Race packet pick-up wasn't schedule to begin until 11 am at Mission Park. I timed it so that I would get there around that time. I left the house at about 9 am. The drive was not too bad and took about 2 hours. I exited the freeway at California St. It was quite the log jam at that exit. I knew that the cars coming off of the freeway didn't have a stop sign, but I stopped anyways because I wasn't about to get smashed by some oncoming car just because the impatient driver behind me was honking at me to go. In hindsight, I could've turned onto Thompson Blvd which would've been easier, but I drove up to Santa Clara St before making a right turn to park at the Downtown Ventura parking structure. I drove up the ramp and parked at the first vacant stall. The first 3 floors were good for up to 4 hours. From the 4th floor up, it was good for all day parking.
Downtown Ventura parking structure
From there, I walked over to Mission Park for the race expo. On the way over, I saw that there were closer parking options. However, they were in open lots where there were many cars circling in search of a vacant spot. I came up to the race expo entrance when I walked up the Figueroa Street Mall. Packet pick-up was quick and simple as they assigned bib numbers to runners on the spot.
Race expo entrance
Bib pick-up
Race shirt
Back of race shirt
Race packet
On the way back to my car, I took Main St and saw that it had been closed off for the weekly Saturday Farmers' Market. I saw some restaurants that looked to be good choices if I had not made plans already. After getting back to my car, I drove over to DW's Cafe on Johnson Dr to get some brunch. Unfortunately, just the day before, they had posted a note on their restaurant door as well as on their Facebook page that they had to permanently close due to unforeseen circumstances. Bummer.
Farmer's market
DW's Cafe permanently closed
Facebook closure post
I hopped back in the car and drove to my back-up location, Hill Street Cafe. It was further up Johnson Dr, near the corner of Telephone Rd and Hill Rd. It was in a weird location as it was attached to the Hill Road Library and had a parking lot adjacent to the Kaiser Permanente. Although the place was pretty packed, they were able to seat me at a table next to the restroom. Maybe people didn't want to sit there. However the TV was mounted there so I was able to catch the Las Palmas v. Barça match during my meal. After looking over the menu, I ordered the Hill St Grand Breakfast with home potatoes, sourdough toast, and coffee. Food was good, definitely a good find.
Hill St Grand Breakfast with home potatoes, sourdough toast, and coffee
Las Palmas v. Barça
After I paid for my meal, I hopped back in the car and drove down to the nearby Target located at The Collection shopping mall. It was an elevated store with covered parking directly underneath. There was the option to take the elevator or escalator to get up to the store level. I mostly came here to pass some time before it was time for me to check into my hotel room. Well, I ended up buying a 10 pack of Hanes cotton boxer briefs and a pint of Ben & Jerry's Milk & Cookies ice cream. Since check-in time was 3 pm, I anticipated having to wait in the lobby where I would eat the ice cream.
Target sells Chick-fil-A sauces now?
Ben & Jerry's
Self checkout
For this trip, I booked a one night stay at the Hilton Garden Inn Oxnard/Camarillo. It was one of the few occasions where I did not stay at a Wyndham affiliated hotel. I had some One Key Cash ($25.25) with Hotels.com that was expiring. While parking the car, I saw that they had reserved parking for Diamond members. Hmm... they don't have that for Wyndham hotels. Thankfully, I was able to check into my room about 1.5 hours ahead of the check-in time. I was given room #401. I was able to enjoy the ice cream in my room. After eating the ice cream, I went through the race packet and laid out my flat runner. During that time, I was watching the movie, Cast Away. It's somewhat hard to believe that that movie was about 25 years old!
Diamond member reserved parking
Milk & Cookies ice cream
Hilton Garden Inn
Torn seat
Busted window
Flat runner
Cast Away
Wilson!
Shortly after the movie was over, I walked over to the nearby Outback Steakhouse to eat an early dinner. Honestly, I wouldn't have eaten here if they were not participating in the AAdvantage Dining Program. I guess I could've just opted to be seated at the bar, but they seated me at one of the booths in the bar section. I looked over the menu to see if there was something else that I could order. I was unsuccessful, so I ordered the sirloin with grilled shrimp again, just as I did at the Anaheim location. Instead of the backed potato and a house salad, I got it with broccoli and a Caesar salad. For the steak I went with the smallest size, 5 oz as I knew that it just wasn't that good of a cut. I also remembered to have it cooked medium. Service was good, but the price was just a bit too high for the food quality.
Iced tea
Caesar salad
5 oz sirloin with grilled shrimp and broccoli
Steak cooked medium
Sunday 2/23
I got ready and checked out of the hotel at just before 4 am. I drove over to Downtown Ventura and parked at the same parking structure as yesterday. Today however, I drove up to the 4th floor before parking the car. From there I walked over to the Ventura County Fairgrounds and Event Center to catch a bus ride to the start line. Per the instructions, we were told to get to the bus loading spot between 4:20 and 4:30 am. Once I got on the bus, I headed straight for the back of the bus.
Parked on the 4th floor
Bus ride to the start
The ride over to the start line took a little over 30 minutes. At about 5 am, we were dropped off at the corner of Grand Ave and McNell Rd. Since it was dark and this was my first time running the marathon, I just followed the people ahead of me. We headed down McNell Rd towards the start line. Shortly after passing the start line, I saw a couple of familiar faces, Eddie and Ely, sitting off to the side of the road. After a quick chat, Ely and I headed over to the cache of portapotties. It was pretty early and there was already a long line. That line eventually funneled into several lines for the portapotties. It was a good thing that we got in line early as the line moved slowly. I don't think that there were enough portapotties for the size of the race.
Portapotties
Ely
Jim
Luis and Charles
The race was scheduled to start at 6:30 am. It was delayed by about 7 minutes. For this race, I finally got around to tossing one of my long sleeve shirts. I just have way too many shirts and I need to start donating them by wearing them as throwaways. The first 10 miles involved a lollypop and a larger loop. The first 4 miles heading out was downhill which meant coming back was uphill. While it was cool seeing those ahead and behind you, I really did not like the road camber along Ojai Ave as it was really bothering my hip. Along the way to mile 11, we veered right onto highway 33, followed by a left turn onto El Roblar Dr. At about mile 12.5, we came up to Rice Rd where we made a left turn. The next 1.5 miles was a nice downhill stretch to Baldwin Rd taking us through mile 14. I made it through the first half in about 1:58. Next we made a left turn onto Burnham Rd. We then turned onto Riverside Rd at Feraud Park. A left turn onto Santa Ana Blvd took us up a short steep climb to the Ojai Valley Trail reaching mile 17. Although it was just a short section, it was steep enough that I decided to just walk it.
I made sure to stay behind Amy
The remaining 9 miles or so were on the Ventura River-Ojai Valley Trail. Thank goodness that there were shaded sections along that trail. It was a nice day and the sun was starting to heat things up. The trail ended at about mile 26 with us continuing on Rex St. With a right turn onto Olive St and a final left turn onto Main St, it was just a straight shot to the finish line.
San Antonio Creek Bridge
Around mile 20
Finish: 4:18:04
Click here for my Garmin data.
Shortly after crossing the finish line, I received my finisher medal. I switched off airplane mode on my phone and saw that it was a good day to wear the Tottenham jersey as they had easily beaten the Tractor Boys with a score of 1-4. I also bumped into a couple of my friends that were sweeping for the half marathon. Instead of heading into the post race celebration area, I made my way back over to the final stretch of the course to cheer on my friends and fellow race participants.
Finish medal
Sabrina
A couple of Marathon Maniacs
Ely
Marathon Maniac
I stayed near the corner of Ventura Ave and Main St until I saw my buddy, Robert, run through. It was quite amazing to see him finish a marathon in under 5 hours where just 2 weeks ago, he had his gall bladder removed. We then headed over to the post race celebration area where we met up with our fellow Marathon Maniacs that we normally see at all of our races. When we went to get some post race food, they had already run out of strawberries. I passed on the waffles and asked for 2 bananas.
Jocelyn and Robert
Marathon Maniacs
2 bananas
Per the usual, we shared our race stories. Since my pacing via heart rate at Mesa went pretty well, I decided to do the same today. Although, it was still a positive split, I was a bit more dialed in and felt much better throughout the race. I went to use a portapotty before heading back to my car for the drive home. Along the way back to my car, I came across Betty Boop at the Antiques Treasure Hunters store.
Betty Boop at Antiques Treasure Hunters
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