Sunday morning to Seattle to participate in the St. Pat’s Dash. We signed up through my former employer, Quadrant O’Homes a few weeks back, figuring that by the time today rolled around the weather will have warmed up.

We were wrong.

It was cold, dark, and raining a bit as we headed down to Seattle. Halfway there, we noticed the rain was sticking to our windshield, which rain doesn’t do. But snow does. And sure enough, by the time we were had parked and walked to the Center House the flakes were big and falling steadily. Snow on the ides of March. Global climate change, anyone?

But we toughed it out. We checked in and said hello to my Quadrant friends working the event, then headed out through the snow and rain to the starting area. It was crowded, but not as packed as I remember it being last year. Some folks probably bailed and honestly, we thought about it too but didn’t want to flake. Besides, we’re Seattle-ites; we can handle the rain, right?

Sort of.

The event emcees informed us over the loudspeakers that snow on race day is a first in the 28-year history of the St. Pat’s Dash. It was bloody cold and by the time we’d emerged from under the bridge crossing Mercer we were cold and drenched. My feet were getting wet due to all the rain running through the street (and the holes in my shoes, of course). We enjoyed the excitement, the novelty, and participating with many thousands of others on the run, but we were not loving our cold hands, wet feet, and numb ears. So we took a shorter route and headed back to the fountain area on the east side of Key Arena to collect our free stuff: organic apples, a bottle of Fuze drink, and some Cougar Mountain cookies. I felt bad for the vendors and groups there who clearly didn’t get the attention they thought they’d get. Dashers were pretty much grabbing what freebies they could and were heading back to cars or indoors.

Would we do it again next year? Maybe… ask me once we know the weather report. But it’d be worth it to see people wearing Snuggies again.

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