Mile 1 - OK, so no one is seeded or anything, cuz it's just a 5K. But all those folks I described above? They were all out on that course. Weaving through walkers (Man: "You're walking already?" Wife "I forgot my run bra"), slower runners, while faster runners weaved through us. There's a costume ontest, so I ran behind Arnold Schwarzenegger, as two afro-haired polyester suit-wearing dudes ran through the crowd, weaving in and out of everyone. They were later spotted at a water station handing out cups. Kind of a mess. But no biggie, good way to start off slowly. Down to Herondo, turn right, where's that damn mile marker??

Mile 1 split 10:17..... hmmmm... feel like I am running my usual pace. Maybe mapquest is off, because that should have been a sub 10 minute mile. But it wasn't. Guy with a megaphone called out "10:32" (took me 15 second seconds from the gun (the one that worked) to get to the start line). Oh well,guess I won't make that sub 30....

Mile 2 - Ok, there's hills here. Not like big steep hills, but hills nonetheless, and enough to slow me down. No way I can maintain the sub 10 pace on hills. But wait, for every up... there is a down. Not as easy as the up is hard, but still. And people that live here are stuck.... Woman sitting in idling car on closed street talking to police "So how long do I have to sit here?" No whining!!) This race has been here for nearly 30 years.. sheesh, get up earlier. Felt weird to run along in the middle of Catalina without any worry about cars.

Start seeing the freaks of nature ...er... I mean top finishers returning on the other side of Catalina. Total sprint the whole way. Also saw the end of the in line skaters. Apparently there's this whole big in line skating subculture with tighty tights and skinny legs. I had no idea.

And OK, I know they are kids, but the 13 year olds that sort of shuffle along in the too-big running shoes, arms a'flailing and feet a'dragging ... at the same pace as me ... just piss me off. Go get your own race. This is serious stuff here!

Mile 2 time : 19:54 - hey, wait a minute, that means the mile was .....9:37. Must have hit a stride or something. Hot damn. That means... well, I can hit the goal, but I have to work at it, it's not just 3 miles, it's 3 POINT ONE miles. And that .1 ain't free.

Mile 3. The turnaround point was AWESOME. Looked down Catalina and see just mobs of bouncing heads and Dri Fit. Running towards me were hundreds of people coming to the turn around, running away were those heading to the finish. Almost there. Mostly downhill. We pass the hill down to the pier where we did our hill repeats a couple weeks ago. Brings a smile to my face.

Yeah. almost, but not there yet. And the thought of walking did go through my head. For a moment. Nope, dig down, find it, keep pushing. Yeah, it's not the Olympic marathon, but it wa a bit of a struggle there. Until I overhear a guy next to me say to his wife "coming up to the last 1000 meters here, get ready to push it." 1K meters? that's nothing, I can sprint that. Maybe. Ouch, lung are starting to hurt. Where is that damn 3 mile marker??????

3 mile split - 28:54. Oh yeah., let's cut it close, shall we? But crap! Quick mental calculation tells me that's a 9 minute mile......Sorry bud, ot through yet. Remember that .1 I told you about? It is NOT free, but if you want that 30 you've got 1:06 to get it.

Reached down, turned it on (so to speak), and started to give it. Rounded the corner seeing the finish, and I heard my wife "GO CHRIS!!!!!!" Turn it up another notch. The finish sign above me, where's the blue line? There it is, watch says...... 29:48 :) :) :) :)

Told my wife it made a HUGE difference to pull me that last 100 yards.


Not a single freaking thing. Can't say that I left ALL of it out there, but pretty damn close.

Water, grabbed an apple, more water, walked around the expo, stretched a little, then walked the mile back to the car (took a wrong turn). Wendy had to go somewhere, so I took myself to breakfast, and then,,,,,,,

drove around for about 2 hours looking for rentals....From the high of the race to the low of reality


excess weight, working on the couch to 5K program so this was the furthest I have ever run at one time.


Very well run local race. I actually volunteered here several years ago, so I know what it takes for them to get up early and come down and do that for us.