Running in Oregon

Well, it seems like I'm failing this running blog once again. I was hoping to document several of my long runs during this training season leading up to the Oklahoma City Memorial Marathon April 26th.
On January 7, 2009 I was in Portland, Oregon and scheduled for a 6 mile run. I didn't yet have my GPS or any good way to judge distance on the particular run that I decided on. On that morning I dressed warm for the chilly (53 degrees) damp day with enough money to ride the MAX to it's northern most stop, the Expo Center. From there I found, with some trial and error, the bike path that wove up and under a few twisty ramps to I-5 and then ran alongside the interstate over the Columbia river, some island, and split on the banks of Vancouver, Washington. The bridge itself was probably 1.5-2 miles, the winding path to get on the interstate was at least a mile and once I got to the other side I ran through a very pleasantly surprising place, the Vancouver National Historic Site, this area was probably a mile also. All in all I estimate that I ran 7+ miles on this untested course. At the very end, last mile or so, it began to really rain so I sprinted the last 1/2 mile to the covered train station. From Vancouver I picked up a Real Estate Book for my dad and it is curled like a baton and shows the water spots from the rain I encountered. All in all this was a glorious run and it was the second time I ran over a state line. This time, however, it was my first time ever in Washington. So from now on I can boast that the first time I was every in Washington, I ran there. Sweet!