Cable Bridge Run

Every year since we have lived in Seattle, Mike and his two best friends (Josh and Derek) go to Benton City, WA to run the Cable Bridge Run, usually the weekend before Christmas.  The wives and kids sometimes go too, depending on circumstances.  Why this race?  It is in Josh's hometown and he has run it all his life.  His parents still live there and they feed, house and drive us around for the weekend.  Josh's mom also watches Oliver during the race so I can run it too.  This was Oliver's second year (he was born the weekend of the race in 2008!) and he loves it.  Especially all the attention he gets from Alice and being able to see Trent so much.  He idolizes Trent (as you can see below).  This year, Josh's dad had an iPad, with some kid friendly apps downloaded.  It was a hit with everyone.  This year it also snowed the night before the race, making for lots of fun for the kids and less than optimal running conditions.  We went ahead anyway.  Josh has won the entire race a million times and he always beats Derek and Mike.  Derek has always beaten Mike when ever they are in the same race, ever since they ran track together in high school.  But THIS year, Mike beat him!  This was a big deal for Mike.  The three of them came first, second and third in their age group.  This year was my second time running the race.  While I used to run occasionally, I didn't start routinely running until after Oliver was born and I realized that I wouldn't be able to exercise if I didn't do it in the morning before work and running was the fastest and easiest thing to do at 7AM.  I have run 3-6 times a week since then, usually for 2-3 miles.  I started running a few races too, mostly because someone else wanted to, but I am glad I did it always.  I have run two 10k races and a few 5k ones.  I also ran occasionally for the first 6 months when I was pregnant with Oliver.  Last year, I ran the 5 k in about 26 minutes.  This year it was 30 minutes, which isn't so bad considering that the route was icy and snowy and I was 17 weeks pregnant!

The drive home to Seattle