Inauguration Weekend in DC and I decide on election day morning to run a marathon in CA. Ever since I moved to the DC area in Dec 05, the one think I wanted to see was the 09 Presidential Inauguration. I'm not sure what I was thinking when I booked the ticket but all I know is I got a damn good deal on a country flight to CA (even though I had three connections plus a 2 hour drive to get to my destination).
After a flight from DCA to MSP then onto PDX, I finally arrive in MFR (two hours ahead of schedule because the 10:30am flight from PDX to MFR was delayed because of wx and there open seats so I was able to get on that flight). From MFR I still had that 2 hour drive to Redding to deal with but with Mt Shasta to look at, Sirius radio to listen to and clear skies the whole way there made it that much easier.
I arrive in Redding, go to packet pick-up and then head to my hotel. After a little relaxing, I decide to try on my race shirt and boy am I ever glad I did. The sleeves on the long sleeve shirt were more like a Capri shirt for my arms. It came half-way down my arm. I immediately grabbed the shirt and raced to the packet pick-up to try and exchange the shirt before they closed. Now for me, I truly believe you should get the shirt size you request when you register unless there is something wrong with the shirt. So in this case, the race director agreed with me and she stated that at the end of the race, if there were any Larges left over I could have one - fair enough. So from there I head on over to get some dinner and this little mom-pop Italian restaurant.
I know better than to gorge myself the night before but it is kinda hard not to when they bring out this big ass salad followed by this big ass meal along with all the bread you can eat for $12. So after gorging myself, I head off to check out the Sundial Bridge, where the marathon will end.
The bridge was pretty cool to see at night. Here is a article about the bridge from some native hippies: http://www.berkeleydailyplanet.com/issue/2006-07-21/article/24689?headline=Calatrava-s-Sundial-Bridge-Puts-Redding-on-the-Map
After playing tourist for about 45 minutes, I headed back to my room to get some sleep. I get to bed at a decent hour and then about 4am, I'm woken up to what sounds like a suitcase being bounced down the stairs outside my room. I figure it is some dumbass going to the airport who broke the first cardinal rule of travel: don't pack what you can't carry. A few minutes later I hear some banging and then some yelling. At this point I get up open the door and see some teenagers banging on the door a few doors down from my room. I ask, "can you be any louder", and one of them replies "yes, but we will keep it down." Well they don't keep it down and after a phone call to the front desk, the night manager eventually gets them to settle down. Come to find out their friend passed out from too much drinking and locked them out. So what better way to get a passed out drunk to wake up than to bang on the door at 4am and wake other people up in the hotel rather than go to the front desk to ask for help. Maybe it is true - the best nuts come from California.
6am comes a little earlier than expected since I couldn't really get back to sleep - maybe it was the 3 hour time difference and the internal clock was saying it is 9am - time to get up.
I eventually make my way to the Sundial Bridge where we are to take a bus to the start of the marathon at Shasta Lake Dam. After finally arriving there around 7am, I stay on the bus because we are on an exposed ridge where the wind is just howling. About 7:50 I make my way outside to face the elements and get ready for the start of the marathon. About this time I realized that something didn't quite feel right about my shirt - after trying to figure it out I realized it was on backwards. After a quick adjustment I made my way to the startling where I see this guy who looks familiar. Come to find out he had run the Little Grand Canyon with me in Sep 07. He seemed to be a little miffed how I remembered him and he didn't remember me.
At 8am (plus a few extra minutes to figure out a Timex timing watch), we were off. The first four miles were all down hill except for that short stint across the Shasta Dam. For some reason I was quite talkative and start running with Scott (his first marathon) and also wound up running next to another first timer - this kid, fresh out of rehab and sober for xx many days (I forget now) who seemed to think he was gonna sprint the 26 miles.
I tried to hold back but with that steep of a decline it was kinda tough (its blurry but you can make it out). From 1250+ feet to less than 650 ft in less than 4 miles.
From there it followed the Shasta River and was basically flat except for that little bump around 15/16 which seemed a lot steeper than the map indicated.
Everything was going great, I felt great, then around 20 Scott fell off and then about 21 I started to slow. I kinda had a blister in my left foot that was starting to develop. I've never had a blister in a race before. I was running in a pair of the new UA Revenant shoes but I was also running in a pair of never used/washed socks before. I had run over 150 miles in the shoes to include a marathon and hadn't had a problem so I pinned this developing blister on the sock(s). So around 22 I started hitting the wall but I managed to keep plugging away.
The next 3.5 miles was all about survival and not letting anyone pass me. As the miles ticked down I could see the Sundial Bridge just above the trees. I started doing math in my head (which is never good) and was wondering - if I could see the bridge then my GPS must be off.
Well at 25.5, I was hurting and instead of turning right to run across the bridge and finish we turn left and run into a botanical garden for about 1/4 mile before turning around and running back towards the bridge. As I approached the turn-around, my mind just quit on me even though my legs were on the verge of quitting. As I saw some runners approaching the turn-around I sucked it up and started running again and then kept a steady pace to cross the line in 3:21:54. My goal was 3:20 but even up to mile 19 I was on pace for a 3:15.
Scott, whose goal was 3:30, finished in 3:28. Not too shabby for a first timer, he also got a kiss from his wife and newborn at mile 18. As far as the sober kid, we passed him as he hit the wall on that little bump around mile 16. He was never seen again but I think I saw him cross close to 4 hours.
While it wasn't exactly an ideal outcome, I was able to knock off another state but it was also my second consecutive 4th place finish in my age. I was hoping that what happened in BTR (great race/BQ) would continue in RDD but it didn't.
Some "proof" glamor shots from the race:
Next up: El Paso, TX.
