I had an early morning Southwest flight out of Ontario Airport. I had prepaid for parking in lot 5 to save a few bucks. I timed my drive to arrive at the lot at 5 am. As I approached the lot gate, it read my license plate and raised the gate arm for me to enter. After I had found a vacant parking spot, I grabbed my bags and walked over to terminal 4. I don't think they open very early, so there was a long line of people waiting for general TSA screening. While waiting, I noticed that there were 2 people there trying to get people to sign up for Clear. I always get to the airport super early so that would be an unnecessary expenditure for someone like me. After getting through screening, I used the restroom and waited at my gate for my flight out to Sacramento SMF Airport. While waiting, I noticed that there was a lady sitting across from the Chick-fil-A where she was coughing up a storm. The last time that I had heard someone with such a bad cough, I ended up catching COVID for said person.
ONT parking lot 5
TSA general screening
NYC news
Flight to SMF
The plane landed in Sacramento at about 8:15 am and parked at one of the gates in terminal B. After using the restroom, I walked around the terminal to check out my food options as I had a couple hours before my next flight up to Portland. Even though the Starbucks was slammed, I ultimately decided to get breakfast there. I placed my order on their mobile app for a grande Pike Place medium roast coffee and a bacon sausage egg wrap. It took a good 20 minutes before my order was ready. I kind of felt bad for the employees there as they were just working hard, cranking out order after order.
Terminal B
Grande Pike Place medium roast and bacon sausage egg wrap
Once I had boarded the plane, I caught the very tail end of the Chelsea v. Liverpool match. I dislike both clubs, but I was a bit glad to see that Liverpool's luck had finally run out. It was getting quite irritating hearing their fans and the pundits practically give them the league title 5 weeks into the season just because they were 5 pts ahead of second place Arsenal. After losing to Palace last week and Chelsea today, they're now 1 pt behind Arsenal. After that, I switched over to watching the Cubs vs Brewers game 1 of the NLDS.
Liverpool loses to Chelsea
Overrated manager won last season with Klopp's squad
Liverpool's luck finally ran out
Flight into PDX
NLDS game 1 Cubs vs Brewers
The plane landed just after 1 pm at Portland PDX Airport. After getting off of the plane and using the restroom, I started following the signs to head for the MAX light rail station to catch a ride over to the Oregon Convention Center. It seemed like I was the only one, but I tapped my phone on the fare kiosk before entering the train. The fare was $2.80 for 2.5 hours.
Sasquatch at baggage claim
MAX light rail station
I rode the red line train over to the Convention Center MAX station. The ride took just under 30 minutes. The light rail station was just across street from the convention center so it was super convenient. Per the usual with a Brooksee produced race, the packet pick-up process was very well streamlined. First I picked up my race bib and a swag bag. This nicer zippered bag also doubled as our gear bag. Inside were a bunch of various flyers and samples. After confirming that my timing tag was working, I moved on to pick up my race shirt. Nike was highly touted as a race sponsor, so the shirt was made by them. Honestly, the quality of the shirt looked poor. I then ventured over to the participants name wall to locate my name. Finally, came the vendor booths. While I did pick up some more samples, I mainly went around only to get those vendor codes to enter into the mobile app. Those accumulated points will help earn me a free race entry for a future race.
The Dream statue
Oregon Convention Center
Race expo
Bib pick-up
Swag/gear bag
Swag bag stuffers
Race shirt
Back of race shirt
Participants name wall
Found my name
Expo freebies
Once I was done, I headed back to the MAX light rail station to catch a ride into Downtown Portland. The first train that showed up was a green line train. I took that over to the SW 5th and Oak MAX station. From there I walked over to the Pine Street Market at SW 2nd Ave and Pine St to get something to eat. It was about 3 pm and I supposed that I could've waited until dinner time to eat again, but I was feeling hungry. This food hall had several different vendors that served food that was right up my alley. It also helped that a couple of them would allow me to earn American Airlines miles as part of the AAdvantage Dining program. I decided first to check out Matsunoki Ramen. Using one of the ordering screens, I ordered their tonkotsu shoyu ramen. Thankfully, the broth wasn't too thick and overly greasy. Honestly, I wasn't expecting much, but that was a pretty good bowl of ramen! The ajitama was on point.
Convention Center MAX station
Matsunoki Ramen at Pine Street Market
No Face from Spirited Away!
Tonkotsu shoyu ramen
Ajitama
I then walked over to the WorldMark Portland Waterfront Park property to check into my unit. I was assigned to unit #319. Then there was that dreaded stop at the concierge station for them to program my room key and wristband. I just didn't have the will to resist so I agreed to an owner update at 8:30 am on Monday. It was a disappointing $80 Tango gift card as the incentive. After they collected my $40 refundable deposit, I headed up to my room.
Stuff from the concierge desk
After unpacking my bags, I got settled into my unit that'll be home for the next couple of days. I put on the Dodgers vs Phillies game 1 of the NLDS while I went through my race packet. As I had mentioned earlier, while the race shirt was made by Nike, the quality of the fabric looked and felt poor.
NLDS game 1 Dodgers vs Phillies
At about 5 pm, I headed back out to get dinner. First, I stopped by the 4th and Oak Market to buy some drinks. Originally, I was only going to buy 1 bottle of Gatorade. I ended up buying 2 as it was 2 for $6. The 1L bottle of water was $3.59. While paying for my items, I noticed that there was a message on the counter that said, "no hands beyond this point." I then walked over to the Pine Street Market to pick up dinner. On the ordering kiosk, I ordered Pad Thai with pork meatballs at Little Thai Peacock. I took the food back to my room to enjoy while watching the TV.
Drinks from 4th and Oak St Market
Little Thai Peacock menu
To go order
Pad Thai with pork meatballs
After finishing dinner, I laid out my flat runner for tomorrow's race. For this race, I would be trying out these new generic shorts that I had purchased off of Amazon. The difference with this pair of shorts was that it did not have a built-in liner. I would be wearing my pair of Nike boxers instead. It was good to see the Dodgers win game 1. Ohtani pitched 6 decent innings. Then it got a bit nervy with Glasnow and Vesia coming in for a couple of relief innings. Thank goodness for the 3 run HR off of Strahm by Teoscar Hernandez in the 7th for the Dodgers to take the lead. Roki Sasaki looked really good closing it out. I then took a shower and called it a night.
Flat runner
Dodgers win game 1
Roki Sasaki the closer!
Sunday 10/5
Something I ate definitely did not agree with me. I woke up several times in the middle of the night to use the restroom. I still felt like I got in some decent rest despite that lumpy piece of shit mattress used for a Murphy bed. My lower back was definitely protesting. As I was eating my usual pre-race CLIF Bar for breakfast, I decided to drink that can of Red Bull as well. Shouldn't be much different than the Starbucks coffee that I normally drink before a race. Once it was time, I grabbed my handheld bottle, took along my mylar blanket just in case, and was ready to head to the starting area over on Salmon St. When I opened my door, I saw that they had left me a small care package. I put that on the counter before heading out. On the walk over along 1st Ave, I saw a train full of race participants riding the MAX light rail over to the starting line.
Check-in care package
Care package contents
Start line loading map
Start/finish venue map
When I first arrived at the start area at about 6 am, the place was pretty empty. There were no lines for the portapotties and I was able to use whichever one I wanted to help clear out my system. Once I was done with that I headed up to 4th Ave to check out the start line. When I returned about 30 minutes later, the place was packed! Eventually, I positioned myself in the corral at the 4 hour goal marker. I chatted with a couple of the runners next to me. I had mistakenly assumed that they were both running the marathon. However, they were both running the 10k. The guy named Jamie was from Bend. A local Marathon Maniac, Steve, found me in the corral. I got a quick selfie with him before he moved up a bit in the corral as he routinely runs his marathons under 4 hours.
1st and Salmon
Start line at 4th and Salmon
Now very crowded!
Waiting in the corral
Steve!
4 hour pacer
Pregnant 4 hour pacer
I started the race with the 4 hour pacer. I made sure to not pass her as I noticed that her pace was a bit too fast. She was clearly banking time. I ended up running with Jamie for about the first 4 miles until he started to pull away for the finish line of his race. I continued to stay behind that pacer. She dropped me by the time we ran past the finish line at about mile 8. Since I wasn't feeling too spry, I tried to ignore other runners around me and just ran by feel. My goal was to get to mile 20 while feeling as good as possible. I reached the halfway point at 2:03:34. For the second half, it was a slow grind. I slowed by about a minute or two per mile as I tried to focus on a pace that I felt that I could sustain all the way to the finish line. While pretty slow and pedestrian, I kept the pace per mile pretty consistent and covered that second half in 2:29:30.
Finish: 4:33:04
Click here for my Garmin data.
I thought I did well with my pacing as my legs were just on the verge of cramping up during that final mile and change. I don't think I could've gone any faster. I might have done better if I had not tried to stay with the 4 hour pace group during the first 8 miles. After receiving my finisher medal, I continued through the finisher chute where I picked up a bunch of post race goodies. Before heading out of that crowded post race area, I stopped by the line for Voodoo Doughnut to give someone my doughnut and beer tickets as I no longer eat either.
Finisher medal
Close up of finisher medal
Post race goodies
I got back to my room at just before 12:30 pm. I relaxed a bit before even jumping into the shower. In lieu of eating a proper lunch, I just drank most of the post race liquids that were passed out at the finish line. I got myself caught up on the scores for the EPL matches earlier in the day.
At about 5 pm, I headed outside to get some dinner. I decided to check out Buranko Cafe & Bar that was just down the street. At first I wasn't too keen on this place as the setup was more geared towards females or couples. The decor was definitely unique and somewhat awkward for someone dining solo. Still there were some items on their menu that looked good enough for me to overlook those qualities. The restaurant was quite spacious, even big enough for a play area for little kids. Once I got seated and looked over their menu, I ordered their Million Dollar Shrimp Tom Kha Ramen and edamame. Their food was a bit of a fusion between different Asian groups. I've never had a bowl of ramen quite like this one! Their food was good and the service was good. I was glad that I stopped in to give them a try!
Buranko Cafe menu
Million Dollar Shrimp Tom Kha Ramen and edamame
Monday 10/6
Even though my owner update wasn't until 8:30 am, I still woke up early as it was part of my regular morning routine. Per the usual, they gave me a call to make sure that I was ready. I headed downstairs to the lobby where the concierge lady walked me around the corner to another building over on 1st Ave. After I got checked in, I used their fancy pants coffee machine to get myself a tall Americano. I guess this was where my "maintenance" fees were being spent at this location. While it was pleasant to talk with my assigned rep, it was still a complete waste of time. It was about 2 hours instead of the obligated 1 hour. This person tried a different tactic. Instead of trying to get me to purchase points and get into the Club Wyndham side, she actually wanted me to make a purchase towards being in the Founders level on the WorldMark side.
Halloween decorations in the lobby
Tall Americano
Travel & Leisure/WorldMark presentation
When I was finally able to leave, I went back to my room to get my stuff and check out of my unit. After dropping off the room key and the wristband at the front desk, I started my walk over to Hunnybeez for some brunch. It was a bit of an uphill walk over to the restaurant, but I wanted to check out their Filipino food. They had just opened for about 15 minutes when I showed up, so the place was empty. The guy that took my order was pretty friendly. I ordered their silog plate with pork adobo and fried spam. I actually wanted their longanisa sausage instead of spam, but they were all out. While waiting for my food to be ready, he inquired about marathon running as I had mentioned that I had run the marathon on Sunday.
Hunnybeez
Silog plate with adobo pork and fried spam
Originally, I was planning to watch a movie before heading to the airport. However, I couldn't find a movie that was out that was worth watching in a movie theater. I decided to just head to the airport and wait it out there for my evening flight home. I walked over to the Pioneer Square South MAX station over on Yamhill St to wait for a red line train. My flight home on Southwest wasn't a direct flight. The first leg took me out to San Jose SJC Airport.
PDX Concourse E Starbucks
The plane was a little late leaving Portland. I was able to catch the NLDS game 2 of Cubs vs Brewers on the way down to San Jose. After seeing Justin Turner play for the Cubs, I do kind of miss him playing for the Dodgers.
NLDS game 2 Cubs vs Brewers
We were about 30 minutes behind schedule landing in San Jose. Thankfully, the connecting flight was also slightly delayed, so there was no rush to board my next flight. I thought about eating at the Chick-fil-A that was located just across from my gate. However, I did notice that they were pretty much closing and was just selling whatever they already had on hand.
SJC Airport
Thought about eating at Chick-fil-A
Once I was onboard the plane, I was able to catch the NLDS game 2 of Dodgers vs Phillies. Blake Snell pitched a 1 hit shutout for 6 innings. Then Sheehan came in for 2 innings, Terinen got nobody out, and Vesia got 2 outs. Sasaki came in for the final out. Once again the Dodgers bullpen made it quite nervy giving up a run in the 8th and 2 more runs in the 9th. They even needed Muncy and Betts to execute a successful wheel play to get the lead runner out at 3rd base in order to ultimately preserve the lead. Thankfully, they were able to win game 2 before heading home.
Wheel play
Leaving SJC
Flight into ONT
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