With races canceled, people seek their runner’s high solo. ‘Why not keep on running?’
Rachel Atkins was supposed to run her first marathon Sunday.
She started training in December. When the 39-year-old learned a month ago that the Tacoma City Marathon wasn’t going to happen as scheduled because of the COVID-19 pandemic, she decided to run the miles by herself from Renton, where she lives.
“I was not going to stop my training and just not do it,” she said. “Absolutely not. I was determined. I was going to finish. I got this far and it was only a month out. Why not keep on running?”
She’s one of many runners who, facing postponed or canceled races, have decided to log the miles on the their own.
The Tacoma race was supposed to be Lacey Gorrod’s second marathon. The 37-year-old lives in Goldendale and had planned to visit friends in Tacoma who she hadn’t seen in years.
Instead, she spent the weekend at home doing a challenge she saw online to run four miles every four hours for 24 hours.
“I just decided to do it,” she said. “I started at 6 a.m. on Saturday morning with my first run. I finished at about 6:15 on Sunday morning.”
Gorrod waved as she ran past her mom’s house and a friend’s home. Her 8-year-old daughter joined her by bike for part of the day.
The 10 p.m. run started on a treadmill, but Gorrod decided to finish it on the road with her husband.
“He followed me in the car with the headlights on,” she said.
The 2 a.m. run she skipped.
She logged 26.51 miles in the end. Her husband taped up signs in their window, updating her mileage throughout.
Gorrod also has a streak going, she said. She’s run at least a mile a day for more than 40 days now.
“I feel like it’s been the one thing I can control,” she said. “... I can control when I run, and it’s just been a big help.”
Bill Brown, 58 of Auburn, said the Tacoma race was one of several he was signed up for that have been canceled or postponed. He’s hoping they’ll be rescheduled for next year, instead of this fall.
His big race of the year is supposed to be the Honolulu Marathon in December if it’s not canceled. He doesn’t want to jeopardize that by running a bunch of rescheduled races leading up to it.
“I’m just taking it easy,” Brown said. “... I know I have maybe eight months where I can just try to improve myself and experiment.”
In the meantime, he said he’s been enjoying virtual races. Everyone who signs up online runs the distance wherever they choose in a designated time frame.
He did a half marathon one Saturday, which he said he finished in 1 hour, 54 minutes and 59 seconds. That was 439 out of 2008 runners and 15th out of 142 people in his age group, he said.
People had the weekend to run the race, and he said waiting for the results Monday gave him something to look forward to.
“It’s quite a bit different, the virtual race,” he said. “I’m not as fast. I didn’t put out 100 percent. I figured there’s no point. Just take your time and enjoy it.”
Brown has different loops around his home that he’s been running early in the morning.
He avoids going out in the afternoon when he said lots of people seem to be out walking their dogs.
“Remember when Pokemon Go came out?” he said.
It’s felt like that.
Andrea Eason, 46 of Milton, said she she’s running some virtual races but is also taking the time to focus on training.
She’d hoped to run her 50th half marathon later this year. With races being canceled, it’s looking like that milestone will be postponed to next year, she said.
As places like Ruston Way and the Foothills Trail have been crowded, Eason said she’s been running close to home.
“It’s been kind of cool to see some different parts of my neighborhood,” she said. “... People have been really courteous. Even cars. The cars are giving runners and walkers so much space. It’s like it’s brought out the nice in people.”
She said she’s been keeping in touch with her running friends virtually.
“I think there’s sort of that support for: If I can run alone, you can run alone,” she said.
And she’s thrown her race calendar out the window.
“Races are going to happen again, and they may look different, but right now is the best time to build that base,” she said. “When the races do happen, we’re going to be so ready for it.”
Leah Landon is the race director for the Capital City Marathon in Olympia, which is being held virtually later this month.
The 26-year-old is also training to run her first marathon in July in the North Bend area.
If it’s canceled, she still plans to run the miles.
“It’s kind of one of the only things we can do, right?” she said. “That individual outdoor exercise.”
She was supposed to run her first marathon last year but suffered an injury.
“This was going to be my year,” Landon said.
She’d hoped to train and race with a group of friends.
“We are running alone,” she said. “... We had these great plans to do it together. Now looking at it and saying: ‘Wow, there might not actually be a race on that day,’ it is hard.”
At the same time, she said running has been helping with the stress of the pandemic.
“I think for a lot of people running is truly that time to be alone with their thoughts and work through things,” she said. “... I pretty much have to stay home. I can’t go see my friends. Running is the only sense of normal I have at this point.”
Atkins said her solo marathon was more difficult than she expected it would be, without a crowd supporting her and aid stations. She carried her own fuel and water.
Dedicating different miles to different people in her life helped motivate her. One mile was for a friend of her son, who died. The last mile was for her mom, who ran when Atkins was a kid and has inspired her.
She also was motivated virtually by her running groups. A friend from one cheered her on while social distancing and congratulated her with flowers.
Atkins is not sure she’ll have the time to train for another marathon, but she plans to start running again next week.
“Just having something to do every day I think has been important,” she said. “... I think that right now it’s important for us to get outside and get fresh air and de-stress. And if running is a way for you to do that, then keep on doing it.”
