Race registration check-in was scheduled for 6 am. I got ready and timed it so that I would arrive at a nearby Starbucks at about 5:15 am to get my usual pre-race coffee. Along the way, I encountered some rather poor driving around the Hollywood area. Those drivers had to have been either sleepy, drunk, or high. As I was nearing the White Oak Ave exit off of the 101 freeway, I saw a CHP vehicle pass at a pretty high speed. I believe he/she was keeping an eye on the pack of cars that was around me. Once I arrived at the Starbucks, I placed my order for the usual grande blonde vanilla latte before going through the drive-thru. I was grateful that those employees were working so early on Thanksgiving!
Grande blonde vanilla latte
With coffee in hand, I drove up to the Top of Reseda at the Marvin Braude Mulholland Gateway Park. Per the instructions, I found a free parking spot right up to the yellow line. It was dark when I arrived, but that line indicated where the pay spots started. I was one of the early bird cars that was there at about 5:30 am. I relaxed in my car and ate my usual pre-race CLIF bar with my coffee. At about 10 minutes before 6 am, I walked up to the bib pick-up tents. I was able to pick up my bib, but they weren't ready yet with the race shirts. I went to use one of the portapotties and waited for the sun to come up before going back to get my shirt.
View of the valley
Bib pick-up
Race shirt
Dawn's early light
It was much easier to see that yellow parking fee line with some daylight. On the way up to the start area, I saw the payment box for parking fees. In addition to checking out the beautiful views of the surrounding area, I also checked out the information boards that they had put up showing some of the history, trail safety, plants, animals, and ecology of the Santa Monica Mountains.
Yellow parking fee line
Pay box
Pre-race candid
Start line
Skratch Labs hydration
Started somewhere near the middle
The half marathon was scheduled to start at 7 am. We started about 5 minutes or so late. The trails were a bit congested at the beginning, but I tried my best to not impede runners that wanted to power on ahead when the climbing started. The wound on my left knee from 10 days ago was scabbed up and healing nicely. I was planning to take this race as comfortably as possible and finish without any falls. The section going down the Mandeville Ridge Trail was nice especially with a beautiful view of the Pacific Ocean. There was one downhill section that was quite steep. I had to take many baby steps to make sure I didn't lose my footing! I seemed to do much better in the climbs in the second part of the race. Those daily hilly hikes around my neighborhood had definitely paid off! I used to get passed by everyone on those uphill sections.
Route map
Early climb
View of the Pacific Ocean from the Mandeville Ridge Trail
Beautiful, but steep climb
Aid station bottle refill
Finished: 2:41:26
Click here for my Garmin data.
After reaching the finish line, I collected my wooden medal and headed into the post race area which had food and beer. The food was mostly vegan stuff. I'm sure it tasted great, but honestly it did not look very appealing. Thank goodness they had some Athletic Brewing non-alcoholic beer. They gave me a can of the Run Wild IPA. I shared a table with a couple. We ended up chatting about out Thanksgiving plans.
Finisher medal and post race non-alcoholic beer
Finisher medal
I thought that this was a nice challenging race. I believe this was only the second year and it was very well organized. I thought that this was a better alternative than driving out to the Hoover Dam area for the Thanksgiving trail half marathon that I normally do out there. It was a rather late decision to run this race and I was glad that I went with it.
On the way out, I took another can of beer. This time it was a Mexican-style copper beer. I've never had this one before. I also grabbed a mandarin orange. Finally, I stopped for a photo with the race backdrop. I noticed that there was a sign underneath the stop sign warning about it being photo enforced. I don't think that I had ever seen that before. After I hopped in the car, I decided to swing by the South Seas apartment complex. That location was used as Daniel LaRusso's place of residence in the Karate Kid when him and his mom moved out to Reseda. It wasn't too far out of the way. There wasn't too much available street parking, but I managed to find a spot where I pulled over just long enough to get a quick photo.
2nd can of beer for the road
Post race
Photo enforced stop sign
Did not find Mr Miyagi or Daniel LaRusso :)
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