Surf City Marathon 2017

Monday 1/30
One of my good friends, Coach K, was on ABC7 news with Kristel Alliaume, the marketing director for Surf City Marathon. They were there to promote We Run Orange County's Kids and the upcoming race on Sunday. It's always cool to see someone you know on TV!

Coach K and Kristel Alliaume on ABC7!

Saturday 2/4
My friend and I got to the expo at about a quarter after 10. This race had a new organizer starting last year. For the most part, things have relatively stayed the same, but I did notice a few changes throughout the race weekend. A couple examples were the race shirts and the race graphics were changed. The race shirt was a bit more normal. The shirts from the last several years prior to the exchange were just too weird and way out there for my taste. Most of them I've only worn once to change out of my race clothes or they've gone straight to the donation bin. So that for me was a welcomed change.

Expo mile markers

Before going inside, I looked up my bib number and filled out a waiver form. After picking up our bib, we went to pick up our race shirt and bag. Apparently we both went to the wrong table. It was a good thing that we both checked out our shirts and noticed that they were for the half marathon. After exchanging our shirts for the correct shirt, we made our way over to the next table to get our Legacy Club shirt. This year they weren't giving out legacy stickers to put on our finisher medal.

Race shirt front side

Race shirt back side

Legacy club shirt front side

Legacy club shirt back side

We went through the rest of the expo and visited all of the vendor booths. The vendors seemed to be giving out more samples this year. We ran into our friend on our way over to signing up for next year's race. We actually had to get in line to wait for an open tablet to sign up. It was $85, but with processing fees, it came out to $93.22. I'm not sure why I signed up. Old habits die hard. I'm not a big fan of the marathon course. We did get a sandal shaped bottle opener key chain for signing up.

Jen at Expo

Husky!

On the way out, we came across a pretty cool collection of VW vans. It was pretty neat to check out some of the customization. It was then time to go get some lunch. Instead of walking all the way down to Main St, we decided on checking out what was available at Pacific City, an outdoor collection of stores and restaurants. It must be fairly new, because both of us don't remember it being here last year!

We eventually ended up at Bear Flag Fish Company located at the Eastern end in what was called, Lot 579. After looking over the menu, I ordered a 12 oz cup of their clam chowder and their seafood salad with wild salmon. Man, that was one of, if not, the best clam chowder that I've ever had. The salad came with fresh greens, edamame, cucumber, tomato, and ginger sesame dressing. The flavor combination of the salad was really good. Although I found it weird that they didn't use shelled soybeans.

12 oz clam chowder

Wild salmon salad

Back at home, I went through the expo haul. I got more samples than the usual expo these days. Later that evening and before calling it a night, I laid out my flat runner to make sure I had everything for tomorrow's marathon. Before I picked up my bib, I thought about running it as Batman or Superman. However I personalized it with the word, steaks, so naturally I went with my Team Beef shirt. :)

Expo haul

Fit Toniq

Flat runner

Sunday 2/5
At about 5 am, my friend and I showed up to the same parking lot at PCH just West of Beach Blvd. While it was free for the expo, it was $15 to park in this lot on race day. At about 5:30, we made our way over to the Hyatt Regency to use their restroom. We waited there until about 6 am for the Marathon Maniacs pre-race photo on the beach side of the Hyatt Regency pedestrian bridge.

Pre-race Marathon Maniacs photo

After the group photo and saying hi to a few Marathon Maniacs that I haven't seen in a while, we started heading over to the start line. Along the way we stopped by the tents for various clubs and groups to say hi to our friends. All of my friends that were running the marathon sort of all gathered around waves 2 and 3.

We support our furry friends, beef, and donuts!

I started in wave 2 which was released about 2 minutes after wave 1 started. Since I started near the back of the wave, it was quite crowded in the first couple of miles. A female runner and I were running at about the same pace, so we were able to cut through the crowd on the left side of the course. I would run with her through about the first 5k or so until I took my first walk break.

The course took me out to Huntington Central Park where I ran through most of the park including running around Talbert Lake. I was able to catch up to my friend who is a much better runner than me. I ran with her through almost mile 9. I planned only on running the first 8 miles hard, so I backed off on the pace before making the right turn onto PCH. Shortly after reaching the turnaround on PCH, I reached the halfway point. I tried to run here and there, but the inside of my left ankle was starting to get really sore. I think it was good old tendinitis. I believe that I have been doing too much too soon. I was able to spot some of my friends on the out and back, so I pulled over to take a few pictures of them when they passed me. I was also recognized by one of my old high school friends. It took me a second to recognize him.

Marathon Mitch

Cortney

The Jester!

Another fellow Marathon Maniac

Charlie!

At about mile 16 or so at 14th St, I made the dreaded u-turn onto the bike path. From that point on, I started taking extra walk breaks to see if that would help with the ankle soreness. At about 18.5 miles, I stopped at the beach restroom that was next to Pacific Kitchen. Both the restaurant and restroom had been painted black and turquoise. That was one of the primary reasons why I decided to make that pit stop. Those colors definitely made the place stand out. Just about another half mile up the bike trail was the now infamous beer & bacon station. Since I'm no longer drinking and I tend to limit my pork consumption, I had to skip this fun station! Shortly after, I saw my friend who was pacing her friend on a BQ attempt.

Beer & Bacon station

Jen!

The turnaround on the bike path went all the way to the Warner Ave roundabout this year. It has never been that far in the 8 prior years that I've run this marathon. Bonus distance! Those last 5 or so miles were such a grind. Normally I could muster up some quicker miles knowing that the race was almost over, but the left ankle would not have any of it! At least I was entertained by the shark band. At about mile 25 at 11th St, I hopped off of the bike path back onto PCH for the final dash to the finish line. Near the final stretch, I found a couple of my friends there spectating and cheering on the runners.

Band out on the course

Please put me out of my misery! :)

Finish line

Finish: 5:00:16
Click here for my Garmin data.

After crossing the finish line, I got my medal. While I preferred the old wooden surfboard medals, I thought that this year's medal was a nice medal. I liked it more than last year's picture frame medal. While the medals for this year and last year were not the traditional wooden surfboards, they did include a wooden surfboard as part of the design.

Finisher medal

After getting my medal, I got a box of water, a Bai drink, a mylar blanket, and a very green banana that was about 1 week from being ready to eat. I got in line for a finisher photo and made my way through the rest of the finisher chute which ended at the chocolate milk booth.

Boxed water

Bai

Well, I was hoping to have finished under 5 hrs, but I guess that was close enough for a course that was most likely almost a half mile longer. Since my legs were cramping up a bit, I waited by the chocolate milk booth for my friends to finish. While waiting, I drank my milk and met a fellow Team RWB runner. I thought her bedazzled hat was pretty cool! I would find out later that we had a lot of the same friends on Facebook!

Team RWB!

After the race, I checked and went over my records. I saw that 2018 will be my 10th consecutive year of running the full marathon and the 12th consecutive year that I've run a Surf City race. In either case, that's a long streak for me. Only my 14 year streak of running the Rock n' Roll San Diego Marathon is longer for me. Maybe I will take a break from both races soon, so I don't always feel the pressure to keep running them every year! :)

Surf City Marathon
2017: 5:00:16
2016: 5:30:27
2015: 4:34:01
2014: 5:06:44
2013: 4:49:58
2012: 5:17:04
2011: 5:20:44
2010: 4:57:12
2009: 4:37:59

Surf City Half Marathon
2008: 2:17:30
2007: 2:05:54

Jus ReRun Marathon 2017

Saturday 1/28
I flew out of Ontario airport on Southwest Airlines. I was able to use my frequent flyer points for a free round trip ticket. It was a very short flight into Las Vegas. These days, I'd rather fly than to make that drive up the 15 freeway. After landing, I made my way over to the bus stop. I bought a RTC bus pass on my phone for $5. The pass was good for 24 hrs. There was a ticket kiosk at that bus stop if you don't have their app installed on your phone. I waited for and took the 108 bus over to Swenson at Flamingo and then the 202 to the end of the line at Grand Canyon at Rochelle. From there it was a short walk over to the Hampton Inn. The hotel was situated right next to the Las Vegas Athletic Club and since it was January, there were a ton of cars coming and going to this gym. Anyhow I had to be careful not to be run over by one of those cars as I walked through the huge parking lot. I checked in and dropped off my bags before going back out to eat lunch with my friend.

We ate at a Mexican restaurant called, Frank & Fina's Cocina. It was just across the street from the hotel. I don't usually eat at Mexican restaurants, but it had great reviews on Yelp, so I thought I'd give it a try. The waiter brought us some chips and salsa as we looked through the menu. I decided on their shrimp tacos. They were pretty decent sized tacos and they were generous with the shrimp. It came with a couple slices of lime, refried beans, and rice.

Chips and salsa

Shrimp tacos

I had originally planned to take the bus over to the Red Rock Running Company to pick up my race packet. My friend offered to drive me over there as he needed to pick up his race packet as well. This would be my first time running a "recycled" race, so it was kind of weird getting a shirt and bib from a race that had already taken place.

Race shirt and bib

My friend was going to drop me off at my hotel. However we both wanted to buy stuff at the Target near my hotel, so instead we went there. After I bought my usual Powerade, a bag of Pepperidge Farm cookies, and Jack Link's jalapeño beef jerky, I walked back across the street to my hotel.

Snacks

Back at my room, I unpacked my bag and laid out my flat runner for tomorrow's marathon to make sure that I had brought everything that I needed for the race. During those two tasks, I went through the bag of cookies. :)

Flat runner

After resting for a while in the room, I walked back out to the nearby McDonald's to pick up my usual dinner before running a marathon. Yes, I have to have my McNuggets! With my McDonald's app installed on my phone, I was able to also order the Grand Mac and get the french fries and drink for free. I took the food back to my room to enjoy.

I watched some TV while eating my food. I flipped through the channels and came across one of my favorites, The Wedding Singer. I caught the last part of the movie. Grow Old with You was and still is one of my favorite songs from that movie! "Even let you hold the remote control!" :) Then later that evening, another one of my favorite movies was on, The Big Lebowski. I called it a night and went to sleep soon after that movie was over.

McNuggets and Grand Mac combo

Billy Idol!

Grow Old with You

The Dude and his white Russian

Don't f*ck with the Jesus!

That's like your opinion, man!

Sunday 1/29
I totally overestimated the amount of time that it would take for me to walk to the starting area. I got there at about 7 am and the race wasn't scheduled to start until 8 am. They were still setting up. I guess I could've waited inside the PKWY Tavern as there was a chill in the morning air. However only my hands were cold, so I was glad that I wore gloves. Eventually the other runners including my friends started showing up.

Behind the PKWY Tavern

Race day pick-up

My friend that was running her 133rd marathon in a 365 day span brought Bundt cakes for her friends that came out to support her. I didn't eat mine until the next day for breakfast and it was delicious! We took about a million pre-race photos before lining up next to the tent at the start line. It was pretty cool that for a small race, they still took the time to have someone sing the national anthem.

Bundt cake!

Marathon Maniacs at the start

Fellow Marathon Maniac that I met in Honolulu

Start/finish tent

The out and back course was a total of 10k. It would be a gradual uphill to the 5k turnaround point. We would run that course 4 times plus a final small out and back to make up the remainder of the marathon distance. I started off with a conservative effort and I felt a total lack of strength in my legs. With that I quickly threw all specific time goals out the window and ran by perceived effort. My single goal was to finish in under 5 hrs. My legs would start feeling quite heavy as I was finishing my 2nd out and back.

Start of the race

Still pretty fresh during loop 2

I was having gut issues during my 3rd out and back. I'm going to blame this one on the new Powerade flavor, twisted blackberry. It was a blackberry cherry combination. I've never had it before. To make things worse, the cap on my handheld bottle wasn't a very tight seal, so it looked like I had spilled wine all over my singlet! Thankfully the gut discomfort eventually went away. One thing I really like about out and back courses is the ability to see all of the runners ahead of you as well as those behind you.

Gio training for the Bataan Memorial Death March!

Since I was doing a lot of walking during the 4th out and back, I pulled out my phone and took some pictures of the course. I swear that 5k turnaround point was moved farther out each time! The one big spiraling overpass was pretty fun to run up and over the first couple of times. However it was such a grind during the 3rd and 4th time! That final turnaround for the small out and back was such a sight for sore eyes and legs! :)

View out on the course

Turnaround for each out and back

Spiraling overpass

Local artwork

Turnaround for last mini out and back

Crossing the finish line

Finish: 4:47:59
Click here for my Garmin data.

My legs were definitely the worse for wear. I was cramping up and could barely stand, so I got a bottle of Gatorade and found a seat to sit down. After taking a few photos and regaining most of my leg functions, I excused myself from my friends and walked slowly back to my hotel room to finish recovering. Some marathons I feel great afterwards. Then there are times like today where I felt completely trashed.

Recycled finisher medal and ribbon

Martha crossing the finish line

Marathon Maniacs at the finish line

I was feeling pretty incapacitated when I got back to my room. I plopped down in a chair and watched TV. I ended up watching Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice for the first time. I've heard horrible things about the movie and I'm not a fan of Ben Affleck, so I wasn't expecting much. I couldn't fathom what could be worse than him being Batman, but it was worse seeing Jesse Eisenberg playing the role of Lex Luther. He was more suited for maybe a Joker. My favorite actor to have played Lex was Michael Rosenbaum in Smallville. Now for the female characters, I had a problem with Amy Adams being Lois Lane since the Man of Steel movie. She's a great actress but not for the role of Lois. However I did like watching Gal Gadot as Wonder Woman! :) Overall the story was weak and poorly written, but there were some good superhero fight scenes near the end with Doomsday.

Wonder Woman!

After I finally took a shower, I made my way back to the PKWY Tavern to join my friends for dinner and some post race celebration. I started with an Arnold Palmer and ordered their Hero Burger with tater tots. I love tater tots. If they're on the menu, I'm ordering them! The only thing that made the burger a "hero" burger was that it was served on a toasted hoagie roll instead of the traditional burger buns. Otherwise it was pretty much your standard burger.

Arnold Palmer

Hero burger

Celebrating at the PKWY Tavern

Monday 1/30
Since I had an early morning flight. I woke up early, ate the Bundt cake for breakfast, got ready, checked-out of my room, and walked over to the bus stop. Along the way, I bought for $3 a RTC bus pass good for 2 hrs. I took the 202 to Flamingo at Paradise, then crossed the street to catch the 108 just in front of PF Chang's. It was perfect timing as the bus showed up just seconds after I got there. One thing that stood out as I boarded the bus was that there were two security guys on the bus. I took that bus to the airport. I finished off my water before going through TSA security screening. Apparently their rules had changed. They pulled my backpack to exam the contents as I was informed that iPads now needed to be removed from carry-ons and placed in the bin.