Five runners from Community Running Association of Boston participated in the Natures Path Whidbey Island Marathon in Washington State’s gorgeous Puget Sound on April 13th 2008.

The race organizers and volunteers get an A+ for effort and enthusiasm, but the growing pains were clearly evident.

To our dismay, the marathon course changed since last year, apparently due to road construction depriving us of both the run over Deception Pass Bridge and the run to Coupeville along the oceanfront. After taking a drive along the course the day before the marathon, three of us decided to do the half marathon. We were very impressed with the race t-shirt made of recycled materials. Some racers informed us that the pasta dinner (which we did not go to) was very good.

The race course itself was not nearly as pretty as advertised, much of it running through suburban looking communities, with a short stretch along the ocean (less in the full marathon). There was one whacky house though that had a army helicopter sitting in the front yard and a little toy train track instead of a fence. Most of the images on the race website were of various places on Whidbey Island, but not necessarily on the course. We didn’t see any Orcas or seals - to be fair we didn’t see those anywhere during our entire week in the area. There were some horses on pastures along the course and we spotted some bald eagles.

There were plenty of water stops on what turned out to be a remarkably warm day despite the chilly start. There seemed to be minimal traffic control along the half-marathon course and the course markings were not very clear. There was one particular four-way intersection, where traffic was jammed every direction with no one directing the traffic or the runners. We saw several runners who had taken a wrong turn along the way due to confusion between the full and half marathon courses.

The finish itself was a lap on the high school track - a pretty neat way to finish the race. The post race facilities were plentiful, but yet again, there was confusion adding to our frustration.

The finisher’s medal was very cool, made of recycled glass, reminding us of the great irony of flying across the country for a green marathon.