Operation Jack Marathon 2012

The race took place once again on 12/26, the day after Christmas. This year it fell on a Wednesday. The weather forecast predicted significant rain in the morning and tapering off later in the day. Every time I re-checked the forecast, they predicted that the rain should end sooner rather than later. But I was prepared for a race in the rain. Boy was it pouring when I got to the entrance to the parking lot at the end of Imperial Highway. I paid the $6 and drove up north a few parking lots to park next to the starting area. The parking lot was somewhat flooded.

When I got out of my car to pick up my race packet, the rain had begun to relent. I bumped into a lot of familiar faces and I eventually went back to my car to relax. The race was scheduled to start at 7:30am. I gathered my stuff and made my way to the starting line around 7am. The volunteers had to bag some sand and use a couple of folding tables to build a bridge over the flooded area which happened to be the way to the starting line. We were given some last minute instructions before we all lined up all along the bike path.

Packet pickup

I don't think Sam's legs has seen the sun in a while

Maniacs!

My first goal was to finish the marathon this year and not drop out at the half like the past two years. My secondary goal was to finish under 5 hours. It was kind of crowded during the first mile, but it quickly cleared up. My legs felt good in the first mile as it usually does, but I knew better so I slowed it down until I got the miles around 9 minutes. The concrete bike path would eat my legs up. By mile 9 and the turn around at the most southern part of the course my legs were done. I felt really beat up by the time I got to the halfway point in just a couple minutes over 2 hours. I decided to take a break and jog to my car to drop off my arm sleeves. This confused the people timing the race as I was originally recorded as dropping at the half. Never mention the word "drop" as you're running through the finish line even if you're dropping off something.
1: 8:12
2: 8:35
3: 8:58
4-5: 18:26 (9:13)
6: 8:55
7: 9:26
8: 9:07
9: 10:02
10: 9:58
11: 10:19
12: 10:07
13: 8:56

Nice place for a race!

I went back on the course and switched to a much slower pace. I just wanted to finish the second half in around 2:50. It got very sunny and pretty warm during the second half. I started each mile with a few minutes walking and then jogged to the next mile marker. The left IT band got really sore during miles 24 and 25. I had to slow it down and take extra walk breaks. This was the first time in a while that my left leg was giving me problems. The finish area was a sight for sore eyes and legs. Thus concluded my last marathon for the year.
14: 12:52
15: 12:22
16: 11:51
17: 12:00
18: 12:58
19: 12:28
20: 13:26
21: 13:05
22: 13:37
23: 13:34
24: 14:32
25: 14:11
26: 12:58
26.2: 2:02
Finish: 4:52:59

Heading back for the win!

Finally finished the marathon

That's a lot of marathons among these 4

After waiting for all of my friends to finish, I got my stuff ready and drove out to Gardena to eat a bowl of ramen at Asa Ramen. It was my first time here and they served a very delicious bowl of ramen. Their fried chicken was good as well. I will definitely have to come back here again when I'm in the area. Unless you're eating over $20, bring cash.

Karaage

Kotteri ramen with egg