Run Run Rudolph Half Marathon 2020

Saturday 12/5
Leading up to this weekend, I had to keep checking to see if this race was going to take place. In the case that the race was canceled, I was going to make it a regular vacation and visit one of my old friends. Before driving out, I got good news and bad news. The race was going to take place, however my friend caught the coronavirus. Apparently my friend and his son caught it during Thanksgiving, so a meetup was out of the question.

After lunch, I hopped in my car and started my drive out to Arizona. I first made a stop at the gas station to fill up the tank. The drive took about 4.5 hours. Although it was about an hour longer than the drive out to Las Vegas, it didn't feel that much longer. I quickly realized that Arizona did not observe the time change, so they were actually an hour ahead of CA. Prior to checking into my hotel, I exited the 101 freeway at Thunderbird Rd to fill up the gas tank at a nearby Chevron gas station.

After getting gas, I drove over to the La Quinta that was a few blocks North on 83rd Ave. The hotel was located just North of the Peoria Sports Complex, the original location of the race tomorrow. Also located right next to the hotel was a Chick-fil-A. I would've gone there for dinner if it weren't for my tradition of eating at McDonald's the night before a race. After parking the car, I put on my mask and walked over to the lobby to check-in. The whole process was pretty much the same, but there were COVID safety protocols in place. Everyone had to wear masks. They had plexiglass partitions at the front desk. They had separate pen cups for clean and used pens. After getting my room keys, I went back to my car to grab my stuff before heading up to my room.

Fancy mini fridge

After emptying my bladder and getting settled into my room, I headed back out to go pick up dinner at the nearby McDonald's. Per the usual, I placed my order on their mobile app before going inside to wait for my food. On this visit, I used their deal that allowed me to get a free Big Mac when I order a Quarter Pounder with cheese at regular price. Since the McRib was back, I decided to get that sandwich as well even though it was at regular price.

It's beginning to look like Christmas!

QPC, McRib, and Big Mac

After getting back to my room and polishing off the 3 sandwiches, I laid out my usual flat runner to make sure that I had everything that I needed for tomorrow's race.

Flat runner

Sunday 12/6
I had signed up for Peacock Premium streaming service prior to this trip just so that I could watch the English Premier League matches for today. They were offering a pretty decent deal, 6 months at 30% off. While getting ready, I watched the early West Brom v. Crystal Palace match. I also watched some of the Sheffield United v. Leicester City match that followed it before heading over to the nearby Rio Vista Park for the race.

The start time that I had chosen during race registration was for 7:50 am. I arrived at the park a few minutes before 7:40 am and was able to get a nice parking spot really close to the start/finish line for the race. I walked over to pick up my race packet. The person that got my race packet made a comment about how I was all the way from California. Kind of have to if I want to run an in-person race since everything has been shut down in California. She also made a comment that things are starting to shut down in Arizona. They made an announcement over the speakers that they were going to start the race shortly, so I hurried back to my car to shed some of my clothes and get ready to run.

Rio Vista Park

I didn't know Rudolph had a twin! :)

Race shirt

Back of race shirt

They were sending out a couple of runners at time in intervals. I ended up starting my race at 7:45 am. Most of the race was on the New River Trail. There was no crowding whatsoever from the start. It felt quite nice to run with a little bit of chill in the air. My first 2 miles were a bit too fast for my current level of fitness, 8:07 and 8:11. Even though it was early in the race and I was feeling good, I decided to go with taking a walk break after every 2 miles. Once I started back up running, I made sure to keep my pace closer to 9 mins per mile. My lack of fitness caught up to me at about mile 7 when I took my first unscheduled walk break. The last turnaround was at about 8.5 miles into the race. It was cool to see one of my old running friends. I thought she looked familiar during the race, but I didn't know for sure that it was her until a few days after the race when I saw some event photos on Facebook. I was not aware that she had moved out to Arizona. My right leg felt really tired, stiff, and heavy to the point that I just couldn't force a decent stride without it feeling uncomfortable. I ended up taking a couple of walk breaks until it felt better. I was able to rally a bit after taking my last walk break shortly after reaching mile 10. Thankfully, from that point on, I was able to cruise to the finish line without having to take any more walk breaks. Only the final mile was a bit congested as we overlapped with the 5k participants.

Finish: 2:01:04
Click here for my Garmin data.

Finish line

After crossing the finish line, I put on my face mask and got my finisher medal, which has now become the normal procedure for racing. Although I did not break 2 hrs, I was glad that I was that much closer. Before heading out, I stopped by the post-race table to pick up some snacks. They had a nice spread of items across several tables. Just like my local friend said, this was a very well-organized race!

Finisher medal

Post race goodies

Once I got back to my room, I caught the remainder of the Spurs v. Arsenal match while eating all of the snacks. It was nice to see my team beat the hated Gunners 2-0. After getting cleaned up, I watched the last EPL match for today, Liverpool v. Wolves.

For an actual lunch, I decided to eat at Whataburger since there was a coupon for a free Whataburger in our race packet. Might as well since there aren't any back home. For the free Whataburger, I had to purchase a medium drink and medium fries. The amount saved was $4.24. Not too bad. I had all of the standard toppings (tomato, pickles, lettuce, onions, and mustard) for my burger and added a cheese slice for 55 cents. Once I paid for my food, I was given a number to wait for my order. Unlike California, I was able to self-serve and get my iced tea on my own. There was also inside seating, but mine was a to-go order. After a short wait, an employee brought out my order. I took it back to my room to enjoy.

Whatameal: Whataburger, fries, and iced tea

Whataburger with cheese

Later that evening, I went back out to pick up dinner. This time, on the recommendation of my local friend, I went to check out Culver's. They're a mid-west burger chain that was at one point ranked second only behind In-n-Out for America's favorite burger restaurant (see article). They're known for their ButterBurgers and frozen custard. You really can't go wrong by buttering the buns! I ordered the Culver's Double Deluxe and made it a value basket by adding fries and a short Concrete Mixer (frozen custard) with hot fudge and caramel. People tell me that I should get the cheese curds, but even though I do love cheese, I just don't really care for cheese curds. Maybe next time. Once my food was ready, an employee brought the food out to me. I took it back to my room to enjoy.

Culver's Double Deluxe, fries, and Concrete Mixer (frozen custard) with fudge and caramel

Culver's Double Deluxe

With this impromptu burger war amongst 3 burger chains, the winner for me was the Whataburger with cheese. While I do love the tried and true, Quarter Pounder with cheese, as well as Culver's Double Deluxe, the Whataburger had the better taste out of the bunch. Sorry to In-n-Out fans... although there was one within walking distance to the hotel, I just didn't have enough meals in this short trip to fit in more burger chains. Also the Double Double, while an economical and tasty choice for a double cheese burger, it's just not my favorite. I find them to be overly salty and the not-so-secret menu to be way overhyped. Animal-style is not at all appealing to me as having to rely on so much sauce just goes to show that their burger or fries themselves really aren't that good.

TNT was once again having a Star Wars marathon, so I ended up watching Episode VII: The Force Awakens and Episode VIII: The Last Jedi. I thought it was a bit apropos after eating burgers from 3 different chains. The Force Awakens was okay at best, but it was just an unoriginal reboot of Episode IV: A New Hope. As for The Last Jedi, this happened to be only my third time viewing this god-awful movie. The last time that I had seen it was during the opening week of the release. Even with all that time between viewings, it did not change my opinion of this movie. It still sucked. It was just horrible from start to finish. It was a total waste of Luke Skywalker and Captain Phasma.

Star Wars marathon was once again on TV!

Burger Wars: The Trilogy! :)

Monday 12/7
Since I was heading back home on a Monday, I planned for an early departure so I wouldn't get stuck in any morning traffic. I was on the road at about 6:30 am. The drive home took about 4.5 hrs. Once again it wasn't too bad. I did notice that a good majority of the big rigs were Amazon trucks. I'm not sure how it is normally pre-COVID, but they must ship a lot of packages these days with the pandemic. I made a stop at the gas station as soon as I got off of the freeway before continuing home as the gas tank was nearly empty.

Inaugural Alien Escape Half Marathon 2020

Saturday 11/14
Per the usual, I left the house just after finishing lunch. As a WorldMark owner, I've always stayed at either the Tropicana or the Spencer St properties whenever I'm in the Las Vegas area. This was my first time staying at WorldMark Las Vegas Blvd. I was pleasantly surprised with this location from the moment I arrived. Once I checked in at the gatehouse, I was given a parking placard. On the placard were instructions on how to do a drive-thru check-in. I called the number on the placard and stayed in my car. After a brief call, there were 2 friendly employees that showed up to my car. One got me check-in and gave me my room keys. He informed me that due to COVID, the children's playground, hot tub, and lazy river were closed. Also using the pools required reservations. The other gave me a bottle of water and invited me to an obligatory owner update with a $75 gift card as my reward. Upon agreeing to the owner update, he collected a $20 refundable deposit which I would get back when I showed up. Before heading on my way, he also gave me a bracelet which they were giving out to eventually replace the traditional room card keys.

I stayed in a studio room in building 13. It was a pretty basic motel style room with a kitchen and a murphy bed. That was plenty adequate for a short solo trip. The only thing wrong with the room was that one of the 2 bath towels had black stains on it. Sure, you could tell that it was cleaned, but come on, if the stain doesn't wash out, you should take it out of rotation! That just rubs you the wrong way as an owner because of the maintenance fees that they collect each year!

Murphy bed

Stained towel :(

After getting settled in and relaxing for a second, I hopped back in the car to fill up the gas tank as well as to pick up a quick dinner. I drove down to Silverado Ranch Blvd as both Chevron and McDonald's were right next to each other. I wanted to get fuel as I needed to leave pretty early tomorrow for the roughly 2 hour drive out to the start line at the Black Mailbox.

After getting gas, I drove next door to McDonald's. Per the usual, I placed my order on the mobile app before heading inside to pick up my food. I ordered 2 McDouble sandwiches and used their deal to get a large order of fries for $1. They had stickers on the floor to help people with traffic flow as well as physical distancing. Once my food was ready, I took it back to my room to enjoy.

Just follow the signs

McDouble x2 and large fries

Per the usual after finishing dinner, I laid out my flat runner before calling it a night. The original forecast was for some pretty cold weather in the 20's, but the forecast kept getting warmer every time I checked.

Flat runner

Sunday 11/15

I got ready and left my room at about 6 am. In all of the years that I've run any of the ET Midnight races, I've always opted to pay for the bus ride. This was my first time making the drive myself. I'm not sure that I would want to make this drive ever again. I have a pretty big lead foot, but it would turn out that my friend has an even bigger one. As I was nearing the 318, I noticed that a car was riding my ass especially as we were driving through a small town where the speed limit dropped quite a bit. As we were leaving that town, I didn't drive as fast as I normally would to allow that car to pass. Of course, I instantly recognized whose car that was with all of the stickers on it. I followed them in. Once we reached the Black Mailbox, the whole race packet process was very well done. Everyone stayed in their cars as it was a drive-thru packet pick-up. In addition to getting our forehead temperature scanned, we were to read a set of statements to determine if we were recently exposed to the Coronavirus. Once we were deemed okay to participate in the race, we gave them our ID's so the volunteer can bring us our race packet which included the race bib and race shirt. Then we were directed to the parking location that was along the road that was perpendicular to the 375 Extraterrestrial Highway.

Race shirt

Back of race shirt

As soon as I parked, I headed over to the starting area to use the portapotties to empty the bladder. I checked the weather along the way. The air temperature was cold, but strangely enough, it didn't feel all that cold. I think it was a combination of elevation and no cover from the sun. The warmth from the sun felt good. I decided to ditch the gloves and arm sleeves. While waiting for the start of the race, my friends were laughing at just how pale I had become! :)

Portapotty line

Robert, Karen, and Seth

The 51k and marathon runners started their race at 8:30 am. After that, the half marathoners gathered near the start area for the race at 9 am. The Half Fanatics gathered near the Black Mailbox to take the obligatory pre-race photo.

Half Fanatics

Robert, Karen, Seth, Vanessa, and alien

Going into the race, I was hoping to run about a 2:15. For some reason I always underestimate the effect that the higher elevation has on my breathing. The course was a straight out and back. I really enjoyed running it in daylight and being able to take in the beauty of the desert landscape. The first half was a gradual uphill climb. I was hoping to run the entire way back to the finish line, but I just didn't have the endurance. The downhill sure didn't feel like downhill and I had to take a lot of walk breaks. In that final mile, I had several opportunities to pass the 2nd place female, but I didn't feel like passing her as I saw that she was struggling. On the final stretch, I took a walk break to put on my mask and I ran with her to the finish line with her crossing just ahead of me.

Finish: 2:18:42
Click here for my Garmin data.

After crossing the finish line, I picked up my finisher medal and had to catch my breath as I was feeling a little dizzy. It might have been the mask or the elevation or the combination of both. Once again I hung out with Latino Heat. We waited for our friends to finish the race. I waited until about noon before I started heading back to car to make the drive back. I grabbed a Cup o' Noodles with me which looked really good. I haven't had one in decades! I think my body was craving the sodium.

Finisher medal

Post-race goodies

Marcia at the finish line

Marcia and Robert

After getting back to my room and getting cleaned up, I boiled some water for the Cup o' Noodles. While probably not the best thing to put into your body... boy, did that hit the spot! For an early dinner, I decided to go check out Picanha Steak Restaurant. I went with their picanha plate with the arepitas and garden salad as my sides. Unlike California, they were allowing customers to dine inside, but I took mine to-go to enjoy back at my room.

Dining area

On the way back to my room, I stopped at the Chevron gas station on Warm Springs Rd to fill up the tank for tomorrow's drive home. Once I got back to my room, I was finally able to enjoy my early dinner. The picanha was good as is, but even better with the chimichurri sauce! I see a return visit to this place in the future.

Picanha plate with arepitas and garden salad

Monday 11/16
I was up pretty early. I was all packed and ready to go long before the new earlier check-out time of 10 am. Before heading home, I went down to the lobby to attend the owner update at 8 am. As promised, I received my gift card reward at the start rather than at the conclusion. Apparently instead of the usual complimentary breakfast, we now only get snacks and bottled water. Contrary to what they told me, the whole update went over the 1 hour. They always say no pressure, but they're always trying to sell me more credits no matter what answer I give them. I understand why I should buy more credits, but no means no, especially during a pandemic when nothing is for certain!

After I was done, I used the restroom in the game room before hopping in my car for the drive home. I made really good time. There's certainly less cars on the road these days.