The expo on Saturday was scheduled to open at 10 am. I didn't feel the need to get there right when it opened, so I left the house at about 10 am. Per the usual, I parked the car at TeWinkle Park across the street from the OC Fair & Event Center to avoid having to pay for parking ($10). From there, I started heading over to the race packet pickup at the Santa Ana Pavilion which was just south of The Hangar. Along the way there, shortly after coming across a large cow statue, I bumped into Cindy. She was just leaving the expo. Then I came across the Kids Run the OC event taking place. I saw my friend, Fitz, announcing the race.
Kids Run the OC
Prior to entering the Santa Ana Pavilion, I stopped by one of the vendor tents outside in the Main Mall to get a sample can of Weird Tea. They had a few flavors from which to choose. I went with the hibiscus tea. After picking up my race bib and race shirt, I headed inside the Costa Mesa Building to check out the vendor booths. Per the usual, I found my name on the participants name wall. I noticed that John Wayne Grit Series had added a 50k distance to their Newport Coast event. I'll have to look into running that one. I received a bunch of drink samples from various vendors. For once, I did not register for next year's race.
Expo
Race shirt
Back of race shirt
Participants name wall
Found my name
Expo haul
On the drive home, I stopped off in Brea to pick up lunch at Chick-fil-A. I ordered the usual cobb salad with grilled nuggets and a frosted lemonade. I also cashed in my reward for a free Chick-fil-A sandwich. On the way home, there was quite a bit of traffic so I couldn't make my usual exit. I ended up taking the long way around. Thankfully, I had a frosted lemonade, so I didn't care for the unplanned detour.
Lunch
Sunday 5/1
I got ready and left the house at about 4 am. This time, I decided to park at the start. I arrived at Fashion Island at about 4:40 am. Per the instructions, I took Jamboree Rd down to PCH. From there I turned left on Avocado Ave and parked in the lot near Mariners Escrow at the northeast corner of Anacapa Dr and Civic Center Dr. From there, I walked with a couple of runners over to the start area. I went beyond the start line and headed over to the Newport Beach Marriott. My friends and I usually hang out in here until the start of the race. With all of the remodeling, this resort was starting to look really nice. While the lobby was open, they had signs stating that the restrooms were closed. I texted my friend to see where he was. Unfortunately, he had left his phone in the car. I headed back to the starting area to use the portapotties and then got into position to watch the start of the marathon scheduled for 5:30 am.
Waiting for the marathon start
Marathon start at 5:30 am
My friend sweeping the marathon
After my friend, Andrea, came through as the sweeper for the marathon, I started making my way over to the starting corral. After visiting my race announcer friends, I found a couple of my friends at the starting line.
Selfie with Team Noisy
Team Noisy doing their thing
Start line
Mike!
Dexter!
I hung out with Mike until the start of the race. The Spurs v. Leicester match started at 6 am just as we were positioning ourselves near the back of corral 1. We both weren't feeling too spry for today's race. As for myself, I knew that my Achilles tendonitis would be bothering me during that first mile and I didn't want to get in anybody's way.
In the corral
Ready to go!
It took about 2/3rds of a mile before the soreness in the Achilles dissipated. I ended up following runner with bib #3650 on that fast decline down MacArthur Blvd until I caught up to Karen around mile 2 when we made the turn onto PCH. That runner turned out to be friends with Karen. Karen and I would go back and forth for the next 4 miles as I couldn't get much power out of my legs on the inclines, but would catch up when the course flattened out. We caught up to Andrea at about the 10k mark. I took a walk break and a quick selfie. By mile 8, I had a sharp drop in pace and could not keep up. I took a quick walk break to try and reset everything. Eventually, I was hanging on to a runner with bib #10242, she wore her bib on her back. Those last few miles were such a grind, but I was able to slowly lower the pace mile after mile. Much to my surprise, I was able to catch and overtake my friend Karen during that last mile.
Caught up to Karen at about mile 6
Andrea was just up ahead
Almost at mile 8
Almost there!
Finish line
Done!
Finish: 2:03:16
Click here for my Garmin data.
I finished and the Spurs beat Leicester 3-1. Today was a good day! Now it's time for me to rest up a bit with no races for the next couple of weekends. However, I lost against my coworkers, so I will owe them lunch at In-n-Out.
- Jason: 1:59:49
- Jim: 1:54:55
Karen at the finish line
Barefoot runner for Taiwan and Ukraine
Finisher medal
Finisher photo
Post race snacks and drinks
Next, I walked over to Centennial Farms and got in a short line to catch a shuttle ride back to my car. The bus dropped us off in front of the Pacific Life Insurance building at Fashion Island. From there I started walking counter-clockwise until I reached Anacapa Dr. From there I walked back to my car. I drove the car over to Muldoon's Irish Pub to get some breakfast. I would've parked there earlier in the morning, but the instructions specifically marked that lot as one of the lots that were off limits for pre-race parking. I got a table in the bar section to catch the 2nd half of the West Ham v. Arsenal match. After looking over the menu, I ordered the Gaelic skillet and a coffee. I was hoping for an Arsenal loss, but they eventually pulled out a 1-2 win. If I continue to run this race, I just might have to make this post race stop here a tradition.
Muldoon's
Coffee
West Ham v. Arsenal
Gaelic skillet
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