Originally, I was planning to only volunteer for the 5k and then attend the expo afterwards to pick up my race packet for tomorrow's marathon. I changed my mind and decided to register for it once I noticed that it was one of the races that was part of the 2023 USATF So Cal Grand Prix schedule.
I got ready and left the house at about 5:30 am. I arrived at Dodger Stadium via the downtown gate at about 6:10 am. I found a parking spot in lot K next to the road to make it easier to find. I then walked over to the lot just outside of the pavilion area to get my race packet. After I was assigned a bib number, I got in line to pick up my race shirt. I then headed back to my car to get out of the chilly morning air.
5k race packet pick up
5k race shirt
Charities
Once the scheduled 8 am start time approached, I exited my car to head to the starting area and get warmed up. Along the way, I used one of the portapotties to empty out the bladder. After warming up and waving hi to my announcer friends, I situated myself near the front of the start corral, but not too close to the start line. Eventually, I was joined by the usual suspects, Ely, Marcia, and Paul. While we were waiting for the race start, Fitz, one part of Team Noisy made an announcement that the date on the race shirt was incorrect. It said, "March 19, 2023" which was tomorrow. She jokingly blamed it on those mischievous Leprechauns!
Team Noisy
Start corral
Can you spot me in this picture?
Chasing stroller runner
Finish: 28:32
Click here for my Garmin data.
I was hoping to put in a good result for a shorter race, but those hills ate me up! I couldn't kill myself in a 5k with a marathon to run tomorrow, so I had to take walk breaks. The course was difficult enough where I was fortunate enough to even keep it under 30 minutes! For the majority of the race, I was leapfrogging with a guy pushing a stroller. I would pass him on the uphills and he would pass me on the downhills.
Finish line
I bumped into Robert after crossing the finish line. We were shortly joined by Marcia, so she wasn't too far behind me. While making our way through the finisher chute, I was surprised to see that they were giving out small boxes of Pocky sticks as one of the post race snacks. Robert and I then made our way over to pick up our race packet. Marcia had already picked hers up yesterday, so she went her separate way. We were a bit confused as to which booth to pick up our bib as we were both LA Loyal runners and had qualified for a seeded corral. I decided to try the seeded corral tent. It would turn out that we could go to either one as the seeded corral tent also had LA Loyal bibs. After getting my bib with the appropriate stickers for additional medals, I went over to the LA Loyal tent to pick up my items which were 2 pins and a cap. That was followed by picking up my marathon race shirt and a transparent plastic bag for gear check. Robert had to meet up with his girlfriend and do some race ambassador duties, so I went ahead into the race expo.
5k finisher medal
Post race goodies
Pick up marathon race packet
LA Loyal stuff
Marathon race shirt
I skipped the official merchandise, but I did check out the participants name wall before heading into the section with all of the vendor booths. It seemed like they had returned to the old days where they distributed a lot of free samples and goodies! The lady at the Namirsa booth tried really hard to sell me a percussion massager. It is definitely nice to have especially with a rapidly aging body, but I'll need to wait a bit before I drop that kind of money for a luxury item. On the way back to my car, I bumped into my friend, Willie.
Expo
Official merchandise
Participants name wall
Found my name
Found my name on the back side
Hawaiian Airlines
John Wick!
Dates
Apples and pears
Vendor goodies and samples
Bumped into Willie
Sunday 3/19
Last night, I had waffled back and forth as to whether I wanted to park at Union Station or somewhere in Century City. Ultimately, I decided to just park at the Westfield Century City mall parking structure where you don't need to prepay. The max for each day was $30 which would be $3 cheaper than prepaid parking. It would've been $8 to park at Union Station, but I would have to find a ride back to my car after the race. I just wasn't too keen on taking public transportation after running a marathon and having to deal with the current homeless problem. I left the house at about 2:40 am and was parked by 3:20 am. That was perfect as the bus that I had picked was the 3:30 am bus. There were 3 employees at the parking structure entrance to help people out with opening the gate arm. I entered by scanning my barcode from the Westfield mobile app.
Westfield Century City mall parking
My left calf felt really fatigued just from the walk from the parking structure over to the bus pick-up location over at Olympic Blvd and Avenue of the Stars. That was not a good sign. I guess that the hilly 5k yesterday really took a toll on my legs.
The bus arrived at Dodger Stadium shortly after 4 am. I made a beeline for the right pavilion entrance only to find that the stadium was not opened to everyone this year. Without the availability of stadium facilities, I used one of the nearby portapotties to take care of my morning business. After I was done, I found a spot to sit down. Just as it started to sprinkle a little bit, I started walking over to one of the E-Z UP canopies to seek shelter. Along the way, I bumped into my friend, Marcia. She was chuckling at me for hiding under a tent, but I wasn't interested in being a soggy wet mess before the start of the race.
Bus ride to Dodger Stadium
Taking care of business
As the designated time for the Marathon Maniacs pre-race photo approached, we made our way over to the Start Line Hospitality Tent to see if any others had already arrived. Not too long, everyone started showing up and gathering near the entrance of the tent. After taking our picture at 6:05 am, I headed over to the trucks to check in my gear bag which was scheduled to close at 6:30 am.
Marathon Maniacs pre-race photo
Pascal!
Per the final instructions, the seeded corrals were scheduled to close at 6:40 am, so my friend and I didn't dilly dally around for too long. The entrance to the seeded corrals was a bit weird this year. We had to go through the open corral in order to get to it. While waiting inside the corral, my friend and I noticed that the corral system was a complete joke. The actual entrance was well policed, but people were sneaking in from everywhere! That was on top of the race organizers putting legacy and charity participants as well as other VIPs in the "fast" corrals regardless of their desired goal time.
While people continued to load into the starting corrals, the wheelchair race was started at 6:30 am, followed by the hand crank race at 6:35 am. All other athletes with disability also started with the hand crank participants. The elite and age group women started their race at 6:40 am.
Corral C entrance
Legacy runners enter the corral
Team TMF enter the corral
Finally at 7 am, the elite men as well as the rest of the field were released. Per the usual, that first mile was a complete logjam exiting Dodger Stadium. I knew ahead of time that it would be difficult for my friend to stay with me, so I had her look for me on the right side of the course once everyone spread out. I am far from being a fast runner, but it was a pain in a ass having to dodge walkers and joggers. The race organizers really need to rethink this! It totally defeats the purpose of having seeded corrals and most importantly, it is not safe for everyone!
Marathon course
Beth, exiting Dodger Stadium
Deo
@Blingwhore
Chavet, near Ahmanson Theatre
At about mile 5.5, when we turned onto Belleveue Ave after crossing over the 101 freeway, we were expecting those chili cheese dogs to return to the usual spot. Unfortunately, they were not being distributed. Of all the years that I've run this race, this was the year that I was ready to make a stop to eat one! It was not to be. Maybe next year!
Almi, Echo Park Lake near 10k
Andrew, near Sunset Triangle Plaza, mile 7.75
I'm not sure how I managed to develop blisters on both of my arches while wearing blister proof Injinji socks. That was certainly a first, as for me, the blisters usually develop on one of my toes. My legs felt completely exhausted and done by mile 8. It was a bit demoralizing to be grinding so early in the race. I tried to send my friend on ahead, but she didn't leave me. She was having GI pain whenever we ran, so we were both a mess! We didn't reach the halfway mark until about 2:40! The rest of the "race" would become a jog/walk-a-thon.
Scum & Villainy Cantina, near mile 11
Hersey's chocolate syrup bottle, near Sunset Tower Hotel mile 14
Carlos/SRLA, near mile 16.5
Brandye, Rodeo Dr near mile 17
Cindy, near mile 19
Ed, almost to mile 20
Mimi!
Nearing mile 25
Finish: 6:12:11
Click here for my Garmin data.
After taking a couple of post race photos, I received my finisher medal. That was followed by receiving my 2 bonus medals, a double play medal for running the 5k yesterday, and the SF/LA Challenge medal for running one of the SF races last year.
Finish line photo with Fitz!
Marathon finisher medal
Double play medal
SF/LA Challenge medal
Further down the finisher chute, we were given a lot of post race snacks and a mylar blanket. I received so much to the point where I was running out of hands and pockets to hold everything! I was glad to finally make it down to the trucks to get my gear bag. I switched out the mylar blanket for my jacket and was able to throw all of the post race goodies into the bag.
Post race goodies
I parted ways with my friend as she was parked in a different parking structure. After dropping my stuff off at my car, I used the restroom before heading out. This time I exited the structure onto Century Park West. Once I turned onto Olympic Blvd, I ignored the car navigation and waited until I got to Overland before turning to head towards the 10 freeway. Unfortunately, I wasn't really paying attention and ended up getting onto the westbound onramp instead of eastbound. I couldn't get off of the freeway until I got to Bundy Dr. Once I finally started heading in the right direction, I came up to a ton of traffic. From what I could tell, there were a couple of minor fender benders all along the freeway due to the rain.
It took about 1.5 hours for me to reach City of Industry where I got off of the freeway to get a late lunch at In-n-Out. This time, I forwent the usual Neapolitan shake and ordered 2 Double Doubles. Once I got my 2 burgers, I found an open table before I inhaled them and headed back to my car to continue my drive home.
Double Double x2
Monday 3/20
"You've just completed the Los Angeles Marathon, your 240th marathon. What are you going to do?"
I'm going to Disneyland!
Another rainy day at Disneyland
Finisher medal at Disneyland
Disneyland
Mickey & Minnie's Runaway Railway, ride broke down near the end
Star Wars - Rise Of The Resistance
Splash Mountain, ride photo was missing
Mickey's Toontown
Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance
Splash Mountain
The Little Man of Disneyland
Eggstravaganza
Disney's Grand Californian Hotel & Spa
I came here to eat brunch at the Storytellers Cafe. This buffet was definitely designed for the little ones especially with the character meet and greet during breakfast and brunch. I only ended up eating 3 plates, but that was plenty of food! During my meal, I met Chip, Pluto, Mickey, and Dale. I thought Dale was supposed to be the mischievous one, but Chip went to shake my hand, but he quickly went to brush his hair!
Plate #1
Chip
Plate #2
Pluto
Plate #3
Mickey!
Pluto again!
Dale
Disney California Adventure Park
Guardians of the Galaxy - Mission: BREAKOUT!
Toy Story Midway Mania, ride was glitchy
Black Widow
Space Mountain, ride photo was missing
Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters
Star Tours: The Adventures Continue
Magic Key item
Pew pew pew!
Cinderella popcorn bucket
Maui!
No comments:
Post a Comment