Finally... the last race of the year! I'm usually pretty banged up by this time of the year, but this marathon was for a very good cause. It would have to take a lot more to keep me away from this race. I arrived at the Dockweiler State Beach Park entrance at the end of Imperial Hwy at about 6 am. The cost to park was $8 this year. I found a spot and parked right next to the bike path that we would be running on for the next several hours. It was still dark and pretty chilly, but there was a full moon out. I walked over to the tables to pick up my bib, t-shirt, and timing chip. After using the portapotty, I went back to my car to take a quick cat nap.
Full moon before the race
The was an early marathon start at 6:45 am. Then the regular start was at 7:30 am. Before the start, there were last minute instructions as well as some words from Sam, the guy who started this race to fight autism in his son's honor. I was standing near the front and I could barely hear a thing. They need to use a speaker or a bullhorn. We also start near the end of the LAX runway, so it's somewhat noisy with planes routinely taking off. They announced that the race course was now certified. The turnaround points were properly marked. They would have certain points recorded, so no cutting the course, no cheating allowed!
Last minute instructions
Both of my feet had been feeling a lot better lately, but I made sure that I didn't go out way too hard even if it was just for the first half or the first 10k. I held to roughly a 9 min/mile pace and was hoping to get to the halfway point at about 2 hrs. However by mile 8-9, the left foot and right hip started to feel pretty sore and my pace dropped off. The headwind, the sand drifts, and having to dodge cyclists did not help. It was pretty cool to see a lot of my friends on the out and backs. Many of them were smart to run the half marathon. I reached the halfway point a few minutes past 2 hrs.
From Richard
The second half involved a lot of walking. The course was pretty sparse as most participants had run the half marathon. However as the day went on, the cyclists came out in force especially since the weather was really nice for a bike ride. I was pretty demoralized by the time I reached the final turnaround at about mile 24. Thankfully with the wind now behind my back, I started to feel a little bit better and was able to run at a sustainable pace for the final mile. I was hoping to finish under 5 hrs, but I missed it by about 6 and a half minutes. The concrete was just not very forgiving.
From Jake
Click here for my Garmin data.
After getting my medal, I had a pretty good time catching up with a few of my friends. It's always pretty cool to trade race stories and to talk about our future races.
Marathon Maniacs pic from Julie
I was pretty wiped out. So after grabbing a couple of bananas and saying my goodbyes, I hopped into my car and headed home. After I took a shower and got cleaned up, I had one of favorite recovery snacks... a beer and a tube of Pringles!
Recovery meal
This race was my 27th marathon for the year, 166th overall. That's a cutback from 31 marathons last year. I have been running at least 13 marathons per year since 2009. As with most years with a busy racing schedule, this year had its highs and lows. I was fortunate enough to stay healthy enough to set a PR in the 5k and half marathon.
Here's the final count for 2015 with my year's best times:
5k: 7 (21:58 PR)
10k: 8 (46:43)
Half Marathon: 12 (1:41:56 PR)
Marathon: 27 (4:15:04)
Goodbye 2015! Hello 2016! Happy racing everybody!
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