Rave Review: Portland RNR 2:10:32

This race review is way overdue.  But before I dive into it, I would like to point out that my last 3 half marathons have all been within a minute of each other.  2:11:14, 2:11:40 and 2:10:32.  I guess my lack of training breeds consistency.  Crazy that before DC I ran a 1:59:59 and now I can't break 2:10.  But again there is that whole training thing. 
Portland was very much like the OC run but I was prepared for mediocrity this time around.  I knew I wasn't going to break any records or feel great afterwards.  I think I said pre-race that I would like to be under 2:10 which I could have done if I'd even tried a little but I was fine with my time and enjoyed myself.
It was a really fun race!  RNR did a great job for their inaugural event and it was definitely the most fancy-pants run that's ever been put on in Portland (sorry PDX marathon but it's true).  The expo was a good size and easy to navigate.  Also at the expo I was able to achieve one of my life goals:

 Yep - the one and only Kara Goucher!

We bonded over how awesome our name is.  I will be keeping that bib forever.

Anywho, the race was well organized morning of and I thought easy to get to.  They started a few minutes late because of trains (always in Portland) and it was raining (always in Portland).  The course itself was well laid out and the neighborhoods were full of spectators, bands and more rain.  It was very hilly!  The hills just kept coming and around mile 7 or 8 I stopped to walk a hill and the woman next to me said, "I drove the course yesterday this is the last hill."  So I picked it up...yeah there were about 10 more hills after that.  LIAR!  It was sort of weird that the whole race was on the east side since out of towners probably don't think of that part of Portland but I enjoyed it.  

They did make us stop for traffic twice and people were very unhappy about that but otherwise I thought they did a great job.  Good post race food and entertainment which was a little less enjoyable because of the rain. I already signed up for next year so that tells you something.  Here are a few pics:

 Amy (first half and ran like 1:53 or something stupid), Jer Bear (1:47?), Aud (2:02) and Slowster (2:10) - also good to note that running skirt ended up chaffing the crap out of my leg and was much shorter then I anticipated.   Why don't I try these things out before race day?

 This is my adorable brother and his fiancee Leila who came up from Vegas to run their first half marathon and they killed it!  Aren't they the cutest?  Also my dad walked the race and did so good, I've finally recruited my family to the world of racing.

Just me and my running family!