Surf City Half Marathon

Feb 1, 2015, 7:45am Huntington Beach, CA in sunny southern California.

13.2 miles, 2:04:33 official time, 336 suffer score, 8 trophies

Lynda arranged for 2 vans for about 20 members from Eagle Rock. She and Gregg picked up the vans and the packet for everybody. BRAVO! We left Eagle Rock Starbucks at 500am, sharp.

We valet parked the vans and unwound in the Hyatt lobby. Clean fresh bathrooms. Although our usual spot downstairs was unavailable, we found a spot for everybody to relax for about an hour.

Back: Kirk, Gregg, Neal, Gio, Nina, George, Victoria, Yuri, Dr. Martin Choi, Peter, Jonathan, Rob, Paul and LyndaD

Front: Amy, LyndaN, Joe, Alvin, Derek. Sebastian was taking care of business. Bill was there too.

About 45 minutes before race start, we mozied down to the start line. We said hi to Sole Runners and Coach Steve. And we shared tent space with Pasadena Pacers.

The start was a mass of humanity. 15,000+ runners. Half and Full marathoners.

Race notes. I felt great and tried to bank time on the early miles. I kept less than 9:00 min/miles for miles 1-3. There was a hill on mile 4 so that was a bit slower. I took gels at mile 3, 6, and 9. At mile 6, the gel went down a little bumpy, so i walked it off to make sure nothing came up with the burps. I had one water bottle on my belt so that I could sip in between aid stations. The aid stations were frequent enough it was no problem. The weather was perfect. Not cold, not hot. One tiny potty stop at mile 8, but less than 40 seconds. Not sure if Garmin’s moving time figured that one out. Mile 8 there’s a turn around and a long stretch back to the finish line (miles 9-13). My gut check is always mile 10. This time mile 10 felt good. I felt strong and on pace for 2:00. It didn’t work out that way, but it was close. I lost the time walking through the aid stations and not picking up the pace fast enough. My Hokas were great on the run. I had no knee pain, no hip pain. At the finish, I met Lynda. I actually finished in 2:04 and she in 2:07, but she had wiggled up to the front at the start line and took off minutes before me. Friendly competition rocks.

Course runs along Pacific Coast Highway. Yuri and I took medal shots on the beach.