Poulsbo Beer Run | race recap

In the past few years, breweries have cropped up out of nowhere here in Kitsap County, to my great pleasure. While I'm never the biggest beer drinker of a bunch, (unless I'm with my husband - he'll just have water, thanks) I love the atmosphere of breweries. Everyone is having a good time (and if you're not, you might want to think about just leaving because there is no un-fun allowed) and not only is the beer unique and interesting, the food is typically off the chain as well.

For whatever reason, three of these brew masters decided to build their small empire within miles of each other to make the perfect tri-beer-fecta. That is to say, perfect until you are to drink a rather high-quality beer at each while intermittently running amongst them.

Homegirl, we need some breakfast. And lunch.

Wait, it's not fair for me to start at the end of the show. It really was perfect for the first 3 hours.  My sister, Brooke, and I arrived at the first brewery, Volholl, at 8:45am. We luckily started at the brewery that happens to be right in downtown Poulsbo, which also means we got to end there (=more post-race food and fun choices). The sun was shining, it was 70 degrees, and the Pacific Northwest could not have been in a better mood. (Sidenote: This was also the day of Seattle's Rock and Roll marathon, so you know they were singing praises.) The registration was great - quick and easy. We each got our bibs and a green dot, displayed prominently on our cheeks, which meant that we were to start in the 9:15am wave.

I can't remember what beers we got, but they were bomb. My brain was absent when I said I wanted an amber though, should have stuck to something a leetle lighter.

We ran the first mile to Sound Brewery, which was a nice downhill trek that seemed to go by in a minute. This palce had a nice set-up, with a small beer garden and some picnic tables posted up. You would think that we would have taken that as nature's gesture to say "here, sit down, stay awhile. Please. Nurse your beer." But we didn't. We were finished within 15 minutes and outta there.

Third stop was the Slippery Pig Brewery, which is down a little dirt road on a farm. It's my favorite brewery by far, which a cute outdoor seating area complete with comfy couches and a sweet wooden bar. The beers were right my alley, too - fruity and light. I went with a rhubarb-flavored one while Brooke chose kiwi. Oh, and a plate of chocolate covered strawberries was passed around, which could also be 4th reason this place was my fave.

At this point, we knew the rest of our day was screwed. It was only 11:00, two hours after we had our first beer, and we were three beers deep. I realize this isn't a lot for many people, but for two girls who don't drink a ton this got us in a solid way.

Oh, and I didn't have breakfast (which never happens except for when I run myself drunk, naturally.)

Oh, and we kept forgetting to drink water while sweating buckets in that gorgeous sunshine.

So essentially, we screwed our own selves over but WHATEVER, it's a beer run.

Oh, lookey there, two sunburned drunk girls. I can't even remember what's sticking out of my bra. That's a sign of a good time.

No, but really, we had a fantastic time. What's not to love about beer, sun and run - and combined, at that?

We ate lunch at The Loft, and ohmygosh it was so incredibly delicious. It may have just been the ravaged state we were in, but that quinoa pita thing Brooke got was the best food I've tasted in weeks. I got a roasted veggie wrap that was also super good.

We too our time eating and downed the jug of water before walking back to my car...and then deciding to instead take a giant, 2-hour nap in the park o the waterfront.

What I'm trying to say in this post is I'm a total goal-completer. I completed a race, was drunk before noon on a sunny Saturday, and had some quality time with mi hermana. That's all I wanted to accomplish that morning, and I'm pretty proud of myself for being so productive.

However, there are a few things I would change next year:

1. Eat breakfast
2. Wear sunscreen
3. Drink water, at least within the first 3 hours I'm beering

I'll leave you with a little advice on how to be a better friend (good thing all my friends are evil and are happy to let me drink sissy beer ;) ).

What has been the most fun race you've ever ran? Do you have a "fun run" coming up soon?