The first race is the half marathon of the Long Beach International City Marathon, one that I've wanted to do for a couple of years. The last race is the US Half Marathon-San Francisco, which I've run three times. In between is a favorite, the Primo's Half Marathon in Danville-San Ramon, and the Livermore Grape Stomp.
Long Beach: Oct.
12. This was the most beautiful road half marathon I've ever run. The course goes over the waterfront in downtown Long Beach and through the beaches to the south. Other than some early sections around highway access roads and a part over a bridge connecting the port of Long Beach, the route was very appealing. Weather was perfect despite heavy Santa Ana winds the previous day that disappeared on race morning. The course is generally flat with the exception of the bridge. I pushed myself and met my goal of 1:21, running 1:20:45, a 6:10 pace after running the first mile in 5:35. This was my second PR in the half marathon in 2008, partly due to the Brooks T-5 Racer shoes that I bought at Transports in Oakland. I was concerned that the shoes wouldn't
give me enough support over 13 miles, but my feet and legs felt fine throughout the race. The only disappointment was finishing fourth in my age group out of 261, just out of the medals.Long Beach is also the second stop in the California Racing Series. The San Francisco Marathon and its affiliated half marathon that I ran in August is one of the other races, the other being the Surf City Marathon and half in February. I hope to run Surf City and get the medal and jacket for running all three. After the marathon, we spent two days at Disneyland.
Primo's Run for Education: Oct. 19. A cold morning greeted us at a very well run local race. Last year I received three technical shirts from this event. The freebies weren't as plentiful this year, maybe because of the poor economy.
Not long after the start, a woman sped past me listening to an iPod. I chased her and five men, but after three miles they were out of sight. I ran by myself for the remaining 10 miles, a very well-marked course. Not until the 11th mile did I see anyone else, a woman approaching a turn around after I had passed it.
My time was 1:20:53, seventh overall and second in my age group. I checked the results and found that the woman wearing the iPod was Magdalena Levy-Boulet, who represented the United States in the marathon in the Beijing Olympics. I sought her out and found her with her 3-year-old son near the medal stand. She's an incredibly nice person, like her husbank Richie Boulet, who is another outstanding runner and the owner of Transports running stores. I introduced myself to her and asked about her injury, a knee that she banged on a bus handrail in China, which forced her to drop out of the Olympic marathon after three miles. When I told her that I bought my shoes at Transports, she clapped and cheered. She listened politely as I described how she passed me early in the race and I couldn't keep up with her, but I later realized that nothing I said was relevant since I was running at full speed, and she was getting in a comfortable workout.
Magdalena, or Magda is on the right after finishing second in the US Olympic trials. On the right is Blake Russel, who finished third, and Deena Kastor, who was first.
The Primo's race was a tune up for Magda for the New York City Marathon on Nov. 2. She finished 11th overall in New York.
Livermore Grape Stomp: Oct. 26. The third leg of my half marathon trek was the Livermore Grape Stomp. I ran this race in 2005 and wasn’t impressed in the award, which was a ribbon that I quickly bent and threw away. This year’s race fit in my schedule and was intended to give me a good training run before the US Half Marathon the following Sunday. I arrived 45 minutes early to a long line for the pre-registered runners. Those who registered on the day of the race received their bibs and chips instantly while the rest of us waited single file for several minutes. This is an absurdity that some races permit, much like a restaurant immediately seating walk-ins while making those with reservations wait.
A race organizer told me that the race would start 10 minutes late due to the late arrivals. I told her that the long line at the registration table was caused by the inability to process those who preregistered. Then she told me that the race would start at the opposite end of the field from the registration tables. I joined a few hundred runners, none of whom knew the exact starting point, which organizers failed to mark. A few minutes later the woman in charge told us that the race started at the other end of the field where we were originally.
Having returned to the end of the field that I just left, I met up with Brian Collett, who was running the 10K. Brian’s a little faster than me, so I hoped to keep him in sight for a few minutes. As the race began, I chased Brian for the first mile with no one near us. I had the notion that I could win the race. Knowing that some runners might have gotten caught behind slower people at the start, I didn’t get too excited. I figured that If I was in front for two miles I’d have a good chance of winning.
Someone passed me at about a mile and a half, but he split off at the 10K turn, so I maintained my lead. I was running about a 6:05 pace through four miles and opening a lead. I figured I had the race won, with about a quarter mile lead and no one around me. The lack of people turned out to be a problem. I didn’t see any volunteers after the 10K split, and the course was extremely poorly marked with chalkboard chalk arrows on the ground the only guide. After passing the fifth mile I lost the trail. Lost in a subdivision in Livermore, I asked someone walking his dog for directions. He pointed me down the street, but still no arrows.
The race was a complete disappointment. Instead of winning the race, I was now concerned about getting home fast enough to catch a flight in the afternoon. I had no money or cell phone, and there were no pay phones. I found some arrows and followed them past some vinyards, still not certain where I was going.
I continued, still not seeing anyone until I ran for about an hour. There I followed a runner for some race, either the 5K or 10K, and reached the finish, but I think I went through it backwards. My time of 1:10 and change was achieved by skipping untold miles.
I informed the race director of my trouble. Other runners had complaints, and after the director took care of them, she told me that someone had stolen all the signs that marked the course and threw the barricades at Shadow Cliff Park into the lake. It’s a shame, but I said they could have had someone on a bike guiding the lead runner. To her credit she refunded my entrance fee plus a few dollars.
US Half marathon: Nov. 2. “Where do I go?” I yelled as loud as I could after running something like 10 miles, facing backwards, my hands in the air.
Is it really that difficult to properly mark a course? New rule: If race organizers can’t afford the signs, orange cones and volunteers to guide runners through a course, maybe they shouldn’t hold the race. I didn’t see a mile marker after the third mile, and didn’t check my watch for the last 10 miles. Why bother? I had no idea how far I had run.
At the turn around after the Golden Gate Bridge the path loops on a dirt path under the bridge. I spoke to a runner after the race who said that he and several others overshot the turn because the orange cones were stacked and lying flat on the ground.
I’ve run this race four times, and I know the route on the Marin side of the Golden Gate Bridge. I get lost after returning to San Francisco and descending to the shoreline. The course goes left toward the bridge before reversing back towards Fisherman’s Wharf. The confusion is that the half marathon merges with a 10K held at the same time. I passed the first turn and feared I was making the same mistake I did last year when I and a few others ran aimlessly toward Fort Point at the foot of the Golden Gate Bridge. That’s when I turned around and voiced my frustration.
Benjamin Cronin (M30-39) was the only half-marathoner around me, about five seconds back. He was confused like me, and we ran to Fort Point complaining about the course, before he passed me at the turn. I chased him for the rest of the race and finished ninth overall and second in my age group with a time of 1:24.
After the race Ben wondered if we had run more than 13.1 miles. I think we ran the correct distance, but I’m convinced that twice before I did not. In 2006 I completed the race in 1:22, which seems extremely fast, meaning that the course or my route was not a complete half marathon. Last year I ran a 1:25, which I felt was too slow, probably because I ran too far.
At the end of the four half marathons I had two medals and one PR, and one incomplete. I would give myself an ‘A’, a better grade than race organizers. Long Beach gets an ‘A’ and Primo’s a strong ‘B+’. The Grape Stomp served a race before its time and receives an ‘F’ while the US Half did not impress as much as in previous years and gets a ‘C’.
My legs held up well over the four weeks, and my training was very manageable. I ran about 20 miles during the week with no speed work. The races gave me enough running at maximum effort to keep up my speed. If I hadn’t gotten sick in the last week I probably would have run the US Half faster, but I’m happy with the result.
I usually end my season with the US Half, but I’ve won nine medals this year and my goal is 10. The next opportunity is the Academy of Sciences Run Wild 10K in three weeks.
