Per the usual routine for this particular race, as soon as I got off of work, I headed over to the parking lot near the baseball fields at TeWinkle Park. I always park here and walk over since I wasn't going to give them $9 just to pick up my race packet. Fortunately the nearby gate just North of The Hangar was left open, so I didn't have to walk all the way around.
Across the way from the Pavilion was the OC Legacy/VIP/Marathon Maniacs/Half Fanatics Lounge area. I had arrived at about 3:30 pm, 30 minutes before the expo was scheduled to open. There was already a line of about 50 people waiting. While waiting, I ended up talking to someone who had a kid in the WeROCK program. I always enjoy having random conversations with my fellow runners.
OC Legacy/VIP/Marathon Maniacs/Half Fanatics Lounge
Expo entrance
The expo opened promptly at 4 pm. After first picking up my bib and race shirt, I made my way inside the building for the rest of the expo. Along the way, I looked up my name on the participant names banner. It was a bit hard to read with the very bright sunlight in the background.
Race shirt
Back of race shirt
Participants name wall
Found my name
The first thing I did upon entering the expo was to pick up the OC Legacy gift which was a baby blue cup. It was an okay gift, but it looked kind of cheap. Another perk for being a "legacy" runner was that there were 2 beer tickets attached to the bib instead of 1.
OC Legacy booth
There weren't too many vendor booths that caught my attention. However I did take a can of watermelon sparkling water and a cup of Yooli strawberry farmers cheese. I tried the cheese when I got to the Marathon Maniacs/Half Fanatics booth and it was just plain gross. The consistency was kind of like cottage cheese, but it tasted nothing like strawberry. I had to toss it in the trash.
This was gross!
My friends at the booth noticed that my bib didn't have the Half Fanatics logo on it. They checked and verified that my name was on the Half Fanatics list. Unfortunately they had only brought enough luggage tags for those with the printed logo. I was okay with not having a tag. However in order for me to get into the post-race lounge on race day, I needed to go to the solutions booth to get a sticker placed on my bib. Back to the solutions booth I go. It was near the bib pick-up location. There was a rather long line. Thankfully the line was moving at a decent pace.
Latino Heat!
Solutions
After I got that all sorted out, I went back to hang out with my fellow Maniacs for a bit before heading on home. Unfortunately they had closed the gate that I had used to get in, so I had to walk all the way over to the OC Fair & Event Center Admin Building before I could exit out onto Arlington Dr.
Dexter!
Expo haul
Sunday 5/5
I got up pretty dang early to the make the drive out to Fashion Island. This year, I decided to go back to parking at the starting area. I stopped by the gas station along the way to fill up the tank. I arrived at about 4:30 am. I used to park in the lot next to Muldoon's Irish Pub, but for some reason it was roped off. I ended up parking across the lot near the Wild Strawberry Cafe. From there, I walked over to the Newport Beach Marriott Hotel.
A lot of runners congregate in this hotel before the race because of its proximity to the start line. I came here to use their restrooms and to meet up with the usual suspects. While waiting here, I also bumped into a few friends that I haven't seen in a while. Unfortunately a couple of the restrooms were out of commission so there were longer lines this year. After taking the pre-race Half Fanatics photo, I hurried back to the restroom to use the urinals one last time before heading to the start line.
Latino Heat
Half Fanatics pre-race photo
Start line
The race announcers, Rudy and Fitz!
Johnny and friends
I was trying to take it easy for the most part as I needed to beat my finishing time at the SF Half Marathon in July to earn the California Time Travel Challenge medal. However I still wanted to finish the race in just under 2 hrs. I ended up actually having to work a little bit during the last few miles in order to meet that time goal. It also didn't help that the 2 hr pace group went by me during the last couple of miles. I took my regular walk breaks and trusted in my mid-race time calculations to get me to the finish line on time. I would eventually pass that group during the last mile as they were adjusting for getting there ahead of schedule.
During the race, I was fortunate enough to see a few of my older Marathon Maniacs friends. I saw Joe Reilly around the Back Bay and I saw Dale before we reached the half marathon/full marathon split. It always inspires me that their fast days are long behind them, but they're still out there being active and doing the thing they love!
California Time Travel Challenge
Finish line
Finish: 1:58:49
Click here for my Garmin data.
After crossing the finish line, I got my finisher medal. After having run the half marathon instead of the full marathon for the last two years, I'm kind of liking this event with not having to cover an additional 13.1 miles.Relive 'OC Half Marathon'
Finisher medal
Further down the finisher chute, I got a bag of goodies. I also got some chocolate milk, QURE water as well as other drinks. It was so much post race goodies that the handle on the plastic bag started to tear. Before heading to the post race lounge, I stopped by the Pavilion to pick up my Beach Cities Challenge medal. I liked the previous shark medal, but this whale medal just looked weird.
Post race goodies
Beach Cities Challenge medal
Closed
Open
I hung out a little bit with my friends in the lounge. I gave away my beer tickets before heading over to the sidewalk in front of the Centennial Farm to catch a shuttle back to my car. It was an uncomfortable ride on one of those orange school buses designed for kids. The bus driver dropped us off on the Northern end of Fashion Island, so I decided to cut through the mall to get back to my car. Along the way, I used one of the mall restrooms to empty my bladder before my drive home.
Double Agents!
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