First Thursday - March 6, 2014

The kick-off of the 2014 running season in Portland is officially underway!  Last night was the first First Thursday event through Fit Right (FR).  This scavenger hunt through NW Portland brings together runners and walkers and sets them loose on the streets.  Arrive to find cars parked everywhere bearing those familiar oval stickers with 13.1, 26.2 or even specific race stickers (Rock 'n Roll Portland was a popular one) and runners milling around wearing varying shades of neon colors.

Marilyn and I are sporting our New Balance High-Visibility Neon Jackets

At 6pm on the nose, the MAP is released on Facebook and on a large white-board.  Runners jockey for positions to get close enough to take a photo and then we're off - typically scattering in all directions clustered in small groups.

The map reveal!

 

 Stopped for a sample of frozen yogurt from Twist before grabbing our raffle tickets!

  

Each group will have one or two navigators, some with the photo on their smartphones, some with the intersections jotted down on a scrap of paper, some with maps they preprinted and brought with them and then marked with the stops.  The idea is to run to as many of the stops as you can and collect a raffle ticket from each one. The raffle starts at 7pm so you need to back at the starting location and have your raffle tickets organized and 1/2 put into the large ticket bins before it starts.  Each month has different vendors at the event and most of them put something into the raffle as well as a few of the stores we visit along the scavenger hunt.  FR always has a few things to raffle off and/or throw into the audience (a big favorite is socks! this event had lots of beer cozies and a few t-shirts).  You can earn additional raffle tickets by purchasing an event t-shirt at the beginning of the season (this year its a super-soft blue short sleeved t-shirt - you can see the back of it in the map photo).  So, mark your calendars and join the crowd for the First Thursday from March-September with Fit Right!

Apparel Review:  This was my first run in the New Balance High-Visibility Neon Jacket.  Marilyn and I were visible, but I think it was more because of the neon color and reflective striping on the jacket as opposed to our "tiger stripes" of glow in the dark areas.  The visibility is designed in three stages (low light is the coral color, oncoming light are the reflective strips and no-light is the glow in the dark accents).  We didn't get the opportunity to test the glow in the dark sections - they probably work great if you're running in pitch black but we were in the downtown area and there is plenty of ambient light from streetlamps and stores.  The jacket is super stretchy which I love.  It doesn't breathe very well if you tend to run hot, but I was fine for our ~3 mile run with stops.  It has two front pockets with zippers, which held my iPhone as we ran tonight (would bounce around a bit too much on a serious run through).  Nice long length, and it dips down in the back to cover your bum - a feature I always love.  Sleeves are a bit long, which would be great if they have thumb-holes, but sadly they do not.  The price tag is a bit steep - $175 but both Marilyn and I were able to snag ours on the clearance rack at our LRR (Local Running Retailer) for 50% off.  Am I happy I purchased it?  Yes.  Would I pay full price for it? No. In summary, it's a gimmicky jacket, but still cute and wearable for runs.

Getting Outfitted

Our first outing to the LRR (Local Running Retailer)

As we began increasing our miles it became apparent that what we were purchasing willy-nilly in the big box and sporting retailer stores was not going to cut it.  Our first trip to our LRR resulted in us walking out with jackets (with removable sleeves!), headbands, hats, gloves, leggings, socks and shoes.  Maybe there was a shirt or two included, too!

Jackets:  Let's just focus on jackets for now (although we're rocking those headbands in both the over and under hair techniques, right?).  The Pacific NW has beautiful views, amazing scenery... and weather that can change in a heartbeat.  So, when you're heading out on a run that will last an hour or more, you have no idea what you'll encounter along the way.  The beauty of the two jackets that Katie and I purchased (with guidance from our LRR expert) is that they both transition into vests.  I chose my jacket based on color (black and PINK!!!) and they matched my shoes (at least I was fit properly for those shoes, which just so happened to fit my favorite color schemes).  Katie liked the color of hers, also - a great lime green.  Here's a quick pro/con of each of the jackets:

Katie - Sugoi's Versa Jacket (Lime Green)

• Magnets hold the sleeves in place - making for an easy on/off while in mid-run
• 2 comfortable zip pockets in front and one large zip pocket in rear (for storing your sleeves when you've removed them
• Water and wind resistant
• Reflective piping and markings
• Womans fit is a snug fit through the hip area if you buy true to size

 Kerianne - Nike's Shifter Jacket (Black vest with Pink sleeves)

• Zip off sleeves
• 2 large zip pockets in front and one in rear (for storing your sleeves when you've removed them
• Water and wind resistant
• Minimal reflective markings 
• Longer length in back is nice for rainy weather 

So.... after a few months we realized that Katie won out on this purchase.  Primarily the problem was the laundry.  While the Sugoi can be thrown into the washer with no problems, the Nike had quite a few small sections of velcro which held a small flap in place that covered the zippers for the sleeves.  When washing the jacket the velcro inevitably would come undone and then stick to other items in the wash or to delicates sections of the vest itself.  The top back is all mesh and that area quickly became riddled with pulls and snags from the velcro.  In addition to all this, having to zip on and off the sleeves really meant you needed to decide before a run if you were going to wear a vest or jacket that day or you'd be looking at a full stop during your run to remove it all and fumble with small zippers.