I left work a little early on Friday to attend the expo next to the Disneyland hotel. I didn't go right when they opened which was good since I missed the usual early chaos. I first stood in the wrong line thinking that I had to pick up my bib at the regular lines before going to the Coast-to-Coast line. All I had to do was go straight to the Coast-to-Coast line. They put the green wristband on me and off I went to the expo to pick up my shirt and goodie bag. The shirt wasn't bad, but I was hoping that the graphics would have been sublimated by now. I got an Angels cap from the Angels Strike Force booth and bought a ridiculously expensive but nice Coast-to-Coast shirt before leaving.
Disneyland Hotel Sorcerer's Hat
Coast to Coast Challenge accepted!
Stuff from the expo
On Saturday, I returned to the expo after my morning run with the Train4Autism group. I stopped by the RunRacing booth to say hi to my friend, Danica. I also got another Angels cap. Too bad, I'm not an Angels fan! :) I left soon thereafter to avoid buying anymore Disney merchandise. I then went and ate never-ending pasta at the Olive Garden with my friend which always turns out to be a bad idea. Eating too much the day before a race just means more time on the porcelain throne the next day. :)
Race day
I next day I got to the Disneyland parking structure a little before 4am with the race starting at 6am. The parking this year costs $15. I figured if it costs that much, I'd want to get there early and take a nap in my car. Around 5am, I got ready and went out to the starting area to use the portapotties. I was about to head to the Sorcerer's hat for the Maniac pre-race photo, but realized that I had forgotten my visor. I had to jog back to my car then mosey on over to the photo spot. I ran into Endorphin Dude and showed him the way. We made it just in time.
As soon as we were finished with the photos, I took off for my corral since I was going to be starting out of corral A. I walked through the corral to see if I could spot any of my friends but didn't see anyone that I knew. So I went to the back of the corral near the entrance and found a place to sit. I spotted my friend Mitch. As it got closer to the start of the race, we made our way closer to the front of the corral. While we were waiting I spotted runners dressed up as Russell and Kevin the bird. I took a picture with them.
Corral A with Russell and Kevin the bird!
Objective #1: don't rupture any tendons.
Objective #2: finish under 2 hrs but try for 1:55.
Objective #3: keep all miles below 10 min.
The Race
I started off running with Mitch since we have about the same speed. We were near the front and still we had to dodge joggers. My legs have regained some of its zip, but I noticed that the breathing was not quite there. I was also not liking the humidity very much. I hung with Mitch until about mile 3 right before we ran through the castle. I had to slow down because I was overheating. Later in the race, I had to dump water on my head at almost every water station to cool myself down. I was passed by Nadia and the 1:40 pace group shortly. I took my planned walk breaks after every 3 miles (3, 6, 9, and 12). A side stitch really slowed me down around the miles leading up to the Honda Center parking lot. I added a few more walk breaks late in the race because I couldn't breathe correctly. It seemed like every time I took a walk break, one of my friends was passing me. Andee passed me shortly after my first walk break with the 1:45 pace group. Then Meganne passed me right before we left the park. Madison passed me around mile 5. Casey passed me shortly after we left Angels Stadium.
Why did the chicken cross the road? To get to the other side! I almost collided into someone walking through the race course during the final stretch. I don't mind people getting across but at least look and try not to time it so that I would have no choice but to run into you! I had just covered 13 miles and I don't want to be swerving around anyone especially when they're moving perpendicular to me. :)
1: 8:00
2: 7:59
3: 8:22
4: 8:55
5: 8:55
6: 8:47
7: 9:34
8: 9:15
9: 9:07
10: 9:07
11: 9:39
12: 9:51
13: 9:47
13.1: 0:46
Finish: 1:58:03
Post Race
It looks like whoever wrote the query to obtain their list of legacy runners from their database goofed up big time. Some non-legacy runners were given legacy yellow bibs and some legacy runners were given regular blue bibs. They tried to fix the problem by using stickers. They checked at the finish line by printing out another set of legacy bibs to make sure only legacy runners got the legacy lanyard. While I was picking up mine, there were quite a few non-legacy runners trying to pick one up. Shame on those non-legacy runners trying to get a legacy lanyard! Disney magic does not come free! :)
They then cut off my Coast-to-Coast bracelet and gave me a nice medal for running a race on both coasts. After seeing my friends with it last year, I knew that I had to get one for myself this year.
Coast to Coast medal!
I love this race. It's darn right expensive, but you get quality from Disney from start to finish. It also helps that I'm a big time Disney fan. Their medal from the first 4 years was the same, very gaudy, and not that great. But for the last 2 years, they've really came through with very nice medals.
I bumped into Mitch at the finish area and we looked for our gear check buddy Casey. We took a bunch of photos and even bumped into Russell and Kevin again! We took more pictures. Disneyland is such a camera friendly place. I even bumped into friends that I've ran The Goofy with at Disney World. I told them that I would joining them again in 2012.
Post Race photo with Casey, Mitch, Russell and Kevin the bird!
And of course, the eating!
After the race, I met up with Andee and Meganne at the Original Pancake House. Two years in a row... it's starting to become a tradition. I love omelettes or just eggs in general! We traded race stories and talked about running some ultras in the near future. :)
4 comments:
good job on another great race... and also that may quite possibly be the worst picture of me EVER
thank you
and man I need to take a trip to the original pancake house. SHOOT!
Disney does put on good races but I just did some financial calculations on pricing for doing the Goofy Challenge 2012 and it is way over my head. But one day.
It was fun seeing you at another race. You did a great job as it's not an easy event to get a sub 2 at. I'll be seeing you next year as I plan to keep coming back every year. I love this race!
If you need an Angels fan to take those hats off your hands, let me know.....Hahahaa!
An Angels cap? Don't you know that real baseball is over in the National League? Where pitchers have to hit?
Great job Emil! I'm slowly working myself back into shape. I'll be back on the circuit soon.
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