I got ready and hit the road at about a quarter to 7. After about an hour and 15 minutes of driving, I rolled into Barstow to get a quick charge at the Tesla Supercharger. After plugging the car in for a charge, I thought about walking over to the nearby Starbucks to get a drink, but I decided to get just enough charge to ensure the car had enough juice to make it into Needles.
Barstow, CA
It has been a while since I've driven out to Needles. They had since built out 2 more charging locations. I opted for the Tesla Supercharger next to Wagon Wheel. This was as good a time as any to check out this restaurant. After plugging the car in for a full charge, I went inside. I made a quick stop at the restroom before getting a table to order some breakfast. After looking over their menu, I ordered their steak and eggs with grits, white toast, and coffee. I thought that the food was good and the service was great. This just might be a regular stop for me if I ever have to head out in this direction again. I paid for my meal by scanning the QR code on the check. I washed my hands before returning to the car.
Needles, CA
Wagon Wheel
Steak and eggs with grits, white toast, and coffee
As I got back to my car, I ended up having a chat with a long retired military guy who was quite chatty. He was also waiting for his Tesla to finish charging. He started talking to me because he noticed that I was wearing a Dodgers shirt. I think he followed the Yankees when Mickey Mantle and Roger Maris were battling for the home run crown. Maris would set a new record at 61 home runs, beating Babe Ruth's previous record of 60 home runs. Looks like he was an electrician. He explained to me the difference between alternating and direct current. Yeah, I remember learning all of that back in my undergraduate studies. We then got on the topic of how everything in CA has become so dang expensive. To which he told me that him and his wife had bought a place out in the nearby Mohave Valley and was in the middle of relocating. He also tried to guess my country of birth. He guessed China. Close, but not quite. Turned out that he has been to Taiwan. I always enjoy having conversations with someone that's much older.
I rolled into the Super 8 parking lot just after 11:30 am. That was too early to check into my room, so I decided to walk around and time how long it would take to walk over to the London Bridge Beach, where the race would start and finish. The walk took about 30 minutes. I tried to get an early check-in at about 12:30 pm, but the guy at the front desk told me that my room won't be ready until 3 pm. I then walked over to the nearby In-n-Out to get a drink and to pass some time.
London Bridge #COYS
Arnold Palmer
The Shoppes at the London Bridge
I returned at about 2 pm and my reserved room still wasn't ready. The guy told me that there was a room ready if I don't mind taking a room with 2 queen beds. That would be swell. I wasn't sure why a room with 1 bed was going to take longer to be ready. I was given room #302 on the third floor. The room was definitely showing its age. The door lock looked pretty new, but unfortunately the deadbolt wasn't properly aligned to the strike plate. I only had the swing bar latch to help secure the door. The air conditioner wouldn't turn on, but come to thing of it, that might have been a good thing since that area of the room smelled like someone's pet had done its business and they weren't able to clean out the odor. Both the bed sheets and towels were washed, but they had their stains that wouldn't wash out. Oh well, you get what you've paid for! It was one of the cheapest room rates in the area. I found a cleaner section of the sheets and took a nap.
Race packet pick-up was scheduled to start at 4:30 pm. It was starting to get mighty warm outside, so I decided to drive over. Picking up my race bib and shirt was really quick. The volunteer checked my ID and had me sign a waiver sheet before handing me my assigned bib. Before heading back to my room, I drove back to In-n-Out and joined the drive thru line to pick up dinner. I ordered the usual 2 Double Doubles, both with onions.
Race packet pick up
Race shirt
Double Double x2
After getting back to my room and finishing off the 2 burgers, I laid out my flat runner for tomorrow's race. I then took a shower and watched some TV including the usual Friday Night SmackDown before calling it a night.
Flat runner
Saturday 4/15
I didn't know when I would leave after the race, so as I got ready for the race, I also packed up everything so I could store my bags in the car. It was a pretty dark and quiet walk over to the start line. I ended up bumping into a guy named, Paul (bib #45), a retired law enforcement officer while walking across the London Bridge. We talked about that famous Baker to Vegas relay race. He was running the Lighthouse Challenge which included a 5k after running the half marathon. Since he will be running 2 races and I no longer drink alcohol, I gave him my beer ticket. Once we got to the start area, we went our separate ways.
After using a portapotty, I came across my race announcer friend, Rudy. After I said hi to him and grabbed a quick selfie, I found an empty bench for me to sit down. I stretched out the IT bands a bit as they were feeling a bit tight. I would venture to guess that my legs have not fully recovered from the REVEL Mt Charleston Marathon that I had run 2 weeks ago.
Race announcer Rudy
Start/Finish line
The race was scheduled to start at 6 am. As I was making my way into the starting corral, I heard someone call out my name. I was a bit surprised as I wasn't expecting to run into anyone I knew at this race. It was Brianne, a fellow perfect Disneyland Half Marathon legacy runner! I also ran into Ginny. I should've known that she would be here. She is fast closing in on half marathon #333, the minimum number required to qualify for the Half Fanatics Hall of Fame!
Brianne
Ginny
I positioned myself next to the 2 hour pacer (bib #1223 Nicholas). We started chatting and it would turn out that he works at the Rivian office on Jamboree in Irvine. That's pretty dang close to where I work! I told him that I would try and keep up with him for the first 8 miles. Shortly we were joined by a floating pacer (bib #1222 Daniel). The race announcer informed us that there would be a 10 minute delay as the course was not yet secured and ready. While we waited I had a brief chat with Kasey (bib #1233) from nearby Bullhead City. She told me that her and her friend were heading up to Laughlin right after the race for an event on Sunday. "There's no rest for the wicked," was what she told me! :)
After the national anthem was sung, the race started at 6:10 am. The first 2 miles felt okay. I thought it would be wise to take a walk break every 2 miles. However, when I started that third mile, my energy level plummeted. I tried to hang on to the tail end of the 2 hour group, but they just kept putting distance on me. The short steep climbs when we turned onto Kirk Dr and then Piper Dr brought me to a walk. This was just way too much struggling before even reaching mile 4!
Here we go!
Running along the Shoreline Trail was nice, but I was already running on fumes. The turnaround point went much farther than the last time that I had run this race. We didn't turnaround until about 7.7 miles. When I finally reached the steep climb up to the London Bridge Resort parking lot, I was pretty much wiped out! I had to take an extended walk break to try and regroup. After crossing the London Bridge for the 2nd time, I continued along McCulloch Blvd and hopped onto the Island Trail at about mile 9. That floating pacer really helped us out during this section. He was offering words of encouragement to everyone that he came across. That loop on that trail was about 3.7 miles which meant I only had about half a mile left to the finish line. While I was able to gradually speed up for the finish line, it wasn't much of a strong finish.
Running along the Shoreline Trail underneath the London Bridge
Finish: 2:16:53
Click here for my Garmin data.
Finish
After receiving my finisher medal and a bottle of water, I thanked that pacer for encouraging us out there. I then picked up a banana and looked for a nice shaded spot to eat that banana and drink the water. My legs were cramping up a bit.
Finisher medal, post race banana and water
Once I had recovered enough, I started heading back to the Super 8. The walk felt much longer after having run a half marathon. I grabbed my bags from the car and went up to my room to take a shower and rest a bit before driving home. Unfortunately, I caught the last parts of the Spurs v. Bournemouth match just as Danjuma scored the equalizing goal. The match was headed for a disappointing 2-2 draw, but with 6 mins added stoppage time, I knew that something Spursy was likely to happen. True to form, they let in a late goal at 5 mins into stoppage time, losing to the lowly Cherries.
Spurs v. Cherries
I then watched the first half of the Man City v. Leicester match before heading out. After dropping my room key off at the front desk, I hopped in the car and drove up to the same Tesla Supercharger in Needles. Even though I was planning to charge the car to almost 100%, I wasn't there too long since the battery wasn't even half empty. I made sure that I had enough charge to get into Victorville.
Needles, CA
It has been a while since I last had a pitstop in Victorville. It was just as I had remembered where it's a pain in the ass to make that turn onto Amargosa Rd after exiting the 15 freeway at Bear Valley Rd. Although I love to eat at the Cracker Barrel there, I decided to get something quicker at Ono Hawaiian BBQ after plugging in the car at the Tesla Supercharger. I ordered the kalbi short ribs plate. The guy told me that it would be about a 15 mins wait. That was fine since I had to wait a bit for the car to finish charging. I used their restroom and then found a table to wait for my food. It was shorter wait than 15 minutes. Thank goodness as my appetite definitely returned with a vengeance. I devoured everything rather quickly.
Victorville, CA
Kalbi short ribs plate
The rest of the drive was fine except for the section through the Cajon Pass. It was stop and go traffic. However there was even a little bit of drama when the traffic finally loosened up a bit. A few bikers on loud Harleys were driving recklessly while cutting through traffic. Somehow a CHP cruiser was able to corral 2 of them over to the side of the freeway. I saw a third biker that was able to get away as he slowed down and started looking behind for his friends.
Later that evening, I headed down to Fullerton to finally eat dinner at the Summit House. I've been wanting to come here for quite some time. I was supposed to meet up with my good friend, but she had to cancel last minute. Parking was scarce at the top as there was a wedding event. I opted to just park at the lower parking lot down by State College Blvd and walking up to the entrance via the ramp. I got there slightly earlier than my reservation to let them know that it'll only be a table for 1 instead of 2. The maitre d' made it sound like I would need to wait until closer to my original reservation time before my table will be ready, but after stepping outside for a brief second, it seemed like they were already looking for me as my table was ready. After being seated and having a chance to look over the menu, I got the Summit House cut prime rib and Summit House salad. I wasn't too fond of the salad, but the prime rib was not bad. I still prefer Gulliver's Restaurant down in Irvine. After I was done with meal, I did take a peek at the dessert menu, but my stomach was full. Maybe next time! I paid my bill and used their restroom before heading back down to my car. The parking lot down there reeked of pot. Well, other people besides restaurant goers do park there to use the East Coyote Hills Trail.
Summit House entrance
Dinner menu
View from my table
Bread
Summit House salad
Summit House cut prime rib
Dessert menu
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