I’m baaaaaack. I’ve had quite a few changes in my life since I ran my last marathon — the NYC Marathon in 2019 — five months postpartum with my first child. But I decided it was finally time to get back into the marathon game. We have some friends who live in Seattle and thought it would be fun to visit them this summer, so I figured there was no better time to check off Washington in my 50 states journey. I chose Jack and Jill’s Downhill Marathon for a few reasons: (1) it was recommended on the 50 States Marathon Club Facebook page, (2) the timing worked out, and (3) it seemed like a friendly enough and pretty enough course for my return. I didn’t train perfectly and won’t go into detail, but in short, my longest run while training was 15 miles, I did a trail half last fall to help get the base going, I’ve been playing a lot of tennis, and I do a weekly cross-training class that is getting my legs super strong, even if my pace isn’t what it used to be. So let’s dive into the specifics–

The Race: Jack and Jill’s Downhill Marathon 2024

Location: Starts in Hyak near Snoqualmie Pass and ends in North Bend, Washington, about 45 minutes from Seattle

Time of Year: July! Quiet time for most racing. The organizers offered a race on Saturday and a race on Sunday. I chose Saturday given our schedule. Weather was nice – a bit warm in the sun especially towards the end but overall comfortable in shorts and a tank top. At the start, it was 48 degrees. I ran in a hat but no sunglasses.

Logistics and Getting There: We flew into Seattle on Friday to do some sightseeing and get settled. We rented a car at the airport given the location for the race and some of our other plans for our visit. Seattle proper has a nice light rail which I’ve used before, but for this trip, I was glad to have a car for exploration, especially with my kids. Flight was straightforward but there was a long line at the car rental pickup on a Friday midday. We stayed at our friends’ house in Seattle, which was lovely. If we hadn’t had our friends, we probably would still have chosen to stay in Seattle given limited options near the race. The race started at 6 am, so we left Seattle at around 4:15-4:30, thinking it would take an hour to get there and I needed to do race-day pickup (which I’d paid in advance for). The drive was nice and smooth until we got to the exit, where there was a hearty backup of racers and family members. It ended up being fine but added about 10-15 mins to the trip. Packet pickup, however, was extremely easy, and the bathroom lines moved quickly, so I had no challenge lining up to the start in time. The finish is in the town of North Bend, and my husband parked maybe a mile from the finish and walked to meet me. 

Swag and Perks: This race is pretty low key, but they did provide a shirt and buff to all participants, as well as frequent aid stations on course, some with gels and most (all?) with Gatorade. I hit the final aid station when they’d run out of water which was a HUGE bummer, but I believe they were restocking water shortly after I passed through. At the finish line, there were a few snacks for runners, as well as a nice medal. Not a big post-race party situation from what I could tell. 

About the Course: The course is entirely on a gravel, non-technical trail that descends about 2000 feet from Hyak to the finish line. It is true what they advertise — you don’t really feel the downhill as you are running. At the start of the race is the Snoqualmie Tunnel, a 2.3 mile long tunnel – bring a headlamp and watch your footing! The rest of the course is on the tree-lined path with some nice shady spots with big, moss-covered trees. Really pretty.

How it Went: Better than expected! As I shared above, my training for this race wasn’t perfect — in fact, it mostly involved playing tennis — and my pace just still hasn’t really gotten much faster over the last few years of being back in the running game post-kids. But in the week before the race, I got the target of 5 hours in my head. My first marathon ever had a 5-hour cut off, so I decided to mirror that for my first race back (the actual cut off for this race is 6.5 hours). I started with the 5-hour pace group for the first few miles, including through the tunnel. They seemed nice enough but it was a little crowded and no one was actively entertaining me, so I ran a bit ahead on my own for a while. I ended up catching the 4:45 pacers and giving them a try around mile 4ish. At this point I also noticed the inside seam of my shorts was starting to rub… [ominous music]. I was feeling good — maybe it was the downhill — so I ran a bit ahead of the 4:45 guys but on my way past, I asked them if there would be glide or other first aid available at aid stations. I thought they said they thought a medical tent would be my best bet so I just kept going, fidgeting with my shorts and trying to double over the fabric. They caught me a few miles later and clarified that I could ask at any aid station (OH!). So I stopped at the next one, since they were every 2 miles or so, and honestly I was wondering how I was going to finish this dang thing with my leg rubbing the whole time. I was now at mile 9 and assessed the damage. The seam was completely worn open on the inside of my shorts, with a significant circle of inner thigh skin poking through. Ooof! I asked the aid station if they had duct tape — that was what first came to mind to mend the problem. They didn’t but they did have a small first aid kit including Vaseline, a small gauze pad, and some pretty old medical tape. I glopped on the Vaseline and tried to tape on the gauze pad. The tape did nothing, but that gauze pad got me through the race! (with a few adjustments along the way). 

Back on track, I can’t say my race improved. It was way too early to be bonking, but I was starting to have doubts and regretting my pace for those first 10 miles. I’d started the race with no music but decided to crack open the Spotify, which has been on a 5-year hiatus while I haven’t been racing. The old BQ race playlist didn’t disappoint, starting with Ohh La La — “I wish that I knew what I knew now, when I was younger”. I stopped to pee at mile 14. I tried to settle in with that for some of those middle miles, but I was definitely nervous that I wouldn’t be able to keep going. I decided to break the race down into smaller chunks, which is something I do often when 26 feels too dang long. This time I told myself to get to mile 16, count down from four, and then mile 20 and count down from 6. It got me through! And I assume my fatigue was due to a lack of calories because somehow, miraculously, at mile 19, I experienced a real turnaround. My CLIF blocks or the Gatorade I was drinking at the aid stations finally kicked in. Check out these splits! As I neared the finish line, I looked for my kids to cross with me and couldn’t find them, but they did come up to me after I crossed. Woohoo! Official time was 4:50, which was faster than my totally random goal of 5 hours!

Other Things We Did While Visiting: Pike Place Market for hazelnuts, trinkets for the children, and flowers for our hosts; the Space Needle, which was fine (be ready for a line if you don’t get there right when it opens), but more importantly had a fun playground next door; delicious fresh crumpets from The Crumpet Shop; casual lunch at Asean Street Food Hall (yummy tofu banh mi and boba drinks); amazing post-race dinner at Din Tai Fung; boating on Lake Washington; picking berries at Bybee Farms; playgrounding at Volunteer Park and very yummy drinks and eats at Volunteer Park Cafe. 

Bottom Line: Like it. Great choice for Washington, and Seattle is such a fun city.