Rock 'n' Roll Runner

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Kim Smith has trouble counting the number of Rock ‘n’ Roll marathons and half-marathons she’s run. “One, two, three,” she says on the phone, ticking off the memories. “One year when they just had four races, I did their Grand Slam.” Including all the Rock ‘n' Rolls, she's done 10 marathons and a dozen halves. That includes one Boston and a Marine Corps Marathon. But many of her favorites were Rock ‘n' Roll's. 

"The thing I like most about their races is that they're incredibly well organized," she says. "They bring in a large volume of runners, and despite that the runs are very well set up." 

She particularly appreciates the use of starting corrals to get runners onto the course in proper sequence. But, she adds. "The expos are great. The bands at every mile are really encouraging. I just think they do a really nice job. I've always said they should come to Seattle. So when I heard they were, I was really excited."

Smith, 46, is a trauma nurse in a Seattle-area intensive care unit who took up running eight years ago. "I started running as something to do to release stress," she says. 

She'd never thought of herself as a distance runner - in high school, she'd been a sprinter - but training on one of Seattle's greenways, she fell in with a group of people who were training for a marathon. "I kind of went along for the ride, basically," she says. "Each new distance was a milestone. I did my first marathon and actually qualified for Boston."

Boston that year was one of the hottest on recent record. And Smith, it turned out, was coming down with undiagnosed pneumonia. "I wasn't feeling well at the start," she says. "I remember saying to my running partners that my heart rate was 112. They said it was nerves."

But obviously, it wasn't. "Boston was my slowest marathon." 

Slow, however, isn't necessarily bad. Partway through, she stopped to help a man who was having trouble with the heat. "I'd like to say it was because I was a nurse," she says, implying that it was also a much-appreciated opportunity to take a break.

"Come to find out he was from Boston and had millions of friends, so we started to run together. It was so much fun. We'd stop and visit his friends and run a bit more." That got her through what would otherwise have been a tough race. "It wasn't really that bad because I stopped frequently."

A few months later, recovered from her illness, she did the Marine Corps Marathon. "I think they had 18,000 to 20,000 people, and I'm in this massive port-o-potty line," she recalls. "I could hear someone calling ‘Kim.' I didn't look around because nobody I knew could have known I was going to be there. Pretty soon somebody taps me on the shoulder, and there was the Boston guy! We ended up running that race together, too."

And that, she says, is why she loves running. "I've gone all over and met all kinds of wonderful people. Runners tend to be a friendly lot. It's a safe way for a woman to travel by herself."

Which brings her back to Rock ‘n' Roll. "They're usually in great places," she says. "Seattle in June! That's when the weather finally starts to get nice. There's nothing like Seattle when the sun shines. I think it's really great that Rock ‘n' Roll is going to be here." 

For more information go to www.rocknrollmarathon.com.

Comments & Feedback

Frank Duchossois  - Well Done Kim! |Posted on: 12.02.2008 You did the right thing to help a fellow runner who was struggling, and it turned out great for both of you. Good luck in Seattle!

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