Los Angeles Marathon March 2011
Chris arrived Thursday night. The following day I took the day off from work. Miriam, Chris and I went to the Marathon Expo at Dodger Stadium to get our shirts and bibs. It was much better than last year, and more spread out instead of being jammed into a tiny area. Chris and I got our bibs, I was 624 and he was 1317. Then we looked at the expo, we liked the K Swiss shoes and got various freebies like energy drinks, nuts, and bottles of ice tea. The Honda van had everyone's name on it, we found ours.
It was a nice sunny day, so we went to the French Garden south of downtown for lunch. It was great to sit on the patio under an umbrella to keep the sun off. I had a Brie sandwich, Chris had Tilapia and Miriam had a delicious seafood pasta. Chris and I split a bottle of Pinot Grigio. Miriam was the designated driver, so she took us over part of the old 2008 Marathon route to Boyle Heights and back on the 6th street bridge. We then picked up the new route and drove it all the way through Hollywood and Westwood to the 405 freeway! We enjoyed seeing the landmarks and “attractions” so we would know what to look out for on Sunday.
Saturday dawned breezy, cloudy, but not raining. We had been following the weather forecasts closely; there was still hope because the “heaviest” rain was supposed to come through late Sunday afternoon. Chris and I went for a 2 mile stroll at the beach Saturday morning. We watched the DVD “Into the Wild” in the afternoon, which seemed an appropriate title as the weather was looking more problematical; we had had good weather for three weeks and now a winter storm was coming through. So I decided to take my gore-tex rain jacket for Sunday.
Miriam and my step daughter Susan cooked a nice carbo-load dinner of spaghetti and meatballs (with red wine of course) On my final 20 mile training I had had a big steak the night before which seemed to give me lots of energy, so we decided to have lots of meat before the Marathon too. Chris headed to bed at 8, I went at 9 and slept fitfully till 2AM. I got up, noticed the wind and light rain, and got to Chris's door just as he was opening it to get up. I felt demoralized by the weather and did not want to do the marathon, if Chris had not been there I probably would have bailed out, which would have been too bad since it turned out to be such a great day in the end.
We dressed, had oatmeal, and then headed out to Santa Monica. Intermittent light rain....we got to the Civic Center parking structure about 3:30, parked on the first floor (maybe even the same spot as last year!), and hung out nice and warm in the Jeep till 4:15 when we headed out to get the shuttle bus. As before, the shuttle was efficient and quick and got us to Dodger Stadium in less than a half hour....so we had to get out into the wind, rain and cold, too bad!
We put on our three layers of sweaters each (which I had got at the Salvation Army Thrift store). We hung out in the stadium for a while, Chris gave one of his jackets to a teenage girl (Nancy) who was looking cold. She told us she had been a volunteer the year before and was now going to run the Marathon, she said she liked running in the rain! We also gave her a couple of safety pins she needed for her bib. I had my Mocha Clif Shot (with 50mg of caffeine) as my “coffee”. This year we were only allowed in the stadium seats, not the outfield like last year, which would have been too wet anyway. We managed to find a restroom which was under the stadium (and supposed to be closed) so we avoided the long lines.
At 6:30 or so we went to the corrals. Chris headed for his seeded corral “C” since he had done 4:29 last year. I ended up near the front of the unseeded corral. They announced that Sumo wrestler Kelly Gneiting had weighed in at 400.6 pounds as he was going for the Guinness World Record of heaviest person to complete a Marathon. I had seen him at mile 16 in 2008 - in which he had not registered with Guinness so he had to do the marathon again! I saw his video for 2008 on Youtube, it's pretty good.
The wait was OK, since the excitement was building and it had stopped raining (YAY!) so I did not have to stand in that stupid pen in the rain. Some clowns climbed into the corral ahead of me over the fence, but a least they didn't land on top of me! The race was delayed, as they were a little slow in getting all the logistics cleared away; apparently all the medical, traffic and police units have to call in that the course is safely closed to cars and OK for the runners. The wheel chairs were supposed to start just before 7, I think they got off 20 minutes late. Then the elite women got their 17 minute head start, then finally the elite men and all of us got the start at about 7:45. With of course “I Love LA” by Randy Newman playing on the sound system.
It took only about 4 minutes for me to shuffle to the start line, so that was good, we were all very excited to be off and running. Before mile 1 it has begun to rain lightly, I put my jacket on which I took off again when the rain “stopped” before Mile 2.
We ran through the China Town dragon gate, the road got pretty crowded so I ran along the sidewalk. Some of the old Chinese ladies seemed a little puzzled as to what was going on. Then near Olvera Street, past the old church “La Placita de Nuestra Senora Reina de Los Angeles”! We often go to a nice restaurant called “La Golondrina” in Olvera Street so I know this area pretty well. Then a jog through Little Tokyo, turned to down town with nice views of City Hall, the LA Times building, and the downtown skyscrapers. I stopped to take a few pictures along the way.
We got to the foot of “Taiko Drum Hill”, the Taiko Drummers and Disney Hall are at the top. I thought it was strange that there was no marker for Mile 4, this proved to be a problem for the rest of the race since I found that almost all the mile markers had blown down in the wind; the markers are giant upside down U-shaped tubes blown up by a fan. So it was kinda hard to know exactly where the miles were. It was raining hard as I walked up the hill; I noticed my right knee was hurting, I think from running on the cambered right side of the road. In training I had just trained on the flat beach bike path. I remember from a couple of years ago if I ran on one camber (right or left I can't remember) it made my knee ache, obviously I was finding this out again. We turned right at the top of the hill, I put my rain jacket on, it was to stay on all the rest of the day!
Then a downward jog and under the Harbor Freeway, then up to Echo Park which looked beautiful in the rain. I tried to take a picture but the camera memory was full! Note: get a new memory card next year! I thought that I would stop here and there and delete a few old photos but as the rain got heavier I never felt like stopping to do this. I remember it was raining heavily there at Echo Park, and it never really let up after this. Though it did get heavier from time to time!
We then followed Sunset through the Silver Lake district. I don't think they have a lake there, maybe just on the streets where we were running. I chanted “Si se puede” with some Spanish speaking spectators. I noticed my anti-chafe stuff on my thighs seemed to be washing away in the rain so I got two big dollops of vaseline from a young latino volunteer holding a big platter of the vaseline, and put the stuff on my thighs so my shorts would not chafe. At this point I was mainly walking since my knee hurt too much to run, but that was OK, I was having a great time. The rain was a liberating force, as it seemed we didn't need to prove anything except to finish today.
I high fived about a dozen young people from Beit T'Shuva, a Jewish charity that helps recovering addicts. I noticed they were all happy to get high-fived since most runners were cutting that corner and not coming over to them.
On to Hollywood Boulevard at Mile 9 (had that blown over? I seem to remember that was one of the few markers still standing.) Then another mile to the main tourist part, with the Pantages and El Capitan Theaters. Here the rain started bucketing down even harder, and we all cheered! Yay! I found out that this had been the reaction of the runners in other places too; Diane (who I work with) was in her kitchen in Santa Monica, she heard the rain start pouring down even harder and she heard a big cheer go up from the Marathon route on San Vicente outside her house!
I walked up onto the Hollywood Walk of Fame to look at some of the stars as I went along. Past the Hollywood Wax Museum and the Guinness World Record Museum (appropriate for Kelly today!) At Grauman's Chinese Theater I took a look at some of the hand prints of the stars there, then down Orange Street back to Sunset. After about another mile and a half, reached the halfway point (13.1 miles) at about 3 hours, slower than last year or in training but that didn't matter anymore. A nice down hill past Carney's Hot Dogs (a yellow train car). Some day I will have to go there and have some hot dogs – I've been there just once about 20 years ago!
And in to West Hollywood. Greeted by the Cheer Leaders in Drag (like last year), who I all high fived. There were also a couple of guys dancing on a stage in their underpants (in the cold!), and it was nice to hear some Taiko drummers which helped boost the energy level too.
We then headed into Beverly Hills. On Doheny I finally took off my soaked baseball cap and put on my wool beany hat, pulling it down over my ears and to the rim of my glasses. Still feeling real good despite the rain. I was soaked through but it didn't bother me. Feet doing OK, no soreness or blisters. This residential area of Beverly Hills was tree lined and calm.
After Mile 16, I noticed a girl who was freezing cold in a black tee shirt and black shorts, she was shivering. I offered her an emergency poncho which I was carrying in a pouch but she said No thanks I am going to bail at Mile 17! The marathon organizers had finally set up tents where they were giving out space blankets and putting plastic bags on some of those who wanted them. I was really impressed by the many SRLA (Students Run LA) kids who were out today, and they all seemed determined to finish despite the cold and wet.
Further in to Beverly Hills, then down the posh shops on Rodeo Drive. I jogged this part.
Then Mile 18 into Westwood, there were supposed to be 400 cheer leaders there in “cheer alley” but they were long gone because of the rain. I did see some cheer leaders at one point doing there routines under cover at a gas station by the route; that was nice. Also all the volunteers who got soaked giving us water and gatorade in the cold deserve a big THANK YOU! Some of the volunteer kids in their bright yellow volunteer tee shirts were soaked to the skin but they were still there! What amazing people were out today!
There in Westwood I realized how much I loved this marathon experience today, I really felt great!
A downhill and a few modest uphills and we were at Mile 19. I felt a little sad since I knew it was “almost” over. I could see the 405 Freeway in the distance so I knew we were almost there. Mile 20, another unmarked mile that was hard to tell where it was, then under the 405 Freeway. A band called the “Bassment Junkies” was playing there to keep us runners entertained.
We then entered the Veterans Administration complex. I was sad to see that the flags were not out today, I guess because of the rain. The Clif people were handing out Clif Shots, I got a Citrus one which was quite good. During the previous hours, I had consumed some Clif Blox and Clif Shots to keep “fed”. I also think the carbo load dinner last night did its work well too.
A guy named Miguel started talking to me and we walked together up the hill. He was number 15939. He works in security at the airport, near where I work. He said this was his 11th marathon, and his second in the rain. It was odd at first to be walking with someone as we passed through Mile 21, but it was quite pleasant. We talked about our jobs and families, and the kinds of music we liked.. We were on the home stretch now and pretty comfortable, though I should have put on my wool gloves and my hands were feeling a bit stiff., Still raining heavily. At one point we left the road because it was flooded and walked in the muddy grass for 50 yards or so.
At the cross street of 26 th Street (about Mile 23, we were on San Vicente) I called Diane on my cell phone so she would come out to say hi to us as we would be coming by here place. We were also walking with another guy named Patricio at this point. Diane's place was at 7th maybe a quarter mile before Mile 25, Diane came out under here umbrella to say hi to us, I introduced her to Miguel and Patricio. It was a treat to see her here near the end of the marathon, like I did last year when I came by.
I could see the high rise apartment building at the beach before we got to Mile 25, so I knew we were almost there. Mile 25, then round the corner south onto Ocean...then the wind really hit us! Wow! We had luckily been pretty sheltered from the wind all day but the 30 mile an hour cold breeze off the Pacific Ocean was a big change. Check out this Youtube video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OD7fHIVPvow , it was like this!!!!! I have so much respect for everyone that was in the race today, almost 20,000 people made it all the way!
About half a mile from the end, Miguel jogged off ahead so he could finish at a run, I just kept walking and in fact slowed down just before the finish line to get a good look around before the end of this year's marathon journey. My time was 6:32, I think I got in at about 2:20 PM. I got my medal, then got some pictures taken by Marathonfoto. I didn't pause to get any snacks, I was getting cold now!
I made my way to the end of the runners zone, and out through the exit, through a big crowd of mainly very worried looking hispanic parents under umbrellas waiting for their kids to come through. I know I would be very worried about my kid if they had just been out doing 26 miles in the pouring rain with little protection against rain and wind!
Heading down Ocean, then over left towards the Santa Monica Civic Center. I went to use a Porta Potty, it was nice to get out of the wind so I called Chris from inside!. He didn't answer, I assumed his cell phone was a little inaccessible. Then kept walking, my phone range but I didn't answer since I didn't want to take my gloves off. Near the parking structure two very bedraggled SRLA girls asked me if I knew where the Civic Auditorium was, I said I was sorry but I didn't, maybe one of the bus drivers could tell them. I guess they had been told to regroup there after the race before taking buses home.
In a minute I was back at the car, I opened the door, Chris was there and had the heater on full blast which was heaven! I changed clothes, and we each had a few swallows of the rum which I had in a flask in the back of the Jeep – Chris had forgotten where I told him it was! Once I was in dry clothes, we called Miriam to tell her we were on our way. The freeway was fairly clear, people seemed to be staying home because of the heavy rain! Chris and I both agreed that we felt much better than after the marathon last year. We were ready for next year!
At home, we pulled in to the garage. I thought I was OK, but my sore knee gave way as I got out of the Jeep so I guess I wasn't 100% after all! Chris and I split a 1.5 liter bottle of Piper Heidsieck champagne, Miriam fed us hot chicken soup and gave us hot towels. It continued to pour and we thought of the stragglers still out there! We were glad to be warm and dry.
Kelly came in at 9 hours 48 minutes, I guess he won't do the LA Marathon next year, but we are hoping to do so!
The LA Marathon in the pouring rain was the best ever!
