The Spirit of the Marathon

BY Daily News Shout-Out!

Tue, 08 Mar 2011 18:46:46 -0800

Check out this interview I did with the NY Daily News!

http://www.nydailynews.com/blogs/running_dialogue/2010/11/photographer-toky-on-a-mission.html

Thanks to Lauren Johnston for the feature!

The Spirit of the Long Beach Marathon

Mon, 18 Oct 2010 22:54:00 -0700

For those of you that don’t know who I am… I am a photographer who happened to run a marathon with his camera earlier this year to “document” the run. Little did I know that a lot of people would find my marathon photos and my comments amusing AND relate to them. Since then I’ve discovered that us crazy people who like running marathons, seem to have a lot of things in common. Our thoughts during a race specially. So after running the Los Angeles Marathon and the San Francisco Marathon with my big chunky DSLR for 26.2 miles, this morning I did it all over again at the Long Beach Marathon.

This is how my last 26.2 miles looked like.

We start in lovely Long Beach, CA. The Convention Center. (the day before)

Which, because there is a God, is -right next- to the Hotel I’m staying at. 45 Medium steps to be exact (the receptionist told me a guest once asked to know -exactly- how far it was so she counted them!).

Entering Hall C

First thing as you come in was this lovely lady with a map of the entire run. She knew every turn, every landmark, and was giving those who had questions a tour of the marathon on the map, with things to see, avoid, pay attention to, etc. Me personally I like knowing nothing about the course. “Discovering” the course for the first time, helps me think of something else as I run.

Right of the bat, you can pick your bib. This was nice. Some expos make you go through the -whole- thing before you can get yours. Sometimes you just want to pick it up & leave.

Look! Jesus is standing in front of me. Hopefully he will be by my side tomorrow through out the run!

Getting my bib.

This is the first expo I go where there was also a machine to read our chips inside the expo. Totally random, but curious to know why. Just to know that we had picked our bibs and entered the expo I guess.

Bib. Check. T-shirt. Check.

Goodie back. Check. AND awesome. Love the re-usable goodie bags and red is my color!

Next up the merchandise area. Long Beach folks limited themselves to apparel. There was every color and kind, but only apparel.

I’m super design picky and some were “okay”… some I really like. If a marathon wants me to help design their merchandise, please contact me ;-) I have some very cool ideas.

…Getting Better…

This was my favorite. That one I would wear.

This was odd. A contest to win $100,000.00. I will give it the benefit of the doubt. I might get a lot of spam emails soon. We shall see. Or I might win $100,000.00 and use it to run and photograph Marathons all over the world. I will let you guys know either way.

These are the mile markers. They are here and each one has artwork done by different kids/patients at Millers Childrens Hospital. They are part of a silent auction and all the proceeds will go to the Childrens Hospital. This is the kind of thing I like about these events. Taking something like this and making something beautiful out of it and then using it to help others.

Amongst the totally odd booths. Two bald heads with fake sweat dripping on them inside bowls of water.

Cliff Bar and their pace teams. I attempted this once and didn’t really work for me. My running style for marathons is more like “I’ll get there when I get there”…. but just in case I grabbed a 5:30. I know it’s slow but you try running with a DSLR!!!

This was my (personal) highlight of the expo. I got to meet Peter Abraham, Creative Director of the Los Angeles Marathon. What a cool guy. It’s so nice to meet people that exude passion for their jobs. He is so enthusiast about the LA Marathon, it makes me happy to know there are people like him behind these events. He also tweeted a photo of me! And had blogged about me in the past.

The Rock n’ Roll series booth. Man! these people organize so many marathons! They would be the perfect sponsors to these photo essays… just sayin’ …

Cool medals they have, must say.

Saucony booth.

I have to stay away from this booth. I love running sneakers like girls love regular shoes. All pairs are $50.00…. fifty!!! so affordable! (note to self: step away from the shoes)

Want. No. Need to have. @ Brook’s Booth.

Lululemon. I love how the Lululemon peeps are silently infiltrating marathon events. Silently… they are taking over! Only thumbs down was they were not selling clothes, they did have the free yoga classes area though.

Love the “make your sign” to cheer for your peeps area. I am telling you people, it’s in the little details…. well done!

Some inspiration signs for ideas.

:-)

If you tweet me, I will come. These folks tweeted me the night before and asked me to stop by their booth. Well, here I am.

Here’s their Tweeter. Let’s see if I can spot them tomorrow.

Now outside the Expo… I do my usual “dry-run” walk by the start line which is being setup.

The convention center is right next to the Aquarium of the Pacific and right in front of the start line. For people that haven’t traveled to other Marathons and just done marathons in your cities, I can’t tell you enough how amazing it is when the Expo, Hotel and Start-line are all within walking distance. Actually the finish line also. Nothing compares to crossing the finish line and knowing that a shower and bed are a block away. I repeat -Nothing- compares to that.

A block later, I’m at the hotel examining my goodie bag. Love the t-shirt. Is wearable and fits well. I have mixed feeling about all marathon goodie bags. And so many ideas to improve them. Seriously I should work for a marathon! I just think that there’s too much paper waste and much better ways to engage thousands of participants.

And now on to: Marathon Day.

This photo essay begins bright and early at the lovely lobby of the Hyatt “Tydes” in Long Beach, CA. The Hyatt made sure to take care of the runners by setting up a “runner friendly” breakfast bar.

Insider tip: Lines for the restroom at hotel 1-10 people. Lines outside for Porta Potty’s 30-50 people ;-)

People were stretching, eating, buzzing with excitement.

Immediately coming out of the Hotel you could see tons of people were heading towards the start line.

Sign projected all weekend at the host Hotel.

The wheel chair division is already set to go. Note that before the wheelchair division, the bike race also started. I really tried to make it to the start line in time to capture those guys, but I didn’t make it. As I do these photo essays I have to keep a balance between having time to stretch, pee, rest and also document. So I have to miss some things!

This start line allowed for family members to be there as well. So there were a lot of extra people there, that well, shouldn’t.

Just like San Francisco, this marathon starts in waves. It was a tricky because the waves were not “corrals”… they were just people holding signs.

I really thought I was an hourly early or something so I just started capturing peoples rituals and activities. I realize we all need something different. A hug from a loved one, stretching, securing our laces…and double checking them…

Then I needed to pee. Again! I confess… I sneaked in to the Porta Potty reserved for the medical team. Hey! I’m a man on a mission, don’t judge me!

I think it’s her birthday! Or she’s The Queen… I don’t know…

God I love those sneakers!

Now, I realize the marathon waves are starting so I make my way to the corral. The only problem was that I didn’t know where to go as they weren’t divided. It was more like the honor system.

Spectators/Family.

It got so crowded you couldn’t move to your wave if you wanted. Some people didn’t like this and started jumping the fence… which I understand but at the same time, that’s a big jump! and I felt worried for this peoples legs if they landed incorrectly.

Another jumper!

This is the most crowded start line I’ve been in. It was not comfortable. A guy smacked me on the head while jumping. Great! just what I need.

Security did a good job and stopped the jumpers. It was not safe for them, or for the people next to the fences.

I couldn’t resist. Seriously I’m a sucker for the couples that run together.

Can I get a wha-what? That’s right I’m Mexican!

Note that most marathons gather the abandoned sweatshirts and pants along the course and donate them to the goodwill. Hooray for that!

This is like my new “signature shot” for the blog! (Wave 4 @ the start line)

Looking up.

The announcer. I missed his name so if any of you know who he was, please post it as a comment.

I don’t know what the deal is with heart man.

This is what it looks like at the front.

And we are off.

That girl on the blue shirt recognized me from previous blog posts! To my surprise it would be the first of many runners who would know who I was. To them I saw thank you and holla!

Was neat to to run in this freeway.

That guy looks like Kevin McKidd (Dr. Owen Hunt on Grey’s Anatomy)

Cheerers! yay! and literally in the middle of the freeway we are in. At least I think it’s a freeway. Previous readers know that it’s really important for me to have people cheering on the sidelines.

This is really packed! Wow!

I was a little confused with these signs. This one says Mile 2 5k. (more on this later)

Tiny uphill. Long Beach is a VERY flat course. Just a few hills here and there. Nothing too daunting.

And then another Mile 2. I know that the other one was for the 5K, but all this 5k, bike ride, half-marathon and full-marathon is actually a bit confusing.

Looking back.

“Welcome to the Port of Long Beach”

First water station. I only noticed the guy in red once I was reviewing my photos. To you sir: Wow. You are amazing!

First of many scenic views.

Most of the Long Beach marathon route are loops… meaning you go through a street, then you turn around and then you run it back, so most of the time you run against the people running ahead and behind of you. Or in this case you can see the people ahead on a bridge or on another (close) street.

Mile 4 already!

Still -really- packed!

Volunteer and doggie-volunteer. Observation: Long Beach is the marathon I’ve seen the most dogs at! Very doggie friendly all over.

Look some of those bare-foot guys!

Hey! I spotted one of the Team Sparkle girls!

Everywhere you look there’s something nice to see. I had been to Long Beach once a looong time ago and just to visit the Queen Mary, so most of the sights were new to me. If you are an out-of-towner, this is a great & entertaining marathon. There’s ocean, city, residential, tourist, areas and just enough of each one.

And to the left ladies and gentlemen… The famous light house!

This is the Shoreline Village and it’s full or interesting little stores and places to eat. Great tourist and weekend hangout.

Parkers’ Lighthouse Restaurant.

Running right next to the marina and the boats. This area was full of people cheering! High 5 brother!

Insiders Tip: While it might be “rude” not to high-five people cheering for you… think about this… They might have high-fived a thousand people before you. So basically you are just picking up the (sweaty) germs of one thousand people and then just putting them inside your eyes and noses when you wipe of your own sweat. Next time… just flash them a peace sign or wink!

woof!

The next few miles are beach side. The weather was just perfect. This is where I realize why the start-time “waves”. It was packed and having more people on this area would have been chaotic!

This band was singing “Don’t Stop believing” from Journey when I went by. Very appropriate selection.

Mile 8. I always make an effort not to use my ipod through out a run. Last time in San Francisco I didn’t even take it, but this time, I tried something different. I had it and instead of Music, I loaded it with ‘Notes from the Universe”. I wanted to hear positive things through out the run. So I had it on and off through out.

I’m going to mention a few times (okay, a lot) how many people were out and cheering. That’s my thing, what I like and what I look out for in every marathon. Long Beach gets a 90 out a 100 in cheer! The highest so far from LA and San Fran.

I saw about 5 people running with strollers. Seriously my respect to people that push a stroller for so many miles. You are amazing!

Love this shot. Dear God, please let there be that many people behind me through the whole thing.

Lots of peeps doing mid-run streches.

Out of my 5 marathons. 3 have had Vaseline for runners every few miles. Two had NONE! Vaseline is always appreciated ;-)

I don’t know why the Pride flag AND the pirates in this particular area…. mixed with the drums. Still, loves it.

Drums.

Pirates.

She is running with two birds!

This is another loop where you see who is ahead/behind you. ( I am mentioning this for a reason you will soon find out…)

Hey lady! Happy Birthday! It must be a great thing to do to run a marathon on the day of your birthday. Okay, “for some people” ;-)

This cop was high-fiving people and cheering loudly! And the band playing behind is Ugly Paint. As the guy finised his song he asked us to visit the bands website at UglyPaint.Net

I bet he thought no one was listening ;-)

Spirit of the Long Beach residents :-)

Why is everyone going left?

So, of course I have to be honest and confess that sometimes I sound like Pollyanna with my positive comments. So here’s a negative one. At the division of half and full marathon the crowd thins out DRAMATICALLY. And all those people behind you, make a left and then all of a sudden, there’s not that many around.

Disclaimer: I am not a professional marathoner. Though I have finished 5 marathons, I don’t consider myself a marathoner. I am a guy who runs/walks marathons because I like it… but it’s -REALLY- hard for me, so I run slow and I do realize that there are a LOT of people ahead of me. I am by no means saying this is more a half marathon than a full. End of disclaimer.

How much do you love that lady? and she is going for the full!

5:30 pace team catching up to me=Not good. They all look very happy.

This is another loop where you notice that the people on the left know how to run. I applaud you and I envy you. You guys are almost 10 miles ahead of us. You frickin’ rock! These 3 guys are running in perfect sync!

For the rest of the marathon you mostly run opposite side from the people that are way ahead of you.

This is where it gets personal, because for me, this was when I started doing bad. And some people might relate and some might not, but TO ME, to have the super fast peeps running on the other side psyched me up in a bad way. I never though about it, but you know how there is a saying that 10% of a marathon is training and 90% is mental. This was the case for me in this marathon.

Hmm.. that looks more fun that running…

Also, I noticed and maybe I skipped them, but there are no clocks through out this course, so if you are not wearing a watch, there’s really no way of knowing your time. For some reason I felt that the people ahead (on the other side of the road) where so ahead of me and that I was the last one. I felt intimidated. But it was really just my mind playing tricks on me. No one judges you at a marathon. No matter how fast/slow, thin/fat, crazy dressed, heavily breathing, wearing feather boas, hats, advertisements, really we’ve all been there an we just want to finish.

I felt so demoralized for some reason… and the next few miles I felt depressed. I didn’t stop, but I started walking and just focused on shooting.

Kept shooting all the great runners that this race had….

Like these…

Hmmm, golf course to the right… that looks like a slightly easier sport…. something to think about…

Mile 15. 11.6 to go. Lord-Jesus.

The convalescent home. Now-that-is-what-I’m-talking-about-ultimate-cheer. Awesome!

With so many people on a race, the people around you change, but at a certain point, when you start walking you pretty much can tell that the people around you will cross the finish line shortly before or after you. Guy in the green hat crossed the finish line about 3 mins after me and here we are barley at mile 16 or so.

As much as (personally) I didn’t like the “two-way” marathon… it did allow me to shoot something else aside the back of people’s heads ;-)

I caught many runners who had their families waiting at certain spots and would run a few blocks or miles with them. Pretty neat.

Marathon Grandpa… would be ahead of me for many miles for the rest of the race. That guy and his wife were loving it. Sometimes running together, sometimes apart. He would stop to photograph flowers and murals. He was having the time of his life.

Marathon Grandma.

This part of the route goes into Cal State Long Beach. When I saw that online, I thought “oh great”, that will be deserted. I stand corrected and I want to give a big-shout out to the Cal State Long Beach students who were cheering for the tail end of the runners. That’s always my complaint. Cheerers cheer for the front runners and then go home, well… they shut me up… because through the entire campus, they were cheering.

On every corner of the university… they were there….

All groups…

With signs…

Clapping…

Dancing…

With signs for their runners…

More..

And more of them…

Some by themselves… Although I’m not sure if this is a student… a teacher maybe?

I beg to differ.

I was tempted to try that spray thing but I’m a firm believer on not trying anything new during a marathon. So I skipped it. On second thought, I should have tried and it might have helped!

More students. I know I have too many photos of them but I didn’t want to leave any group out. I don’t know who organizes them to do this… but I gotta say…. respect. thank you!

Even the medical stations are encouraging runners.

I want to be that guy when I’m old. Mustache and all.

As you can see I’m going slow. I mentally drained myself of energy and god is my witness I trained, I carb-loaded, I rested and there’s nothing left in me.

And then a little magical moment, when I realize that there are three races in every marathon. The elites, the runners and “the people”.

Who have stories.

Who are not here to finish fast or to prove anything.

They just like long distances.

Some ladies walk the marathon and chat through the -whole thing- (you wont believe the gossip I heard from a lot of them)… here I am, thinking I am the slowest and worst runner ever and right next to me, someone is having the time of their life, chatting it up and exchanging some gossip.

I talked to a few of them and this is their ‘alone time’. Their “me” time. Moms who power walk to keep in shape and walk/run marathons. Not Kenyans but moms with jobs and husbands, and kids and bills… who take this time for them. Now that, is spirit.

I sound like a broken record, but this is the marathon (from my 5) with the most cheers, aid stations, FOOD stations, medical stations through out the course. They were there for the elites, the runners and “the people”.

My skeptic self thought that all this people I had seen while I was on mile 12 cheering for the people already on mile 23 (on the way back) would be gone once they saw the runners thinning but I was wrong.

The lady with the hat was so awesome and she really didn’t care about a time, or a medal. She likes doing this. Like many of us, swears this will be her last time, but does it again. I walked with her for the last few miles.

(Now on the other side) Seriously. Golf. Yes. Easy.

3.2 to go.

The mile markers that had artwork for kids and were part of the marathon expos silent auction where very visible. they were constant, so you knew what to look for. Aside from the confusion of the first, they were good.

The “Walgreen’s Station”

That guy was awesome. He said to me… “Hurry up… tomorrow you can go to work and ask your co-workers what they did on the weekend and when they ask -and you- then you say… I ran a marathon… bitch!”

Another Medical Station.

Ocean side again, but not on the beach. I will take it. This is a good sign. We are getting closer.

Great scenery ‘till the very end.

“The People” ahead of me.

Runner who was “walking back home”… gives me a thumb up!

This guy was awesome and gave me a three thumbs up (his words). I don’t know what that means, but at this point, I will take it ;-)

Seriously… “kids”, on a Sunday morning, with a sign, that was well done and funny. Long Beach you and your people, have spirit.

Just like your runners.

As I’ve mentioned before… I think, if not: the last mile, I run it. I might be empty, and now that I run a camera with me I tuck it. No matter how slow/fast I went, I ask God to give me a hand… and power me for one last mile.

So from Mile 25 to the finish line!

Hooray! Finally done!

Look at her! She is so happy to be handing out medals!

Now, could have there been more people at the finish line? yes. But it is 6+ hours plus into this and well, when your peeps have crossed you go with them and go to eat and back home. I did hear earlier finishers complain about how crowded this whole area was earlier. So this really depends on your time.

Sights from the finish line.

An AWESOME thing… FOOD TRUCKS! they are very “in” right now. So this was cool. And they had vegetarian dishes. They also tweeted me to check them out. So I did :-)

I hear the free chocolate milk at the finish line was a big hit.

Collapsed.

Relieved.

Hungry!

After a 20 or so minutes of collapsed time, I make it an effort to shoot some finishers getting their medals.

Others…

And saying “thank you lord Jesus, this is ovah’”

Note: I mention Jesus & God a couple of times in my comments, but I’m not really religious fyi ;-)

A nice area to check your finish time.

This is done in many marathons, about .1 mile before you cross there is a sensor that alerts the announcer you are about to cross the finish line so as you cross, he announces your name.

Massage area & line.

I feel you brotha’

Good Job Rick!

And folks, I am -exhausted. This was my slowest marathon. And hey, some are good, some are bad. I might have finished very late, but you know what? I finished. I didn’t give up. I’ll take that.

And for my new readers: this is me. In the elevator on my way to my room. Tired. Defeated and victorious. Elated and thinking I could have done better. Disappointed and proud. I am not Kenyan. I’m barley 5’4. I’m overweight. I’m newly vegetarian and for the life of me I can’t figure out how to run faster without animal protein. This is just “ONE runner’s story”. My story.

Now since I am posting now the photo essays on this new blog/site you might have noticed that I’ve added a “reviews” section. I will try to always “review” the marathons from now on.

So my Long Beach review is below and I will also post it later on the “reviews” page.

Long Beach Marathon. Grade: B+.

Scenic: Very.

Flat: Very.

Crowd/Cheers: A lot (except at the finish line if you are a slow runner)

Medical: A lot through out the course.

Water. Plenty.

Powerade: Plenty.

Snacks. Plenty. Some residents had bananas, some water stations had cliff shots, some had candy. One station had beer!

Restrooms: Plenty and with “short” lines because there were enough, except at the start line, but it’s understandable that there will never be a marathon with enough @ the start line. I don’t think there will ever be a marathon with enough Porta Potties. So, let’s not get crazy on this one.

Expo: Nice but… I needed a little “umph”… I think adding a DJ would be rad. The music was really low and the huge exhibit hall with super high ceilings and fluorescent lighting made it not inviting.

Why a B+ and not an A?

-Personally- I like Full Marathons, like LA. When its half-full and half-half-, it’s confusing and the crowds thin out a lot after mile 13.

The finish line could have had more people. AND for the record, once I finished the LA marathon in 6:35 hrs and there were -thousands- of people still cheering.

Clearly defined and divided corrals AND entrances to them would make the start line less chaotic. In SF your bib had your corral # and it was checked before entering your corral.

Social Media. Excellent. I recently read that a lot of marathons are trying to engage people not only before but after the marathon. Long beach has a facebook, a twitter and they update it often, respond to your questions and comments and do a GREAT job at it.

Will I be back? Yes.

Thanks for reading. If you like this post please click on the facebook -I LIKE- link to recommend to your facebook friends.

Sound of on the comments and tell me your story. ‘till next time.          

My next stop is...

Sun, 12 Sep 2010 15:47:00 -0700

The next stop for my marathon photo essays is… Long Beach! I’m happy to share I will be running the Long Beach Marathon on October 17th! and creating a new photo essay. The Spirit of the Long Beach Marathon will be posted on October 19th! More details and goodies to come.

Thanks for the Shout-out!

Wed, 18 Aug 2010 16:24:00 -0700

Thanks for the Shout-out!:

Thanks to Luis from the Muddy Runner blog for this shout-out!

Check out his blog. Neat stuff.

Thank you!

Wed, 18 Aug 2010 16:15:00 -0700

Thank you to everyone who has visited, commented and e-mailed me about the Spirit of the San Francisco Marathon Photo essays!

I am very grateful to all of you and excited to announce that because of the huge success that project has been, ~~I am starting a website dedicated exclusively to the photo essays as well as other running goodies~~. Not only that, I’m already in touch with other marathons to create other photo essays documenting different races around the country.

I love ALL your comments! Including comments made directly to me by three (!!!) different friends who asked me: “were you talking about me when you said that everyone gives excuses not to run a marathon?”… so for the record, I wasn’t talking about anyone in particular. The essays are full of “inside jokes” for runners, and we -all- hear those comments, and those are like the TOP comments that we all hear. So… anyways, I thought that was amusing… the more I do this the more I realize we runners are crazy people. Regular folk don’t need to run if they don’t want to to each their own

~~Anyhow, I am hard at work on the marathon photo website~~. In the meantime, here are what some Facebook folks had to say about the photos over at the San Francisco Marathon Facebook page.

Speaking of Facebook… are you my fan on Facebook? and are you following me on Twitter? If not, this is a great opportunity to do so.

The Spirit of The San Francisco Marathon Photo Essay

Mon, 16 Aug 2010 13:16:00 -0700

4:54:04 AM. Self portrait @ hotel just before stepping out.

As soon as you came out of the hotel you could see runners everywhere. It was an instant great feeling and it also eliminated the “I hope it wasn’t yesterday and slept through it” feel we sometimes get when we are excited about something.

Since I was (luckily) staying at a hotel right in-front of the start line, I can’t comment on the public transportation, parking situation for local runners. I always have suggestions about that, but in this case… this was awesome for me not to have to worry about getting to the start line!

Ahh! seasoned runners. You can tell because you know that at the first sight of a restroom you better use it ;-)

Don’t recall water “stations” available at the start line for my other marathons. I might have missed them… but in any case, I thought this was neat. Hydration is so important and since you’ve been asleep for many hours before you get to the start line, it helps to have this available.

Bag check-in. The goodie bags were the bags that you had to use for them to hold your stuff. It was neat that they had an area to write the number already imprinted.

Thought it would be crowded but to be honest, there were more people than I thought. I had read that the SF Marathon didn’t attract much runners, but that’s clearly not the case. I think they were 23,000+ according to what I heard the day before at the Expo.

So, far so good… BUT can we improve the START sign a little? EVERYTHING was so pretty and well designed… and THIS is the START sign? :-( Do not like.

So for those of you who don’t know this… the SF Marathon starts in “waves”. According to the your estimated finish time, you start at a different time. Although some people don’t like that (I’m still undecided), the reason is that because the marathon crosses the Golden Gate Bridge back and forth, it’s impossible for everyone to start at the same time. There’s too many people and only two lanes are for running, so it would create a major runner congestion that would force almost everyone to walk it instead of running it. So I guess I’m with the ones in favor. Anyways, according to your wave, you were placed in a corral that would move toward the start line as the ones before you would start their waves.

Long lines at the portable restrooms, but gotta say they were plenty available. So the wait wasn’t too bad.

OMG, more people!

The very cool thing about this start line is that the area was huge and very well illuminated, so you could go to the side and be alone and stretch. Or just have some time for yourself. Or pee ;-)

Or tie your timing chip to your shoe laces!

Fenced in. I think this was wave 4 barely starting to get filled in. They were a total of 8 waves and by the start time they were all packed.

You never know… and it’s good to know this is there. Although, the thought that you or some of your fellow runners will be in crutches by the end of the day, is not good.

This is part of the “Spirit” of marathons. How many other times can you lay and stretch on the MIDDLE of the street and not get killed?

I’m always curious if any of the contraptions, socks, tape, etc… that some runners swear by actually works. If you have some experience of using and not using any of these things, please let us know in the comments section.

Although dogs are not allowed to run the marathon, they are allowed to come cheer their human parents. Woof!

This I didn’t read on, or have more info on, but apparently, there was also a bike race that was part of the Marathon event.

And in the matter of a minute or two, the sky turns from black to blue and daylight appears. I don’t know about the rest yet, but if this is the view on the start-line, I can only imagine what’s to come.

Wave 7 was the best one. You could just hang out anywhere and have space to yourself as our corral had an “outlet” to the sidewalk and pier areas.

This is how the front of wave 7 was looking.

Right in-front of us wave 6.

Love it! I love how her tiara has a protective elastic band that matches the color of her cap so that it won’t fall. Clearly this is not the first time she wears a tiara to run!

Another observation. This was THE social media marathon. Everyone had their iPhones, Blackberries, etc… Self-portraits, photos of others. You could see how people would take a photo and immediately tweet it or facebook it. It’s interesting how social media and phones allow everyone who you know to stay up to date to how your race is going. Maybe that’s one of the reasons I would later find out there will not be that many people cheering along the course. They could cheer from facebook. (do not like)

Focused. I just like it when people have that “focused” look on their faces. The “this is between Me AND Me” look.

So, now wave 6 ahead of us has left and before they remove the barricades, there is a tape so that we all can walk to the start line and wait there for the time of our wave to commence.

Timing chip. If you forgot yours…. there will be no way of tracking your official time or even a record that you ran the marathon. A lot of people were already wearing theirs on Saturday. Better safe than sorry!

Preparing her Nike+ app on her iPhone. Mine broke but I did use it for the Nike human race and on one marathon and was blown away by how accurate the mile reading was on that thing.

Just under the START sign. One minute to go.

This is one of my favorite photos from the entire race. You can’t see any faces but you can tell, these girls are ready! Also notice how all the people at the front line are girls. They are the most eager to get going!

That was the announcer guy (with the visor). I missed his name, so if anyone knows who he is, please let me know so I can post it.

And 3-2-1!!!! Here we go!

First part of the marathon goes next to all the Piers. This one is the one were you would board a ferry to go to Alcatraz. I would have loved to take one of those tours and take some pics of Alcatraz. Next year! ;-)

So far so good. Note to self: “Don’t go too fast, your ankle hurts, take it slow”.

Since mile 1, I decided to take 10 second “brakes” every little while to snap a few pics from the crowd behind me. I realized from the last photo essay I only did that once or twice and I wanted to do that a bit more this time.

Love this guy. Now THAT is a high-five!

This part was really beautiful. We are two miles into it. You could even run on the sand for a second if you wanted. It was so peaceful and with a great view.

This was the view!

And if you don’t like the view on the right, may I interest you in some Ghirardelli Chocolate from Ghirardelli Square on the left side? anyone?

Some people went to the right and skipped the very first hill of the course. Clever but useless, as this was absolutely NOTHING compared to the hills we were about to see.

Like this one!

Top of the hill. First hill: check!

What goes up, must come down!

Rant: I have few complaints about this Marathon, but one of them is the signs. I totally missed the sign for miles 1 and 2. They were flimsy and if the wind was blowing, you couldn’t even see the number in them

“10 sec break, shoot photo of runners behind you, now keep going”

Totally random but I love this photo. It just seems fun to be walking your dog and all of a sudden have 23,000 people run by.

Mile 4 already?! Woohoo!

Don’t know if this guy was one of the official entertainers or if he just grabbed his drum and came to play! Either way, any and all distractions work!

The nice folks from Sports Basement. I’m starting to notice this is only the second “big” group of people cheering… hmmm… that’s weird!

First sight of the Golden Gate Bridge! and of course a Kodak moment. Why not take a 15 sec break and snap pics seemed to be in everyones mind. Oh and tweet it really fast also!

This is going to be cool! We are getting closer!>

Here we go. Run the Golden Gate Bridge. If I’m not mistaken running it back and forth and the loop at the end will be a total of three miles.

Look up!

As much I love the “Grammy” and her “high 6” grandchildren… I don’t think talking on the phone with thousands of runners behind you on a single lane is such a great idea… i’m just sayin’

The people on the left are like 3 miles ahead of us! You could totally just turn around and join them and do a 23 miler ;-) but something tells me there will be a sensor on the loop at the end to make sure nobody pulls a fast one!

Just Married! What a great thing to train for a marathon as you prepare your wedding to relieve the stress and then honeymoon in the marathon city. While not for everyone… it might work. I seem to be full of tourism ideas today!

Really appresh the effort to come cheer for your loved ones in the middle of the bridge. That’s love! And a long walk back to the car!

This is the end of the bridge, looking back. I gotta say, running across the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, with the fog and the wind, and all that adrenaline…. was amazing. Definitely a bucket-list moment!

So as soon as you finished going North on the bridge, there was a very appropriately placed water station, sensor-timmer (told you so), restrooms and a band playing. I had no clue the name of this band, but if someone knows them, please let me know who they are so I can post it.

And now on the way back, since we are at the end tail of the runners the two lanes turn into south ones. The people still coming north have to run on the side.

So, after that, I didn’t take pics for a while. My ankle started hurting really bad. Mix of adrenaline and pain cremes and stuff got me through the first 10 miles. Now I’m starting to feel it. To make matters worse…. as soon as we were coming off the Golden Gate Bridge, a lady a few feet ahead of me tripped and fell. She didn’t have time to put her hands in-front of her and fell face first. A bunch of people stopped to help her. And I felt that sense of community and humanity that this events have. She was hurt and some people didn’t care about stopping to help her even if it would take time from their official finish time. I saw an ambulance close by and ran towards it. As I was getting closer the paramedics came out and started going towards her, so they already new. I hope she is okay. I hope she was able to keep going! I sent you positive vibes lady and hope you got them and that you are ok! :-D

Now we are heading into Golden Gate Park.

At this point, I knew I wouldn’t be able to keep going to another 13 miles. I though of just finishing as a half-marathoner and then taking one of the shuttles to the Marathon finish line and documenting that way. I stopped for a few seconds, and all I could think of was my Mom. She broke her hip last year and she refuses to walk by herself because she is afraid of falling again. I always tell her that millions of people that don’t even have the ability to walk would give anything to have her legs. I was in a lot of pain, because of my sprained ankle, but I decided to be grateful for my legs and keep going “for mom” and knew I would be able to power through with my aching ankle.

Once the half-marathon runners are divided from the full-marathon , the group thinned a lot!

This kid was awesome. Look at his face! He started yelling at me: “Why are you running with your camera”!!!??? I don’t know kid, I’m crazy like that ;-)

Ok, one of the COOLEST things of this marathon. The road assistance guys all over the 26.2 mile course were local bikers! They were all volunteers and they were everywhere! With their bikes and orange caps! They were so friendly, excited to be there and were cheering and yelling encouraging words to all of us. Oh wait, what is that? another chance to do a half? or is this for the people that are running the second half that started at the end of the first? Confused.

The run around the park was the low-point for me of this race. No race is perfect. I totally understand that it takes incredible effort on behalf of the City to organize and host this and that we are inconveniencing people that could care less about insane 26 mile runners like us, but the park loop was way too long. There was nothing to see except greenery and more greenery and I lost the “marathon” feel. It was like a run in the park. To make matters worse, not only are the people that cheer scarce on this race, in the park, they were non-existent! So anyways, seeing the peeps from dailymile was a welcome sight AND they were giving away M&M’s!

Hmmm…. I gave it the benefit of the doubt. It was a beautiful park, don’t get me wrong, but there was no marathon feel to it.

And… confusing. So these two girls in front of me took out their map, because there was no sign! You could either go left or go right. But nothing was telling you were to go. Who runs a marathon with a map!!!??? but thank god they did because we all stopped behind them and just followed them!

Gorgeous? yes…. but…. too long. Three people I talked to and two I overheard at the hotel said the same thing. A guy in the elevator said to me “Best part, the Golden Gate Bridge”, “Worst part, the park. It was relentless”. Beautiful scenery though.

This was my favorite moment of the race. That guy caught up with my pace and asks me: “Do you know if the 5:45 pacer is ahead of us”? I say: “I don’t know, I think so… we are going too slow”. He says, “well the 6:00 hr pacer is behind us for sure”. And I said to him: “Are you sure? I mean, I think he has passed us also” and he answers “No! of that I’m sure. I’ve been looking for him because there’s no way I will come above 6 hrs. All I want is to finish under the 6 hr mark so that they give me a medal”!

This photo, I just took as reminder of that moment of the race for me. See, a marathon, is a little bit like a mirror. It shows you who you are. And for the 3, 4, 5, 6, 8 or whatever amount of hours it takes you to finish, you see who you are. You see yourself and your thoughts about what is possible and about what you can endure and “mind over body”. So my ankle was hurting so bad and I was so annoyed that this park loop would never end, that I looked up and said to God “I’m just going to stop complaining and I’m going to be thankful. I’m in freakin’ San Francisco, running my 4th marathon!!! So THANK YOU God”

Mile 18! Woohoo!

Again, the biker idea: GENIUS! Not sure if this was the first time or if it’s an every year occurrence… but it was such an original and fun detail. Very clever SF!!!!

OMG! Is that the park exit? For reals? YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Seems like it is! We are free! Yay!

Let me look back to make sure!

Okay, let’s power through.

Neat area. I have to look up the name of this street. It was full of neat little restaurants, shops, and houses. I know I should be a better “tour” guide for the people reading this, but my ankle was hurting so much I was starting to hallucinate.

Neat architecture all over. And colorful!

Look at that downhill!!!!!!!!!!! Amazing!

Ok, last Rant. This is around mile 23 or so. And it’s the FIRST sign I see that the habitants of San Francisco put out. The runners had all the spirit, but the habitants of the City could have cared less that a marathon was going on. The only very few people cheering as you can see in all the photos were basically relatives of the runners. And that was it. It reminded me that last year at the LA Marathon on the famous stadium-t0-sea course was the one (LA) Marathon with the least amount of citizen “cheer”. You want to know which one had the most? The first one I ever did. The one everyone complained because it went through the ugliest and poorest parts of Los Angeles. Well, those people would set tables in front of their houses buy treats, oranges, bananas, mini-pretzels, make lemonade and the entire family took this as an “activity” for the day and had their kids excited about handing water and food to the runners. I realized then last year while running on the richest part of LA that very few people cared (not saying it was the whole route, but yes on the “fanciest” ones). So, I also think that my Marathon photo-essays can help improve cities to organize their marathons. What about some city contests? what about best water station booth by locals? most original cheer troupe? loudest? How about some fliers where the route goes by to the residents in the area with neat photos and graphics and maybe a local discount motivating them to come out and cheer. Let me tell you something: The people at the front of the race, don’t need it. They can finish a marathon in 3 hours with or without cheers. But the people struggling at the end, we appreciate it, it distracts us, when you see our name on our bib and you yell to us as if you know us that we can make it, that we are awesome, that we are almost there…. we believe you.

My ankle bandage was starting to come off. The beginning of the end. :-( I can’t even run anymore, not even a few yards, so let’s walk.

This was a neat part for me. I love industrial looking stuff and architecture. The giant stadium with the empty seats looked really cool.

And I think Joe Perry is town….

Something for everyone to see along the route.

Now, I said there were very few people cheering but I didn’t say there wasn’t a great cheerer! This lady was awesome. You can see her here smile all the way back and you could hear her from a mile away. She was so happy, so cheerful, so loud and appropriately on Mile 25 she was yelling “YOU ARE ALMOST THERE, YOU ARE ALMOST THERE”!!!!!! (thanks lady)

Yep. Almost there.

This was cool, the AT&T Park. Home of the San Francisco Giants. Neat architecture. It was awesome to run next to it. And another crazy idea, how about some places like this were you could run “through”? I know I know, people would think the place would be destroyed, but if you think about it, we would just be running through. I don’t even know if it would work in stadiums or other venues… maybe… just a thought. If you have an idea about a “run-through” venue for a marathon please say so in the comments. As I said, crazy idea, hallucinating with ankle pain…so moving on.

You take my picture, I take yours!

Omg, this is it. Final stretch. Mile 25.5…..

This brought a big smile to my face because the guy from the park was right, the 6 hr marathon pacer had not run past us. He did at the very end of my race. Meaning I came in around that time. But I really hope that dude got his wish and did a 6 hr marathon.

Appropriately placed Pier 26 , right in front of the 26 mile marker. Coincidence?

See what I was telling you about my mom and her walking earlier? I have friends that say “I would run a marathon… but” The list goes something like this: I have bad knees, I can’t run, I can’t wake up early, My boobs are too big, I’ve never been good at it, I used to run but I don’t anymore, I did track back in high-school, it’s too dangerous to run on the street, the air quality is so bad, etc… etc… You know what? If you don’t want to run… DON’T… but don’t say anything. Don’t say “I would.. but”, because there are amazing people that nothing stands on their way… those are real marathoners. Whether the guy did the half or the full… it doesn’t really matter…. THAT IS THE SPIRIT OF THE MARATHON.

And…. before you know it… there it is. The finish line!

Now on the other side of it! Once again, thought I couldn’t do it, but I did. I sometimes doubt myself. I shouldn’t.

Guy waiting for his peeps to cross.

Look!: a bunny!

Should I? To be honest, I considered going in, but I’m one of those guys that I don’t go to the Doctor because I’m afraid. So I thought if I go in, what if they send me to the hospital? what if my leg is falling? what if I get a $40,000.00 bill? Let’s old-school it and submerge in ice for a few hours and take it from there. And you know what? the best part of staying at Hotel is the ice-machine in every floor!

Good to know they were there though.

But for now papa, needs a medal!

I’ll take that one.

Here are two pics of runners getting their medals placed

Which gives me yet, one more idea, I promise this will be the last…. how come non of the Marathon Photo people stand next to the medal people? I think that we all feel like Olympians when they put our medal around our necks. Why not have a photo of that?

More volunteer bikers!

This finish area was great for me. It was VERY roomie! There was sitting area, medical area, etc… All well distributed, the fences were far away so you didn’t feel constrained you could sit, keep walking, it was very spacious!

and even get a massage!

This guy knows how to color-coordinate!

And this guy is over-it! lol.

Well done. I guess that to have completed a marathon that “even marathoners fear” (according to the Wall Street Journal 7/13/2010) in a little above six hours, with a sprained ankle and carrying a DSLR camera… is not too bad.

Hey! I think this was the girl at the beginning with the “It’s between me AND me” look!

Green & Recycling ‘till the very end. BRAVO SF!

Was it worth the hurt? Yep, it totally was. Will do it over and over again.

This was a guy getting off from the elevator back at the Hotel. It was amazing to have that feeling of companionship like soldiers that went to war together. It was all over the area. In the hallways, in the elevator, on the street in front of the hotel, at the restaurant. Like minded people….. BUT… I made a point of snapping this elevator photo because you know how on every elevator ride we take we tend to ignore the people in it? We look up to see the floor display or we keep our headphones on, or we check our phone? This time on Saturday, Sunday and Monday, I talked with people on every elevator ride I took. Either they talked to me, or I felt comfortable enough to talk to them and ask them something. Are you here for the marathon? How was your marathon? what did you like best? where are you from? etc…. You were not scared of people not answering or being rude and you felt great when people talked to you. It was just a great feeling of a community of runners that love, love, love to run.

And this is me. Now coming back to my room. 26.2 miles stronger.

In the end, I have to say that the San Francisco Marathon is a challenge. The Wall Street Journal is right. The amount of hills is basically ridiculous. You can’t even count them. The sights are gorgeous, maybe even draining in a way because you have all your senses on to take every little bit in. Running through the Golden Gate Bridge is indescribable. The wind first resists you and then on the way back it pushes you forward as if apologizing for the initial resistance. Ankle injury or no, the SF Marathon is a challenge that I want to conquer again. It pushes me to train harder and run hills until they don’t even faze me. I will become one with hills and be back stronger next year. At first when I read that WSJ article I felt it might be intimidating to a lot of folks and turn them off from the race. But now I see it as the opposite. Like something that people will challenge themselves with. Like you want an easy marathon? well, don’t run a marathon then! Lightly jog or do a 5k… but you want to call yourself a Marathon runner? Then run the San Francisco Marathon.

San Francisco Marathon (Getting there & Expo Photo Essay)

Mon, 16 Aug 2010 09:33:00 -0700

Backstory:

I’ve completed three Los Angeles Marathons and one Nike Human Race. On my last LA Marathon back in March, I decided to take my camera with me and do a photo essay. I posted it on my blog and tweeted about it. Over the next few days my photo essay was seen by more than 6,000+ people (the Marathon had 26,000 runners) and was re-tweeted over and over again. The best part of it all was all the comments that people posted as replies to my photo essay as well as all the emails I received from runners that were grateful someone had done this for them as they could use it to show their families and friends what it was like on the course. It also helped me realize we all tend to have the same thoughts as we are running.

Since then I’ve wanted to go run different marathons across the USA and document the spirit of each city. Thanks from a little help from the organizers of the race, I present you: The Spirit of The San Francisco Marathon Part I (“Getting There”).

My flight was delayed 1:30 hrs because of “fog” in San Francisco…. Once we landed I could see what they meant.

Cool airport in SF. Second only on my list to the San Antonio, TX one. I love airports!

Hopped on the metro from the airport to the San Francisco Design Center, where the Marathon Expo took place. This was my first sight as soon as I stepped out of the metro. “Dorothy, we are clearly in San Francisco!”.

Walked about five blocks from the Civic Center station to the Design Center. As you were walking towards it you could see more an more people heading over there. Other out-of-towners, like me, were wondering if we were heading in the right direction. We GPS’d it and we made it.

The Expo was divided in three areas. Goodie bag/bib pickup, exhibitors, and lecture area/activity/yoga area.

This place was TINY. Not chaotic or crazy, but it would have not hurt for it to be a tad bit bigger. I hit about 7 people with my backpack! (sorry folks!)

First things first, pick my bib and my timing chip.

Loved all the young volunteers. They knew their stuff and were excited to be there.

Awesome to see so many volunteers! I made a point to include this image on the essay because I truly admire the kindness and effort that all volunteers put into this. For me marathons are about two things: running and community. This particular marathon made that very clear to me and I will touch on that subject again on other images in part II of the essay. But for now a BIG “THANK YOU” to all the peeps that donated of their time and effort pre, during and after the marathon.

Got my bib, timing chip, t-shirt and goodie bag. Gotta say…. this was a neat goodie bag. Not plastic (yay!), reusable, well-designed an cool. I will certainly re-use it often.

This are half-marathoners picking up their shirts. Dark blue for the full marathon runners and light blue for all the half marathon runners.

Next up, the merchandise area. I was really blown away by how cool the merchandise was. The San Francisco peeps know how to design stuff and it was evident in ALL their merchandise. All the materials were great, soft and moisture wicking, but they also looked really cool and wearable. Two thumbs up!

Even the water bottles are rad! You will probably be able to pick some of the stuff you see here: http://www.thesfmarathon.com/shop.php

On Monday, the day after the marathon, when I was doing a little sight-seeing I saw 6 people wearing this jacket!

One last one. I will definitely be picking some stuff online.

Alright, next up, the lecture area. Pictured here: Dane Rauschenberg with his lecture “Ignore the Impossible”. You can read more about Dane here: http://www.danerunsalot.blogspot.com and here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dane_Rauschenberg. This was my introduction to Dane and I’m already hooked reading his blog. Before Dane, my running hero Dean Karnazes gave his lecture. And I missed it. Damn FOG!

This time around I made an effort to visit every booth and check out what each one was about. Everything from t-shirts, socks, massages, marathons in other cities, juices, socks, improving performance, etc.

This guy for example is making custom shirts with your bib number so that way you don’t have to wear the paper bib.

This was super cool. An old-school photo booth! You can check out the photos taken at the booth here: http://sanfranciscophotobooth.smugmug.com/Photo-Booth/SFMarathon/13083865_rrQk5#948233074_uMZW6

LOVED LOVED LOVED this. The DIY area where you were provided with cardboard, markers, crayons, glue, glitter, etc.. and you could make the signs for the people you were going to cheer for. That was a really cool detail of the expo. Just as the photo booth, the good design in all products and other little things I would see during the race that made me appreciate the care that the SF marathon organizers took in all the little details.

Another area of the Expo was the Lululemon Athletica yoga class. Let me tell you something… I do my best running when I also do yoga. I haven’t done it in a while but seeing this was a good reminder that I have to get myself back into it. Yoga aligns your body, it makes you feel light as a feather when you run. During the height of my yoga-running training two years ago I did my fastest 26 mile training run in 4:09 hrs. I haven’t been able to top that :-(

Also, a bunch of my female friends love to wear this stuff. So I didn’t even know they also have a men’s line. Yesterday I stopped at their store here in SF and was pleasantly surprised at their men’s selection. You can tell their stuff is designed by people that practice what they preach. I bought this tank that is made of a fabric called Silverscent that makes the absorbed sweat (because it’s also moisture wicking) not stink. But also, the fabric in-front of your nipples is different to prevent chafing! Amazing!

So anyways, back to the essay! I was meaning to say that Lululemon peeps were there offering free “Yoga for Runners” classes.

It was neat that every exhibitor was also giving away free samples. That’s how I’ve come across some of my favorite products. Someone gave me a sample at an expo and I got hooked.

C-r-o-w-d-e-d!

That t-shirt cracked me up! Little did I know that I would have that thought over and over the next day!

This is a two-thumbs up not only for the organizers but for the City of San Francisco. Everywhere you go, the street, the restaurants, the hotels, anywhere, people RECYCLE! And the appropriate trash cans are not only clearly labeled but they also have photos that make it so much easier to know which thing goes in each bin. Bringing that aspect of the City into the expo AND the marathon was really neat.

This was what I got hooked on at this expo. I only drink protein if it’s in some sort of -chocolate- form. So far, I do my own shakes because I haven’t found a chocolate drink that I like, until this from svelte. The girl at the booth said to me they are available at Whole Foods. I haven’t seen them yet, but I will definitely go see if they are available at my local Whole Foods in LA. Seriously, try the chocolate one. YUMMY!

Interesting thing. No Adidas, no Nike, no K-Swiss, no Reebok, no New Balance, no Asics….. why no major athletic brands sponsoring the marathon or present at the expo? I have no clue. Skechers which is a brand that to be honest I didn’t even know had running shoes was there. I’m curious to try their selection. I have a friend that does swear by the Shape-ups though.

Alright, I think I’m all “expoed” out.

Great expo, lots of people, lots of things to try out.

On my way out and to the hotel. Something that I hadn’t experienced before because I’ve only run marathons in the City I live in, are the shuttle buses. Right in-front of the expo a big shuttle bus was driving people to and from the expo to the Hotels. Being an out of towner I really appreciated that.

Now at the Hotel this is one of the views from the 10th floor of the Hyatt Embarcadero.

This is the view from my room! I could see the start line from my window.

Goodie bag! I had to take a pic of the contents of my goodie bag once at the hotel now that I had the time to examine it. We even got olive oil! Oh and the IronMan muscle gel also came in handy that day. The bag is on the left and the t-shirt is on the right. Everyone was carrying their blue bags all over the City on Monday.

Another view from the hotel.

And another one. San Francisco is just a beautiful City. Mixing the marathon purpose of the trip with going to a City you’ve never been at was amazing! It really makes me want to travel-run more. I really suggest to all of you runners to pick a City you’ve always wanted but have never visited. Find out if the have a marathon and when, and then visit-run. You will not regret it. Somebody should start a tourism campaign based on this idea.

Ok, now I know I’m in San Francisco for sure!

After checking in, I went to see the surroundings and see where the start-finish of the marathon would take place. The area in-front of those two short buildings would be the start and finish areas.

Lots of runners everywhere. Some locals. Some visiting. Some doing a “last run” before the marathon the next day.

Before I went back to rest, I made sure I knew the area where my corral according to my bib number would be situated. I’m a fan of “dry-runs” ;-)

Now, for the end of Part I “Getting There” I have a confession to make. On Thursday night I went for a run and I slightly twisted my ankle. On Friday it hurt more and on Saturday it hurt A LOT more. So much so that for a very slight second I considered not running. BUT, I couldn’t do that. I don’t mind the pain, in fact I’m one of those people that I like it. Actually, I think all runners like physical pain a bit. Pain makes you feel alive. It helps you overcome obstacles and train and endure and grow. So, thank God there was a Walgreens across from the hotel. I bought every pain gel, creme, spray, pill they had. I came this far… my ankle is not going to stop me. This happens to all runners, several times. To me personally I think I psych myself up every marathon… because usually something always goes wrong! But anyways, everyone sprains their ankle while training at some point… mine just happened to be now, one day before. I decided that if I couldn’t run, I would walk and if I couldn’t walk, I would crawl, and if I couldn’t crawl, I would take photos at the start-finish line… All I knew is that -I- don’t quit. If my body does, that’s another thing….. (End of Part I)

Shout out from LAMarathon.com

Sun, 15 Aug 2010 22:21:00 -0700

After the Spirit of the Los Angeles Marathon we got noticed and got a shout-out from the organizers of the LA Marathon!

The Spirit of the L.A. Marathon Photo Essay

Sun, 08 Aug 2010 18:19:00 -0700

25th Annual Los Angeles Marathon. Photo essay from a runner’s point of view.

Arriving at Dodger Stadium at 6am

Huge lines at the portable restrooms. Stood in line from 6:10 am to 7:20 am

Elvis… or Elvises….

Corrals

Waiting to start. Marathon delayed because people were still arriving past 7:20 am due to traffic

Ready to start!!!!

While it’s a good idea to use a water belt to stay hydrated, water and Powerade are always available on the course every other mile starting on mile 3.

Runners are as diverse as the habitants of L.A.

A “landmark every mile” in the new Stadium to Sea course is one of the big appeals of this year’s run

There is a guy inside the “PedEx” box. He ran the entire marathon inside that box.

xoxo

Finally, the Marathon starts. With 26,000 runners it can take a while to cross the start line. Each runner wears a chip (embedded on their bibs) that starts your time only after you actually cross the start line

Another Elvis

It’s barely mile 0.5!

Mile 1. One loop around the stadium equals one mile. If you think about it, we can just circle the stadium 26 times and make this much easier for everyone!

Finally leaving the stadium

Mile 2 already? Things sure go fast when you are excited. Hope it lasts.

Heading towards Downtown Los Angeles

On the first couple of miles is tough to pass people. The crowd sort of pulls you and you go with it.

Mile 3 through Chinatown and about to go into La Plazita Olvera.

First “official” water station at Mile 3. As the miles progress the amount of cups increases. Most water stations slow you down as everyone reduces their pace to pick some water and make sure not to slip

This is the worst hill of the entire run. You must psych yourself for it. Repeat to self: “HILLS ARE SEXY”

A landmark every mile. The Disney Concert Hall sits at the top of the hill.

The view from the top

Another mile, another landmark. The Music Center/Dorothy Chandler Pavillion/Ahmanson Theater.

Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels

Still packed

When you reach miles that seem “symbolic” you start saying to yourself things like this: “I only have left to run 4 times what I already did + 1.2”

Another landmark: Echo Park

Mile 6 is the first on Sunset Boulevard.

If you can, hold it! Standing in line will slow you down for a good 10-15 minutes. As the race progresses lines are shorter and shorter.

With a healing broken leg, this guy was moving faster than most runners. You could just tell he has done this a lot of times and a recent accident was not going to stop him this year.

Almost in Hollywood. A group from the Aids Marathon Group cheers for their runners.

Entering the Hollywood District. The Pantages Theater.

Mile 11: Hollywood & Highland

It’s good to look back and know they are a lot of people behind you. At least you are not the last one!

Landmark: Chinese Theater

Amen!

R-e-p-r-e-s-e-n-t-i-n!!!

Mile 12. Back to Sunset and “The Rock Walk”

Also mile 12 marks the start of injury sightings…

Well said!

Their other sign said “If you are reading this, you are going to slow”… Oops! I’m trying!

One of the most inspiring things of the Marathon is all the groups that run for different causes. So many of the runners fundraise, sometimes up to thousands of dollars, to support a cause that has affected them or they believe in. Sometimes a Marathon is more than just a Marathon.

Volunteers rock as much as runners!

No matter their age, they are there all day long. Some of the groups came from nearby churches that cancelled their Sunday morning masses due to traffic and instead organized “Marathon of Service”, encouraging their members to volunteer at the Marathon (or other worthy causes on this day)

Runner down!!!

On this, my 3rd Marathon, I really noticed the importance of having a “Marathon buddy. You push me, I push you.

This mural is always there. I just thought it was neat that the route was in front of it.

“La bandera y el sombrero” Viva Mexico!

Another landmark. The Pacific Design Center. Now entering West Hollywood.

Representin’ as well….

From Wikipedia: “The term Legacy runners is defined as runners that have completed all of the Los Angeles Marathons. Only runners that have toed the start line on each and every race day and completed the entire course on race day, qualify as official Legacy Runners. Their numbers decrease year by year but there remains a group that is approximately 10 times larger than that of any other major marathon.”

Food supplies from the sidelines start to dwindle after the midpoint. The faster runners have taken most of it. A very sweet lady was waiting for her peeps with snacks. She just had a couple and was saving them for the people she was cheering for. She saw my eyes staring at a banana and she told me to come get one :-) (thanks lady!)

Now entering Beverly Hills

Again, I can’t say enough good things about volunteers. From all walks of life. If ever I’m in a city with a Marathon happening, and I’m not a runner, I will for sure volunteer. I feel like I owe that now.

If we decorate our cars engines, why not decorate our running engines as well?

These guys are barefoot!!! (and not the only ones I might add)

Next landmark: Rodeo Drive

Go Stephanie!

Endeavor to persevere

It’s easy to forget to let your body run as you trained it. You are so excited and there’s so much going around…. you start thinking too much. Reminders are nice.

Less than 10 miles to go! Wilshire Blvd.

All the fluorescent green shirts you see on the photos are students. Students Run Los Angeles is one of many organizations that encourage students to run, be healthier, and stay out of trouble. Their fee is waived and they are provided with free shoes and running gear. An amazing organization. Look them up.

Lots of gents (and ladies) that have completed Ironman races use Marathon to train.

Indeed

Turning to look back, just past Mile 18.

Dear Fireman, please don’t spray me with water. I am holding a $3,000 camera. Thanks.

These little orange boxes is what keeps track of your timing

So you always want to make sure you don’t skip any. Some are placed randomly throughout the course to make sure you don’t cheat and skip any miles.

So close you can almost taste it!

Another landmark: The Mormon Temple on Santa Monica Blvd.

Your loved one. The ultimate running buddy.

You can’t help but smile and honor those runners who are doing this for bigger reasons.

Mile 20. The Veteran’s complex on Wilshire. That place is HUGE! You go through an entire mile in there.

I don’t know the statistics but I would say about half of the runners are doing a full marathon for the first time.

Right now, I do too. Thanks to this amazing course!

While the 22 should be a sign of relief, sometimes is a sign of despair. 4 more miles? Seems not doable.

Clever guy

That helps too.

First sign of finishers coming back. We must be close!

Different people. Different reasons. All valid.

Am I dreaming?

That hazy palm tree is the beach. Woo-hoo!!!!

For me, the last mile is the best and easiest mile. It’s a religious experience. You have nothing left. No energy, no stamina, no nothing. So you talk to God, The Universe, or whatever higher power you believe in, and you make a pact. You are going to be helped. And it happens. Trust me.

Ocean Blvd. Straight line to the Finish Line!

Certainly, do not give up now!

.2 Miles to go

The finish line was crowded. And apparently a dog ran the marathon!

That’s me, crossing! Dear God; THANK YOU.

That medal has my name written all over it. “Come to papa!”

Way to go dude!

There is another “mile” after the finish line that no one tells you about. Looks like a triage area and if you can still walk, people scream at you to “keep walking”

The whole thing actually does end at the Pier. I thought they were just saying that.

This is the area where I chose to collapse

And that’s me with my medal.

About this photo essay:

This year marked my 3rd consecutive LA Marathon. The first time, the only goal was to finish. On the second and 3rd time, the goal was to improve my time from the previous year.

Around November I became a vegetarian. My body seems to only be able to run 13-16 miles on non-animal protein and about a quarter of the sugar I used to eat. Added to that, for some reason, the day before the marathon I wasn’t hungry at all. I knew all things were pointing to low energy and therefore my goal time wouldn’t be achieved. I decided to run/walk instead and document the run. This photo essay is the end result.

"Only those who will risk going too far can possibly find out how far they can go"

Sun, 08 Aug 2010 15:48:09 -0700

““Only those who will risk going too far can possibly find out how far they can go””

- T.S. Eliot

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