Griffith Park Trail Marathon and LA Chinatown Firecracker 10k 2025

Saturday 3/8
I had a rough few days leading up to this race. I was mostly coughing up a lot of yellow phlegm which disrupted my sleep. Most of the flu had worked itself out of my body and the coughing had died down. Since I was feeling much better today, I decided to give it a go. I got ready and left the house at about 4:30 am. Sticking with my normal pre-race routine, I exited the 5 freeway at Los Feliz Blvd to get my coffee at a Starbucks that was open early enough. I ordered the usual grande blonde vanilla latte.

Grande blonde vanilla latte

With my coffee in hand, I drove over to Griffith Park and parked at the Merry Go Round Lot One. Per the emailed race instructions, I followed the direction of the volunteers. At about 5:20 am, it would appear that I got one of the last spots in this parking lot. Late comers were routed over to the other lots. The email also stated that packet pick-up started no earlier than 5:15 am. It was still quite dark when I walked over to the start area to pick up my race packet. It was just a race number and a race shirt. I hung out in my car until it was closer to the start of the race. The marathon was scheduled to start at 6:30 am. I timed it to use one of the portapotties about 30 minutes before the start of the race.

Race bib

Race shirt

The marathon and 50k started at the same time. While waiting for the start, I took some selfies with my friends. The race director gave some last minute instructions as well as informed us that the finisher medals did not arrive in time and will be mailed to finishers. After that we were off. Today's goal was just for me to finish the race before the cutoff. I took it easy from the get go, but the lungs definitely were not 100%. My heart rate was way higher than usual, so I took walk breaks often. As with all trail races, this course had a lot of climbing. There were out and backs with one in particular that we ran more than once. It was nice that I got to see my friends that were ahead of me. The course actually got quite crowded as the day wore on with non-race participants showing up for their exercise. Late in the race, my legs cramped up pretty badly. I kept eating and taking in electrolyte fluids, but they were no help. Even though I was moving pretty slowly, I made sure to just keep breathing as deeply as I could while I moved forward in my march towards the finish line.

Start line

Cherry

ABC

Lea

Still early

Bench with a view of the Griffith Observatory

Griffith Observatory

View of the Wilson & Harding Golf Courses

Richard "Mongo" Gilmore bench

Turnaround point

Cramping up badly near the end

Barely able to jog the downhills

Marathon finish: 6:56:45
Click here for my Garmin data.

I ended up having to walk across the finish line. They did have some generic medals at the finish line in case people wanted to take a finisher photo with one. I chatted with my friends about their races as I tried to get my legs to loosen up. They all did much better than me out there. That course was significantly harder than the one that I had run back in 2013 and 2014! Eventually, I found a spot to sit down. I drank some water and had half a Subway sandwich. I put some mustard on it to try and help alleviate the leg cramps. I also took 3 Cuties on my way out.

Finisher medal arrived in the mail on 4/12

Hector

3 Cuties

While I had no trouble walking around, it took a while just for me to get inside the car! The leg cramps were really bad whenever I tried to get into the driver seat! In general, it's usually a lack of electrolytes or dehydration that'll lead to the muscle cramps. However, this time it would appear to be a lack of oxygen. The cramps would go away if I took deeper breaths. All of the residual gunk from the flu was still hindering the amount of oxygen that I was taking in for my muscles.

Originally, I had thought about swinging by Chinatown to pick up my race packet for tomorrow's 10k. However, the traffic heading home was atrocious. Is it always this bad on a Saturday afternoon? Both of my legs were cramping off and on, so I was just trying to stay focused and not crash into the car in front of me!

Sunday 3/9
I questioned my life choices as I got ready and left the house at about 5:30 am to go run a 10k race. Somehow I convinced myself that this wasn't just an ordinary 10k. This was the Los Angeles Chinatown Firecracker 10k! Originally, I couldn't run it as it was on 2/2 which conflicted with the Disneyland Half Marathon. Due to the unprecedented fires, the air quality was terrible among other factors, so the race was postponed to this weekend. One of the main reasons why I like this race is because they always have race shirts and medals with the best designs! I arrived at about 6:15 am. Just like last year, I found street parking in front of the Alpine Recreation Center along Yale St. I then walked over to the Chinatown Central Plaza to pick up my race packet.

Drawstring bag

Goodie bag contents

Race shirt

Next from there, I walked over to the Starbucks to get my pre-race coffee. Just like yesterday, I placed my order on the mobile app for my tried and true, grande blonde vanilla latte. I enjoyed my coffee with my usual CLIF bar. While having my pre-race breakfast, I saw a homeless guy concoct a drink out of the coffee creamer.

Grande blonde vanilla latte

Chinatown Gateway

After I was done with my breakfast, I headed back to the Chinatown Central Plaza. I used a portapotty and got my annual selfie with the Bruce Lee Statue before heading over to the start line to catch the opening ceremonies before the start of the 5k race.

Packet pick-up area

Bruce Lee

Pace vehicle 1

Pace vehicle 2

Start line

Not sure if it was planned that way, but the amount of firecrackers were less this year. In my opinion less would be better as setting off all of those firecrackers just cannot be good for the air quality when people were about to run a tough hilly course! As I got back to my car to shed layers ahead of my race, I saw spent firecracker debris on my car. Along the way back to the start corral, I got some cool pictures of a wall mural and a couple of the lions.

Wall art

Lions

The 10k race started at 8:40 am. Understandably, the legs felt a bit heavy during that first mile. Since the first half was mostly uphill, I just focused on feeling as comfortable as I could. I was able to cover those early climbs, but I had to take a walk break on the last major climb. The lungs just weren't giving me enough oxygen. I was able to take advantage of the downhills until I reached the turn up to the Downtown Gate entrance. Eventually, I had to take another walk break just as an ambulance was trying to get onto the 110 freeway. After getting past the final aid station, I was able to hit the gas and run down to the finish line.

10k finish: 53:41
Click here for my Garmin data.

After crossing the finish line, I received my finisher medal. For a non-runDisney race, this race always has the best medals for a 10k. It's definitely not the largest medal, but that's to be expected for a non-profit race. After picking up a couple of fruit and a bottle of water, I started heading back to my car. I definitely was not in the mood to stick around as I was coughing and was just plain pooped.

Medal and post race goodies

Finisher medal

Close-up of finisher medal

Run Through Redlands Half Marathon 2025

Sunday 3/2
Well, I woke up today feeling under the weather. My body was already starting to produce extra phlegm. For the most part, I just felt lethargic. I was pretty certain that I had caught this last weekend at the Ventura Marathon. A fellow runner that was around me had a pretty nasty cough. I'm sure I inhaled whatever he had. Since I felt good enough, I decided to go ahead with the race. I got ready and left the house at a little before 5 am. I arrived in Redlands at about 5:45 am. I parked at the usual parking lot at the corner of Citrus Ave and 4th St. I walked over to the AK Smiley Public Library to pick up my race packet. They were still setting up as packet pick-up wasn't scheduled to open until 6 am.

Race packet pick-up

Race shirt

Back of race shirt

Once I got my race bib and shirt, I started walking over to the Starbucks by the Redlands Downtown Metrolink Station. Per the usual, I ordered my grande blonde vanilla latte on the mobile app. I stuck to my normal pre-race routine and had my CLIF bar to go with my coffee. After using the restroom, I went back to the corner of Eureka St and Citrus Ave to catch the start of the 10k.

Starbucks

I had enough time to swing by the car to grab my stuff and handheld bottle. I was able to spot my friend, Dexter, running in the 10k race which started at 7 am. After they all ran through, I headed over to the start line to get ready for the start of the half marathon. Our start time was at 7:20 am.

10k start

Dexter

Half marathon start

From the very first mile, I knew that I would not be very spry today. The pace that I was running felt way harder than it should have. I tried to just maintain as I knew that the bulk of the climbing would be in the first 7 miles. Once we had gotten onto Fern Ave, it was a nice flat run out to Lakeside Ave where we made a left turn to start the first of many climbs. We would make our way up to Highland Ave. Thankfully, there was a fellow runner around me that was playing some music during this stretch. The beat for Usher's Yeah was perfect for this climb. Shortly after reaching mile 4, we made a right turn onto Cajon St. From there we ran up to Arroyo Rd where we made a right turn. That led us up to Prospect Dr. A couple of turns took us onto Hilton Ave. We would run up that until a right turn onto Ford St. Shortly after reaching mile 6, we made a left turn onto Eucalyptus Dr. A right at Arbor Dr and Westwood Ln takes us onto Mariposa Dr for a little bit of downhill. There were still some rollers leading up to Sunset Dr. Finally, the majority of the climbing was over and we got a nice long stretch of downhill. There were still some rollers here and there as the road turned into Serpentine Dr. As we neared mile 10, we made a left onto Smiley Heights Dr. We continued to run down this road until reaching Terracina Blvd. Nearing mile 11, we made a right turn onto Olive Ave. That was followed by a left turn onto Chisholm Trail and a right turn onto Channing St. I backed off on the pace a bit as I knew that there would be one final steep climb on Bellevue Ave up to Olive Ave. Once I made the left turn, I knew that I had about 1 mile to go. I would try to empty the tank, but I felt gassed. The left foot had been on the verge of cramping up, so I was trying to take deeper breaths while jogging it to the finish line. That final left turn onto Eureka St for the finish line seemed to take forever to reach!

Finish: 2:02:16
Click here for my Garmin data.

Well, one positive takeaway for this race was that I didn't take any walk breaks. However, I was disappointed that I was over 6 minutes slower compared to last year. All in all, I was still content with my effort because it was the best that I could muster with my body having to deal with the onset of the flu.

After receiving my finisher medal and a separate 13.1 pin, I stopped at the table to get some orange juice. Their orange juice is always very good and one of the things that I look forward to after finishing this tough race. While drinking my juice, I bumped into my friend, Sherry. She didn't finish too far behind me. On the way out, I got a free sample can of Fire Gin ginseng energy drink.

Finisher medal

Post race OJ

Sherry

Fire Gin ginseng energy drink

Along the way, I stopped to take a picture of the cannon just outside of the Lincoln Memorial Shrine. I normally do so because it reminded me of my football team's biggest rival, Arsenal. However, one of these days, I want to return and check out this memorial when it is actually open. Originally, I had planned to eat breakfast at a location restaurant. However, I was feeling pretty exhausted and just wanted to get home ASAP.

Outside of the Lincoln Memorial Shrine