The Great Columbia Crossing
Ever heard of the Great Columbia Crossing 10k? They close down the Astoria Bridge and a few thousand registered people get to run or walk across it; the course is about 6 miles. I unknowingly did this on its 25th anniversary with 2500 other participants.
My friend had asked me if I wanted to go to Astoria with her and her mom, I said yes. She asked me if I would want to go for a walk while we were there and take pictures, I said yes. She said it would cost $20 bucks for the ticket, but that it included clam chowder and a commemorative shirt, I said okay.
At the time, this girl and I would normally spend 20 hours of our day, 6 days a week, drinking Patron, so after not really having slept much the night before, when we arrived and the organizers slapped numbers on us, I began to be weary of the situation.
People were serious. The start gun went off and people proceeded to run, fast. This included my friend and her mom. It also immediately began to pour down rain and all I knew was that this was much greater than a walk across the bridge taking pictures, but more so, I was not going to finish last.
The event begins on the Washington side and I managed to keep with the upper middle pack across the flat(including my friend and her mom) to about the incline. Which is where the bridge gets steep! There were people way back, leisurely walking so I wasn't overly concerned about placement, but I was hurting and my "teammates" were gradually disappearing from sight.
I finally got off the bridge and circled my way down to the finish by the pier. Like everyone else, I was soaked head to toe. They filed us into a covered area with heaters and tables, wherein they served us hot soup, beverages and gave us our shirt(which I still have).
Though I kinda felt miserable for the majority of that trip, in hindsight, it was a really cool experience crossing that bridge by foot and I hope to do it again someday. Unfortunately, the 36th anniversary event is happening this Sunday and I won't be able to attend, but I encourage any of you who enjoy Astoria, to give it a go sometime; it's pretty neat.
My friend had asked me if I wanted to go to Astoria with her and her mom, I said yes. She asked me if I would want to go for a walk while we were there and take pictures, I said yes. She said it would cost $20 bucks for the ticket, but that it included clam chowder and a commemorative shirt, I said okay.
At the time, this girl and I would normally spend 20 hours of our day, 6 days a week, drinking Patron, so after not really having slept much the night before, when we arrived and the organizers slapped numbers on us, I began to be weary of the situation.
People were serious. The start gun went off and people proceeded to run, fast. This included my friend and her mom. It also immediately began to pour down rain and all I knew was that this was much greater than a walk across the bridge taking pictures, but more so, I was not going to finish last.
The event begins on the Washington side and I managed to keep with the upper middle pack across the flat(including my friend and her mom) to about the incline. Which is where the bridge gets steep! There were people way back, leisurely walking so I wasn't overly concerned about placement, but I was hurting and my "teammates" were gradually disappearing from sight.
I finally got off the bridge and circled my way down to the finish by the pier. Like everyone else, I was soaked head to toe. They filed us into a covered area with heaters and tables, wherein they served us hot soup, beverages and gave us our shirt(which I still have).
Though I kinda felt miserable for the majority of that trip, in hindsight, it was a really cool experience crossing that bridge by foot and I hope to do it again someday. Unfortunately, the 36th anniversary event is happening this Sunday and I won't be able to attend, but I encourage any of you who enjoy Astoria, to give it a go sometime; it's pretty neat.
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