I got up early and got ready to drive down to the race. I first had to gas up the car. I arrived and parked at Irvine Valley College a few minutes before 6 am. I love races that have race day packet pick-up. I walked over to the registration tents to pick up my race packet. After getting my bib, I got a race shirt, a hoodie sweatshirt, and a bag full of goodies. I bumped into a few of my friends there. Before heading back to my car, I used one of the nearby portapotties to take care of business.
Race shirt, front
Race shirt, back
Sweatshirt hoodie, front
Sweatshirt hoodie, back
Goodie bag
As the starting time approached, I started heading over to the starting corral. The weather was in the low 50's, just warm enough that I didn't use one of my many mylar blankets from prior races. The arm sleeves that I wore were sufficient to stay warm. Before getting situated in the corral, I first found my friend who would be doing the race announcing so that I could say hi to her. While waiting for the start of the race, a friend from the old Runner's World forum came up to say hi. I totally didn't recognize him without his facial hair! The lady that sang the national anthem was fantastic. I believe she was the regular singer for the Anaheim Ducks.
Start
We were released shortly after 7 am. I didn't think my legs would be recovered from the LA Marathon, but I felt great from the get-go. The course changed a bit since the last time that I ran this race back in 2014. Instead of going straight out onto Jeffrey Rd, the course went into campus and out to Barranca Parkway via Laser Way. As we approach the left turn at Valley Oak Dr, my faster friend caught up to me. We did a quick 10 second catch-up on what's been going on in our lives and then he took off to run his race. I covered the first mile in 7:34 and it felt rather easy. I might have taken the u-turn at Irvine Center Dr a bit aggressively, as I felt discomfort in my left glute. It was bad enough that I pulled over to see if I could walk it off. It felt somewhat better after I made the turn back onto Barranca Parkway at about mile 2. From there, I was able to run pretty decently at about 8:10 - 8:30 min/mile pace for the next several miles through mile 8.
Here we go!
Then everything progressively deteriorated over the next 5 miles with the usual left foot and ankle tightness. I was slowing down about 20 seconds each mile. Those overpasses slowly took the remaining energy out of my legs. My friend caught me at about mile 11.75 as I was running along the path next to the San Diego Creek. At first I thought about taking a walk break and jogging it in, but I decided to try and keep up with her for the final stretch. We ran together until the finish line was in sight. That's when she took off on me for the finish line.
Finish: 1:52:00
Click here for my Garmin data.
Finish
I was fortunate to get my finisher medal from my friend who happened to be volunteering. I have not not seen her at a race in a while, so it was a nice surprise. I thought it was a pretty nice medal for a small race.
Finisher medal
Jacky
Mitch
Post race, we were given some bars and a bottle of water. We got a tote bag from the nearby Sprouts Farmers Markets booth to carry our stuff. I then walked around the finish area, took a picture of a spotted sheep, and watched my friend announce the race winners.
Post race snacks
Announcing the winners
Then it was time to head home. I got clean up and went back out to visit my brother at the hospital. I went to a nearby ramen shop to eat a bowl for lunch. I haven't been back in a while, but the cook still recognized me.
Chanpon
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