I woke up early to get ready while watching Premier League Mornings. I then followed that with the Spurs v. Chelsea match. I ended up catching the entire first half before hopping in the car and heading to the race. They were scoreless through the first half which is always a good thing with the slow starting Spurs. The Spurs would go on to win 2 nil with a goal from Skipp and Kane. I actually couldn't start my drive right away as I needed the windshield to defrost a bit.
Boy, things sure have changed since the last time that I've run this race back in 2020! Per the usual, I drove down via State College. What used to be an open unmaintained lot was now an apartment structure called Avalon Brea Place. The road just before reaching Birch St was already barricaded when I got there, so I turned in and drove towards Target. I ended up parking next to the Men's Warehouse.
Avalon Brea Place
Not sure what this is
After parking the car, I walked across the street to pick up my race packet. Along the way there, I bumped into my friend. After getting a quick selfie, I continued on. I looked up my bib number and got my bib. That was followed by getting a goodie bag and then the race shirt. At the shirt station, I saw the usual volunteer guy that I had volunteered with at the LA 5k back in 2019. He is always volunteering at races. I used a portapotty before returning back to my car to get out of the chilly morning air.
Bib pick up
BoxLunch tote bag
Goodie bag contents
Race shirt
Race shirt
Back at the car, I went through the contents of the goodie bag which was mostly just flyers. At about 7:35 am, I finally got out of my car to get ready for the race which was scheduled to start at 8 am. I shed my jacket and cargo shorts before jogging over to the portapotties to get warmed up and to empty the bladder one last time. Once I took care of that, I jogged back towards the start line and positioned myself right in front of the 7 mins per mile sign.
Start line
7 mins per mile
Finish: 41:12
Click here for my Garmin data.
Finish line
Finisher medal
I was quite pleased with how I ran the race, mostly because I paced myself correctly and didn't have to walk any of the uphill sections. However, it was the slowest in the 4 times that I've run this race. Still, I'm making good progress in getting myself back into shape. I don't mind being a little slower if it means nothing is hurting.
2020: 39:32
2019: 38:12
2016: 38:38
After receiving my finisher medal and catching my breath, I headed into the post race food court. At the entrance, I received a bottle of water and a banana. Here were the tables that I came across inside the food court and what was being passed out:
- Red Robin: small pizza slices
- Starbucks:
- Pike Place (medium roast)
- Sumatra (dark roast)
- Veranda (blonde roast)
- The Power Club
- Ding Tea:
- Mango green tea
- Brown sugar milk tea
- Nothing Bundt Cakes
- Coach's Oats
- BJ's: Chicken alfredo
Post race food court
Red Robin... yum!
Starbucks
The Power Club
Ding Tea
Nothing Bundt Cakes
Post race goodies and coupons
I bumped into my friend from Long Beach while inside the food court. Per the usual, we went over how our races went. We both agreed that the food spread while still better than other races, just wasn't quite as good as years prior. I think the local restaurants are still trying to recover from dealing with a few years of COVID.
Ward!
On my way back to my car, I came across a pedestrian. He looked to be in a bad mood. As we crossed paths, he mumbled something along the lines of, "they had to go have a marathon and shut down the streets. Now, I have to f'n walk!" Whoa, take it easy. First of all, the race was only 8k or 5 miles. I'm pretty sure that the city gave you plenty of warning ahead of time of any road closures.
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