With a plan to meet up with people at 4:30 so that we could caravan up together, the wake up time was early. Like, setting the alarm to a number that began with a 3 type early.
Like a good runner, I laid out all of my necessities the night before, so that even bleary eyed, I wouldn't forget anything .
Everything went smoothly, with my friend picking me up around 4:15 and meeting up with two other cars of people about 4:30 (4:45?) at an Andronicos in the Sunnyvale area. We all squeezed into two cars and before we knew it, we were driving around the streets of San Francisco, with an increasing number of brightly colored individuals in somewhat skimpy clothing walking on the sidewalks (yes, I am referring to runners here, not some of the other colorful life that you might see, though come to think of it, seeing people in skimpy brightly colored outfits is not abnormal in the dark hours of a weekend in SF).
We finally found the parking lot and immediately went in search of the bathrooms that were described to us as the best to use. Unfortunately, they were closed, so our 10 minute search and journey up and down 3 flights of stairs was perhaps not the best use of our time.
Out of luck, we headed to the start as night turned to dawn.
We got to our "VIP" tent, with the promise of food, coffee and private porta potties making us feel very special. Of course, 2 porta potties for 200+ trainers = not such a good deal.
Luckily, Dana and I (and the rest of our group) were in the last wave, so we had just enough time to make it through the lines and get going.
Our group's plan was to walk every 1/2 mile, plus the uphills. Knowing that we'd be going a pretty easy pace for me, I decided to make an addition to that plan. Every time we'd walk, I'd pull to the side, take some pictures, and then catch up with the group. This race was all about completing the distance and being with a friend, so I wasn't in a hurry. This way I could get some non blurry pictures, too!
The first few miles went along the ferry buildings, and went quickly.
Soon, a delicious smell began wafting through the air. I knew it could be only one thing - Boudin Bakery. If only they had a sourdough aid station...
Of course, a chocolate aid station would have been pretty nice too!
At this point, the race course also began overlapping the course I used to run when I was in college, which was special in its own right. This also brought us to our first hill.
Luckily, the hill equaled a very nice view.
After cresting the hill, we got both a downhill and mile 3.
This was probably one of my favorite views, and the flat Crissy field running was nice as well.
Next up was the climb up the bridge, where we enjoyed taking it easy as we headed up.
Climbing uphill, though, meant more nice views. We got lucky with the weather, and had a nice cool SF morning for our run.
Finally, the bridge was well within reach.
While I've run over the bridge many times, I've never gotten to do it on the actual street.
Verdict? While pretty cool, I think I actually like the sidewalk better - you can't see much of the view off the bridge from the street.
Once we got to the other side, we got to enjoy the city views as well as a water/gu stop.
Once we got off the bridge, we had a bit more uphill (which none of us actually remembered),
before getting to coast down to Golden Gate park.
This was where I ended up leaving behind most of my running group. It was about mile 10, I was feeling strong, and I honestly was ready to run more my pace - especially with a mile of downhill in my future.
So, with a few others from the group, I pushed ahead, enjoying coasting downward and picking up some speed.
In not too long, we reached the city streets and some more uphill. At around mile 12, the others I was running with were ready to walk. Me? Not so much. So, I said goodbye and pushed forward, ready to finish this race.
While the trip through the park seemed a bit longer than I had expected, but finally, I saw the finish line and pushed through, for a grand total of 2:44 (the exact pace I had run in my first marathon).
Over the next 15 minutes, I got to see the rest of the running group come through, including my friend, Dana who also had a great run.
While we were warm from the run, the cool SF air made us happy to have the heat blankets, especially once we got in line to wait for the buses back to the start.
Unfortunately, while the buses sounded great in theory, the long lines and some other issues meant that it was about 45 minutes until we got on a bus. I was mostly worried about poor Ed, waiting at the start for me, who had probably finished his race long before. But, there was nothing I could do, so I decided not to worry, and just bask in the happiness of a finished race.
As soon as we got off the bus, I rushed to look for Ed and soon found him. Predictably, he had been worried about me since I had shown up so late, but once he knew I was fine, he was happy to see me. He'd had a great race as well and we enjoyed sharing stories as we headed back to the car to head home.
This was a great first race back, and is a great starting point for this new phase of running for me. Next race is the San Jose Half Marathon in just two weeks - hopefully it will be equally (or even more so) fun!
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