Now That That’s Done…

(This is part 2 of my report covering this past weekend at the San Diego Rock ‘n Roll Marathon. Click here for part 1.)

So there I was. Standing outside the trolley stop. Dripping wet from the humidity. I’m sure I must have smelled a hard seven mile effort too. It was time for me to head off to wherever I could to cheer on my relay teammates and others that I knew were doing this marathon, unlike me, in an unwimpy way. In a minute or two, the trolley came rolling up and I was off.

In the light rail car, I realized why San Diego must welcome the Rock ‘n Roll with open arms. It was 8:00 AM on a Sunday morning. Standing room only. I can only imagine the coffers of the hotels and restaurants around town.

I hopped off the trolley and recognized that I was near the half way point of the marathon. Penny had mentioned that she was going to set up near the half point on Friar’s Road, so my next adventure was walking down a few hundred feet to where Penny and Yas had set up. Penny had her signs out, Yas and the Bean were enjoying the (now) sunny and pleasant weather, and even Velcro was getting into the swing of things: 

Penny had picked the perfect spot for spectating. I saw soooo many of my fellow blog/twitter friends as the waves of humanity crested the rolling hills that make up this part of the course.

First, Bob had finished his relay leg and came walking up to say hi. Way to get into the spirit of Rock ‘n Roll Bob!

I got to yell at I Love Steaks (Emil) as he went running past. Next up was my niece, still looking strong at mile 14:

We saw Kimberly looking strong:

I ran (yes – Slomohusky - ran) about a quarter mile with Slomohusky, who was all smiles despite having trouble on the big hill on the freeway a few miles back. Then came someone who I hadn’t been able to find in the start – RunningLaur! She was all smiles when Penny told her that she had some Nuun in her bag of tricks!

I bid Penny, Yas, The Bean and Velcro adieu so I could make my way to the finish. I was hoping to catch the MsV as she ran the final leg of our team into the finish. I walked back to the trolley stop and boarded a shuttle to the finish line.  I had planned on running some circles over by the finish to help out any of my fellow runners who might be lagging in the late stages of the race, but believe me – at this point *maybe* half a mile. I set up just beyond the 26 mile marker.

First person I saw was Tea Time. She was hauling ass! I pulled in next to her and ran (no jogging for that girl!) with her. She just kept on repeating “I’m dying! I’m dying!” All while clipping along at an 8:30 pace. I tried to lift her spirits and ran her right up to the 26 mile marker, uttered something about how she had less than a lap around a track left and sent her on her way (her final finish time – 4:00 – outstanding!)

Next up was Wadiasoft. Like Tea Time he kept repeating the mantra. “Man – I’m dying! It’s so hot!” When I mentioned a picture though, he managed to crack a smile. I wish I could look this good at mile 26! Obviously all his training and weight loss was paying off!

Then MsV came running down the trail doing Team Twitterati justice! Way to represent the final leg Linda! In her normal fashion, she had picked up a straggler along the way (read her story here) and was running him into the finish. I ambled up next to her and we ran into the finish chute.

There must have been something on the course that had infected the runners, because next up was my niece repeating over and over “I’m dying! I’m dying!” I ran her into the finish chute and sent her on her way for her inaugural 4:41 marathon! Woo hoo!

Finally, Ms V and I found Alicia and ran her into the finish chute to cap her first marathon in less than  five and a half hours. And despite what she kept repeating the last half mile – she never did stop and walk. Congrats Ali!

And then, just like that, another marathon weekend was done. Except for the lines on the shuttles and trolleys. But I’ve already talked about that.

Postscript – I wanted to thank all of my fellow runners who allowed me to bug and photo them during the race. These blogs posts would be meaningless without all of you. Also, I wanted to say hi to everyone I knew who was at the expo and race that I wasn’t able to cross paths with, especially Irene (see you at Shelter Island?), and Adam (sorry I couldn’t make it up another 3 or 4 corrals!)

Next up for me – a couple weeks of training (again) and then the Billy Goat Half Marathon Hill Climb on June 19th. Six and a half miles and 2400 feet up, then six and a half miles and 2400 feet down. As the Race Director says - “It ain’t but one hill!”