Bay to Breakers

I'll post my race photo's when they become available May 22, but I did want to say how much fun it was. This was the 97th edition of the 12K (7.46 mile, for the conversion impaired) race making it one of the oldest races in California, along with the Dipsea. It also happens to be my third running and came 20 years after my first. Five of us from Calistoga Ranch took part along with four others that we met up with prior to the race. As I mentioned to several people already, while I have run quite a bit in the past it has been six months since I went out and ran anything at all. And that was just three miles to see if I could still do it. Our April backpacking trip to Havasupai was the most recent real workout I have given myself. So I had no serious intention of running the whole thing. My personal goal was to run to the top of the Hayes Street Hill (just short of the 3 mile mark) and see how I felt at that point. Both of the previous times I have run I was able to be in the top 10,000, thereby getting my name in the SF Examiner, but thought that probably was out of reach this time. Anyway, with the huge crush of people it took a full 25 minutes just to get to the starting line. Which is no longer a real issue since your official time starts when the chip you carry crosses the start line, regardless of the race start. And surprisingly, I think it actually worked in my favor. The crowd was already getting enough separation so I could run right from the beginning and had only a few stoppages due to overcrowding. Jens, Ramon, and I kept in each others sights until about the 5 mile mark but we lost track of the others almost from the start. So, as I was saying, the 3 mile mark would have been sufficient if I had had a side ache or could feel a blister coming on. But the weather was perfect for running, I was feeling great, the pace was not really pushing it, so I just kept going and ran the whole thing. All of us had decent runs with Jens S. finishing in 1:10, Jens H. finishing in 1:14, me at 1:16, Ramon at 1:17, and Sara at 1:18. Several of the others finished together at 1:19. That time put me at finisher position 5,568 and into the SF Examiner for a third time. Can any of you see my ego super-inflating right now? Neither can I. I am somewhat sore today but I feel far better than I would have expected given the zero training prior. Plus I was the only one in costume and that has to count for something. You will have to wait for pictures to see if my bad habit helped or hindered me.

Now my next little adventure is a week away, where I will be heading off to New York and getting beyond the airport for the first time. It has always just been a jump point on the way to Europe. I have never spent any time on the East Coast at all, so this will be fun no matter what I get into. Very much looking forward to it....