Super Sub

A few weeks ago Jane Watson informed me that a hamstring injury would keep her from running the Couples Relay with me. Too bad, I was looking forward to running with her in this rare relay opportunity. Then again maybe I should have expected it. This race is unpredictable, but fun.

• In 2006 Diane Dove was injured (we won the race).
• In 2007 Diane had the flu (we came in third).
• In 2008 I had the flu and had to cancel on Suzette Smith. It also rained like crazy.
• Last year Jane was injured, but we place second in our age group in a downpour.

Besides Jane's injury, early in the week I was limited to bed after catching some 24-hour bug. Upon learning of Jane's condition, I called my friend Holly Starr. Holly said she'd run with me, after all she ran six miles recently. Holly is very fit and a good athlete, so I'm happy to be able to run with her.

Holly calls my name as I finish changing our registration at the race. During a warmup run we discuss family and the winter Olympics. Holly can figure skate, and I watched the women's long program on the DVR last night, so we have a good conversation.

Weather is way better than the previous two years, dry with plenty of sun. The women run first, and Holly gets a good position in front. While waiting with the guys I catch up with Jeff Teeters, who's teaming up with Maria Chapon of the Tahoe Redondo team from the Tahoe Relay. I had asked Jeff if he'd be on our East Bay Flyers team, but he says he won't be available.

About 23 minutes after the start Holly tags me in 49th place. She ran a solid time, and I set on gaining on a lot of teams in front of us. As I begin someone yells, "Nice pace, 203!" Thanks to Brian Collett for the photo of me. He skipped the race, but did an excellent job as photog. My lap around Lake Merritt is like a handicapped race. I'm well back of the lead, but there are a ton of slower teams ahead. I pass 23 teams and we finish in 42:03. My split is about 18:30, which is about as fast as I've run this course. Even though it's flat, I get slowed by the numerous turns, narrow sidewalks, and countless pedestrians. I'm really pleased with our performance. A record 174 teams finished the race, and the days when Diane and I could win the whole thing with a time of 38 minutes are long gone. Holly and I managed to finish third in our age group (100-119 combined age), and our time would have won the age group last year. The competition keeps getting tougher, and Jeff and Maria snag first place in our category, the prize for which is a gift certificate to a restaurant or running store. Officially Holly and I are fourth in the age category, but one team ahead of us is two men. It's a coed race, so I don't count them. After the race I lend Mike Rossi the ice pack keeping the cream cheese in my cooler fresh for his leg. I also purchase a Lake Merritt Joggers and Striders singlet, men's small in red, after seeking one of that color for a few years. Finally, I chat up Karen Andrews to see if she can run on our Tahoe Relay team. She says she'll get back to me. It's been a productive morning.

Hit and Run

The Davis Stampede half marathon may be my favorite of the Superbowl Sunday races. It’s winnable, the long drive to Davis is less of a hassle than parking at Ocean Beach in San Francisco, and Davis is a wonderful college town. Last night Mandy, Maylee and I stayed overnight in Sacramento, about 30 miles to the east. We had a great Thai dinner with Suzette Smith and her son Michael, daughter-in-law Alicia, granddaughter Izzy, daughter Caitlin, and son Tim. Suzette and Tim are the only Smiths from last night who don’t live in the Sacramento area, so she considers it a second home.

This morning Suzette, Caitlin and I drove to Davis from Sacramento together, and will meet our families at the finish line.

We pull into downtown and find parking about four blocks away from the start. We have plenty of time to get our numbers and race shirts, and stow our belongings back in the car. Mandy will later find a parking spot right at the starting line. This is so much better than the Kaiser San Francisco Half Marathon in San Francisco, where once I was blocked in a parking spot for more than an hour after the race and another time sprinted to the starting line due to finding a spot minutes before the race.

My goal is to run a 1:24 half marathon, the slowest I’ve run since coming back from plantar fasciitis in my left foot two years ago. It is a flat course with a lot of turns and dips through bicycle and pedestrian tunnels under roads. The minor ups and downs are not imposing, but they do slow the runners.

I finish in 1:23:51, second in my age group (M45-49) and 21st overall. This was my slowest time since recovering from an injury in 2008, but any significant training adjustment wouldn’t have made any difference. The first place finisher in my age group ran two minutes faster than my PR and the person who finished after me was three minutes behind.

Suzette has an eventful race, with a time of 1:46:20, third in her age group (F50-54). The excitement occurred at the end where the street has posts to keep out motorized vehicles, as Davis is a bicycle friendly town. As Suzette navigates between two of the posts, a guy runs into her as he tries to pass her.

Some guys have a problem with women beating them, and others just want to finish ahead of every possible person. This isn’t the Olympics. This is like flying Southwest. There is no first class. Finishing 186th is no different than 191st.

As it happens, Alicia Smith is on the scene with her camera and catches the hit-and-run culprit. It’s Omir Torres, who’s 22 years younger than Suzette. We’ve got his license plate number: his bib is 3291.

Mandy, Maylee and I head back to the hotel after the race. We drive to Old Sacramento, which is right out of a Hollywood western. I’ve never been here, and it’s really neat. The streets are preserved in their 18th century motif, even if every store sells candy, ice cream or t-shirts.

We have lunch and visit the California State Railroad Museum. What a wonderful place. The Louvre of railroad museums: the trains are beautifully restored and displayed. Our original plan was to visit the museum on Saturday, but fortunately we went today. Yesterday was free admission and the museum had a record attendance of 15,000. Waits were long for all the train exhibits and the museum’s ventilation system couldn’t handle the vapor from all the people.

Today everyone is watching the Super Bowl, and we have the place to ourselves. Here’s Maylee next to a monster freight train. The wheel is bigger than her.