The Great Ferry Half

By Karl Johnson
June 8,2025 – Bainbridge Island

This was a challenging event. I thought I was training properly for it, but I apparently over-trained in May and had some pain in my leg that I was attributing to shin splints but I’m thinking now was closer to a stress fracture. I took it easy for the week leading up to the race but was not prepared for the amount of strain I would put on it, especially on the downhill sections. I felt borderline out of control on some of these and they were kind of jarring.

It was a great day for weather-wise for a race. I caught up with Kent Sizer (Featured photo) at the check-in. We were the only two of the regular crew running the race. 73 of the participants were Silver Striders. The first male Silver Strider was Doug Caton with a time of 1:54:34. The first female Silver Strider was Heidi Nevin with a time of 1:56:53. Kent finished with a very respectable time of 1:59:47 for first in his age group. I did manage to break 3 hours so I was kinda happy with that. That was my goal, although it was 30 minutes slower than I ran this course 3 years ago.

After a pleasant ride across the sound, all the runners gathered on the aft end of the car deck for pre-race announcements and to wait for the cars to depart. Once the decks were cleared we moved to the front. With a blast of the Ferry’s whistle we were off! The timing mats were up the hill a bit so my Garmin time differed slightly from the official time as I started it from the Ferry. 

Did I mention that the course was hilly? There was over 1200 feet of elevation and I felt every inch of it. The course went along the streets of Bainbridge Island and at about the 4 mile mark we entered a park for some trail running for a few miles. And then there was “The Hill” at the 8 mile mark that was about a mile long. As I crested the top of the hill my playlist very appropriately played “I’m Alive” by Love & Rockets. From there it was a long slog for me to the finish. I was also starting to feel the heat. Thankfully the finish wasn’t too far away by now.

I saw my lovely wife just before the finish so I stopped briefly for a quick kiss, crossed the finish line and put an end to this madness. The finisher’s medal was unique with a movable ferry you could push from Seattle to Bainbridge.

I pounded down several glasses of electrolytes and a couple bananas and felt a little more human. Kent was long gone by this point as he had an appointment that afternoon so Kathryn and I headed out. We did stop by the Troll on the way out, though. And I pondered my life choices on the drive home.