Packet pickup was scheduled to start at 5 am, so I got ready and left the house at about 4 am. It was a somewhat uneventful drive until I reached Burbank. The onboard navigation told me to exit at Burbank Blvd and to get back on at San Fernando Blvd. Apparently, there was an incident on the freeway in that short section. They only had signs to warn you to be ready to stop, but did not direct any cars off of the freeway for the detour that I took. Other than that, there were the occasional drivers where I was wondering if they were either sleepy, drunk, or high. One car kept veering into an adjacent lane.
I arrived at the Magic Mountain Pkwy exit right at 5 am. This year I opted to park in the paved parking lot across from the Iron Horse Trailhead instead of the dirt shoulder. Before crossing over and picking up my race packet, I stopped in at the Starbucks to get some coffee. I placed my order ahead of time on their mobile app for my standard grande Americano.
Grande Americano
I stopped by the tents to pick up my race packet. First, I needed to fill out a waiver form. After giving the volunteer my form and showing her my ID, she gave me my race packet. It included a race shirt that was actually an adult size this year. Last year, their supplier mistakenly sent them kid sizes. It also included a hand fan and a legacy velcro patch. I'm not sure how they count legacy runners, but the only other time that I've run this race was last year. I used one of the portapotties and talked to my friend, Ginny. She told me that she had to be somewhere for work, so she had to drop from the half marathon down to the 10k. I headed back to my car to drop off stuff that I didn't need for the race.
Bib pickup
Race shirt
Hand fan
Legacy velcro patch
I got my stuff in order and started heading back to the start line area. Before crossing the street, I stopped in at the Starbucks again to use their restroom. Once I got there, I checked out the participants name wall and found my name. I took a quick selfie with a couple of the usual suspects. These 2 run so many half marathons that more often than not, I'll run into both of them at a race that I run. We then went about our prerace routines. Eventually, I decided to get in line for the portapotties. The line had gotten a bit long, but I got in line just in time as there were only a few minutes before the start of the race after I was done.
Participants name wall
Found my name
The usual suspects
Race photographer got one of us before the start
After washing my hands, I hurried over to the start line and queued myself up in the starting corral. I made sure not to get too far in the front so not to tempt myself into run too fast of a pace for the first mile. Terry, the race director, gave us some last minute instructions and was ready to start the race on time at 6:30 am.
Start line
Last minute instructions
Coming into this race, I had a rough goal of averaging about 10 minutes per mile for the entire distance. I also planned to take a 1 minute walk break after each mile. My first mile was about 8:46, so I made sure that I slowed down on the next mile. The course started climbing a bit starting at mile 4. I felt like I was overheating, so I pulled over for a quick extra walk break. I was sweating so much, I could barely keep my glasses on my face! The turnaround was at aid station #3 near mile 5. Per the usual with out and back sections, it was great seeing both runners ahead and behind me. I tried to run the tangents as much as I could, but there were quite a few cyclists out there on the pike path.
First mile
Coming back through aid station #2 at about mile 7
I was starting to feel like I was dragging when I came into aid station #4 at about mile 9, but my legs were still able to keep up with relatively the same pace. When I was running, the pace was around 9 - 9:30 per mile. As I approached aid station #6, I passed a female runner that was ahead of me. Her significant other was dressed up in a dinosaur outfit to fit in with the dinosaur decorations of that aid station. She told him that she was having knee pain. That's no bueno. Then during the last mile, I caught and passed a kid that was struggling. He had passed me earlier in the race, way back at around mile 4. I tried to encourage him by telling him that we were almost there. Seeing The Lost Boys Bridge was a sight for sore eyes. I could've passed another runner if I turned on the jets, but I didn't see the point so I just cruised on in for the finish line.
Aid station #4 at about mile 9
Aid station #6 at around mile 11.5
Last mile at around mile 12.5
Crossing The Lost Boys Bridge
Approaching the finish line
Finish: 2:10:12
Click here for my Garmin data
After crossing the finish line, I received my finisher medal. Before leaving the finish line area, I wanted to see that kid cross the finish line. I would later find out that he was only 11 years old! What a great accomplishment at such a young age! I got a KIND breakfast bar, a bottle of water, and a bottle of Super Coffee before heading over to the Ben & Jerry's ice cream truck. They had 5 flavors from which to choose: Strawberry, Chocolate Fudge Brownie, AmeriCone Dream, Milk & Cookies, and Berry Berry Extraordinary (sorbet). I had thought about getting the Milk & Cookies, but that was right when the ice cream man informed us that he was out of Milk & Cookies. I opted for the AmeriCone Dream which was what I got last year. While I was enjoying my post race ice cream in the shade, my fellow race finishers and I had the company of a beautiful Rottweiler named, Penny. Although she was very interested in our ice cream, she remained very well behaved.
Finisher medal
Ben & Jerry's
AmeriCone Dream
Penny
On the drive home, the navigation at first wanted me to head east on the 134. Eventually, it changed its mind and had me take the same exact route that I had taken earlier this morning minus that little detour in Burbank. Per the usual, I encountered traffic once I approached the Downtown LA area. The drive home took about 15 minutes longer.
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