My friend, Deo, had been inviting me to run his race for the past several years. I never could make it out because I was usually running another race somewhere else. Finally this year, I was able to fit it into my race schedule. It definitely helped that I've been making a conscious effort to cut back on the number of races that I run per year.
The race started and ended at the Pecan Grove parking lot. It was really close to the 5 freeway just off of the Zoo Dr exit. I pulled into the parking lot at about 6:20 am. That was plenty early enough to secure a spot in that parking lot. I waited in my car until about 7 am before I headed over to the tables to pick up my race packet. I also took this time to use the portapotty.
Run Deo Run
Race shirt
On the way back to my car, I saw Deo and a few other marathoners run by. They were joined by a spectator running with two well behaved dogs. The marathon started at 6 am, so they were about 1 hr into their race.
Marathoners
As it got closer to 8 am start time, I headed over to the start line. It was a small race, so nobody seemed too anxious to line up for the race. Eventually all of the participants gathered at the start. I got the usual pre-race selfie with Latino Heat. The race started about 10 minutes late.
Latino Heat!
The course for the half marathon was an out-and-back down South past the golf course to almost the Pony Rides followed by a short out-and-back up North up to Riverside Dr. We ran that twice for a total of 13.1 miles. I ran the first mile at my usual quicker pace, but the chest congestion from the cold that I had picked up while at Walt Disney World made it hard to breathe. I had to quickly change my game plan and pull back on the pace. Before reaching mile 3, I was struggling on the tiny little incline heading towards the Pony Rides. It was nice to bump into my friend, Luis, who was out for his morning run.
Luis!
I always love running out-and-back courses because you get to see those that are ahead of you as well as those behind you.
From Ben
The volunteers at the southern end aid station were a friendly bunch. It was nice to see their smiling faces as I made the turnaround to head back to the Pecan Grove for the finish line.
Southern end turnaround near the Pony Rides
On the last turnaround, another runner had caught up to me. I guess I had been dilly-dallying a bit too much. Even though my calves were cramping up, I had to force myself to run as much as I can in order to hold him off.
Northern end turnaround for half/full marathoners near Riverside Dr
Finish line from Robert
Finish: 2:05:33
Click here for my Garmin data.
Since it was a very small race, not only was there no chip timing, but they collected the tear-off strip from the race bib. I believe the last time I had to do that was when Palos Verdes still had their marathon start from Point Fermin Park. I liked the finisher medal. It was unique as it was not made out of metal.
Finisher medal
Medal close-up
I then made my way over to the picnic table to check out the post race food. There was a lot of Famous Amos cookies and granola bars. I wasn't very hungry, so I passed. I then hung out with a couple of Marathon Maniacs to wait for our other friends to finish. While waiting, I saw a pair of beautiful horses go by on the trail. They're one of my favorite animals.
Post race food
Marathon Maniacs
Horse riders
After getting home and firing up the computer, I saw that one of my friends, who is always on top of NBA news, had tweeted something that caught my eye. Apparently Kobe Bryant and 8 other passengers were killed in a helicopter crash in Calabasas very close to Las Virgenes Rd. I've driven past that place more than a few times to get to Malibu Creek State Park! At first, no one wanted to believe it as TMZ was the first to break the news. Later the news starting rolling in from more trusted news sources.
Later that evening, my family and I went out for dinner at our favorite local sushi restaurant. There's nothing like some extra protein to help the legs recover. Also it was nice to drink some hot green tea and dobinmushi.
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