I love the camaraderie that running brings. It has now expanded into a family activity as
both Brandon and Mia are starting to run 5k races.
This past weekend was another insanely BUSY weekend. We had a basketball game on Friday night and
another one on Saturday morning with our team, the Blue Gryphons. Following the game, we drove to San Diego to
run the Costume Party Run at Qualcomm Stadium on Sunday.
There was a big group of 12 of us running. Six were doing the 5k race, and the other six
were running the half marathon. The
reason I wanted to do this race was because of the gigantic medal. It is by far the best medal I have ever
received. It is the size of a CD with a
disco ball that rotates in the center.
This race is a one of the Superhero Events. They organize the Hollywood Half Marathon as
well, and I absolutely love their races because it has a unique family
atmosphere to it. The directors are
incredibly personnel. They gather feedback
from participants and try to implement suggestions when possible. I will always try to support Superhero Events
when I can.
When we arrived in San Diego on Saturday afternoon, the kids
did some jumping off the boat bow and swimming around the dock. They had a blast. Lance quickly organized the boat because we
were having our first overnight guests on Tide the Knott. Jorge Duran, Raul Duran, and GG all stayed on
the boat overnight. Lance’s employee
Maryam and her husband Eric (aka Hairy) came by as well for drinks. They all sat out on the foredeck talking until
close to midnight. Lance gave everyone a tour. We had nine of us overnight on the boat. It
was fun. We also ate at the local Pizza Nova for our carb load dinner.
What I love about my running friends is they are all picture whores! We take picture after picture and as GG says, "I need to approve it." Lance thinks we are nuts but he does his best to accommodate our need for the camera. Lance and Maryam laughed as I pulled out my tripod for group photos.
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| The half marathon runners |
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| Dinner at Pizza Nova |
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| Dinner at Pizza Nova with our running hats. |
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| Romantic kiss under the full moon |
The Costume Party Run is not a scenic course. In fact, I didn’t like the course. It was rolling hills (a challenge) and the street
was slanted on many parts of the route.
Running on slanted pavement is not good for my knees. I ran about 4 miles, and my knee started to
hurt so I put on my double brace, and the pain subsided. It was
also hot, hot, hot. The race started at
6:30 a.m., which helped, but it still was hot out there. The half marathon course looped around
Qualcomm Stadium before running down Friars Road and back. We drove two separate cars; one with the 5k
participants and the other with the half marathon runners. We dressed as superheroes for our
costumes. It wasn’t that original, but
there is no way I could run a half marathon in costume. I sweat too much. The other runners didn’t have that many
outrageous costumes.
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| yes, I pulled the tripod out at the stadium parking lot to take a group photo |
I have to share though that I saw something I have never
seen before in a race. There was a girl
who was running in front of me. She was dressed as a Teenage Mutant Ninja
turtle. She had one of those long tube mini
dresses on. Well, here is the thing….as
she ran, her dress kept sliding up and I am not kidding. Her entire ass was shown. She had no underwear on. I mean….I am NOT kidding. I saw her entire ass. I didn’t see her from the front, but I can
only imagine. She kept pulling the dress down but five seconds later, it would
ride back up. This was early on in the
race too….perhaps within the first 2 miles.
Wow.
Mia ran with Lance the entire 5k race. She held his hand. He kept telling her she didn’t have to, but
she would not let go of him. She would
say, “You see that girl, Commander? I’m going to beat her.” And they would run until they past her. She
did this throughout the entire race. Ah,
she is learning from me and has a little bit of a competitive streak in
her.
Brandon ran with my nephew Jayson, but I failed to tell them
to look for the sign for the 5K turn around.
My mistake. I had passed the 5k
turnaround by at least a half mile if not more and the next thing I know, I see
Brandon and Jayson right next to me. I
was shocked and quickly asked them, “What are you guys doing? You were supposed
to turn around way back there. Turn
around! Turn around! Turn around!” Dylan later told me he saw them too, and they
were planning on just running the half with him, but he was adamant about them
turning back. I figure those two boys
ran between 4 – 5 miles. We had a chip
tied to our shoe and to receive your medal, you turned in your chip. Well, Dylan tied the chip to Brandon and
Jayson’s shoe, and it fell off during the race because it was not tied
securely. They would not give the boys a
medal. Brandon cried, which I could
understand. He ran the 5k, and everyone
was getting a medal, but not him. Lance
was so sweet and gave him his medal, and Eric (Maryam’s husband) gave Jayson
his medal. I learned about this after I crossed
the finish line for the half marathon. I
saw Sabrina, the race director, and told her what happened. She was so wonderful and just went to the
medal station and handed me over the two medals.
Even though I didn't like the course as much because of the rolling hills and slanted pavement, this is one of my favorite half marathons. It was easy and convenient. Parking was ample. They didn't charge us an additional fee to park. The after party was awesome as they had great music on and people dancing. It was a good size race, but not ridiculously overcrowded as some races can be. It was perfect. But....my favorite is that big ass medal!!!!!!!!!!!!
I have hardly run. My
total mileage in June was 15 miles, and in July, I only ran 3 miles. I was uncertain as to how I would fare during
this race. I have been working out so I did do satisfactorily. Here are the official times of our group
(minus Brandon and Jayson who lost their chip).
5K
Mia 44:27
Lance 44:29 (Lance got first place in his division. There were only three runners, and he ran
with Mia, but still….he placed 1st!)
Maryam 45:59
Eric 46:00
Half Marathon
GG 2:08:17
Jorge 2:05:39
Raul 1:52:36
Dylan 2:16:26
Liz 2:17:52
Damaris 3:09:01
When we returned home, all the kids got their medals out and
began counting them. Some of these
medals are from other sports like jiu jitsu and cheerleading. Brandon, Mia, and even Jayson want to do more
races! They are getting the addiction. Next month, the kids are scheduled to do an
Awesome 80s 5k run. I was scheduled to
do it with them, but I booked a flight to Idaho and did not pay attention to
the calendar. They are super excited and
want their collection to grow! This is a
great habit/hobby to develop so I’m completely encouraging them.
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| Sleepy, tired kids after the race on the drive back home to OC |
One last note, our dogs either had a panic attack or were
rebelling against us leaving them home.
Lance predicted that we would come home to a mess. Each time that we leave them home for an
extended period of time, we come home to a surprise. They went through the pantry cabinet and got
into everything. What a mess they made
for us!
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| the mess the dogs left for us. |
Poor Dylan had to wake up at 7 a.m. this morning to attend
cross country camp! Haha.
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