Long Beach Half Marathon 2013

I am proud of my son, Dylan.  What a weekend of accomplishment!

Dylan has always been a passive, easy-going kid.  He doesn’t have that aggression that is sometimes needed for team sports.  I wanted him to run.  Running is an individual sport.  Yes, you can run with thousands, but the competition rest with the self.  It is as much mental as it is physical.  When you are exhausted and feel like you cannot even take one more step, it becomes a mental challenge to dig up your inner superman to trudge forward.  You don’t give up.  You keep going even when every part of your body says I’m done.  You are pushing yourself to cross that finish line.  You are competing with yourself to do the best you can.

Last September, Dylan ran his first half marathon, Disneyland, in 2:45:45.  He looked horrid, and he slept for 18 hours following the race.  I thought his running career was over.  I didn’t think he would ever be interested in running again.  Some months had passed, and I guessed he forgot the misery of the race, because he agreed to let me register him for Surf City Half Marathon in February 2013 and the OC Half Marathon in May 2013.  The running got easier.  It is never easy, but it got to be less painful.

 

On Sunday, October 13, Dylan ran the Long Beach Half Marathon.  Because he completed Surf City and OC, he was eligible to receive the Beach Cities medal for doing Long Beach.  The Beach Cities medal is given to runners who complete all three races in one year.  It is a big deal, and an even bigger deal for someone at age 14 to accomplish.  A few days prior to the race, I received two calls from reporters wanting to interview him. 

 

the Beach Cities Medal

at the expo

 

What 14 –year old kid wants to wake up at 4:30 a.m. to go run 13.1 miles? Not many.  We were very fortunate to have friends to carpool with to this event, and we got the best accommodations in terms of logistics.  One of the runners in our group lives in a high-rise condo in downtown Long Beach.  We were able to park in this condo.  The start and finish line were really right outside the front door.  It offered us the most glorious view of the race and the city.  WOW!

 

Before the race on the 17th floor of the high rise condo

 

 

At the Start Line (Mike in the red shirt lives in the high rise condos)

at the start line.  To the left of the photo, you can see the twin high rise condos that we were at

Dylan is on the Fountain Valley Cross Country team, but he has not run the long distance required to train for a half marathon.   Long Beach was Dylan’s 5^th  half marathon, and he not only received the Beach Cities medal, but he got a personal record (PR) and completed the race in 2:07:55.  This is the first time that Dylan beat me.  He is young and only going to get faster.  I have no doubt he could easily get under 2:00.  Long Beach is a very difficult course to get a PR because there are several areas (miles) that are so narrow that you either have to weave through the traffic of runners or run off course on the sand. It can be a bit frustrating.

In terms of my time, I finished at 2:10:58.  I am pleased with it though I’ve now come to the conclusion that I have passed my peak.  I am just getting slower.  There is about a 2.5 mile stretch on this course that is very narrow.  It is very hard to gain speed on this stretch especially when there are walkers in front of you.  While on this stretch, I received a call from Lance.  He was having a kidney stone attack.  I talked to him and then called my sister to get the younger kids so he could go to the ER.  Yes, I’m in a very narrow path with hundreds of runners, and I’m running, panting, and having a conversation which I’m certain everyone could hear.

 

At the finish line

 

 

Glorious view of downtown Long Beach and finish line festivities

Dylan proudly shows off his medals with the Queen Mary the background

Holding both the Long Beach Half Marathon and the Beach Cities medal



Dylan wants to run a full marathon at 18.  He is going to be a great runner.  I don’t think the 5k or the 10k is his distance.  I think it is the half marathon. 

I am proud of you, Dylan.  Keep running!