Los Angeles Marathon XXVI. In sunny Southern California. Sun. Beaches. Convertibles. Well – anything but this year!
The forecast was for rain. Well – let me tell you – it RAINED!! To put things in perspective, a normal rain year for us in Los Angeles would be around 13 to 14 inches of the wet stuff. On Sunday it rained 4 1/2 inches in Beverly Hills – miles 15 through 17 on the route. Add to that 30 mile per hour winds (thankfully to our backs) and it was a cold, sloppy, miserable day.
The day started out great. I hopped in my car for the drive out to Beverly Hills. The streets were dry. I met up with my twitter pal @ridgeley at Lulu’s Café for a scrumptious banana walnut filled pancake (oops! Forgot the picture!). It was blustery out, but it was dry. Then about halfway through breakfast the sky opened. Dang. All of a sudden I was glad I brought my tights along!
The next part of the adventure was finding parking in West Los Angeles. If you don’t live in West L.A., parking can sometimes be a challenge. Certain streets are permit parking only for residents. Other streets have no parking. Add to that the fact that major East-West thoroughfares were closed for the marathon. I was anticipating grid lock and parking hell. Instead, I pulled up at the corner of Overland and Santa Monica Blvd (right at Mile 19) and found a parking spot. For free. Street parking. With no restrictions. Winning!
From there I braved the elements to make my way back two miles to Mile 17 at the corner of Rodeo and Wilshire (even Paris Hilton wouldn’t have been out in these conditions). But I’ll let the video tell that story:
Huge props to all who finished this marathon! It was cold, wet and ugly out there. You deserve to hold your head high!
P.S. – Yes. I know I misspelled “Zeppelin” in the credits. But it YouTube is the *slowest* upload in the world. I’ll live with the legacy.
That's not cold! (I know, it's all relative.) But, wow, we don't even get rain like that here. We have Seattle mist. That's a downpour.
ReplyDeleteYou forgot to take a photo of the "scrumptious banana walnut filled pancake"...that right there is "winning".
ReplyDeleteSheesh despite the terrible weather on Sunday, I am still glad I did it. I don't want to do that again, ever! It's one of those "glad that I survived but no thanks". Running in those conditions made me realize how much I really loved to run. I mean I can't imagine being in the rain "just cause" for any other reason.
See you out there in 2012!
You were the absolute BEST out there. I was dying to get through Mile 18. I was like the kid "Are we there yet?"
ReplyDeleteThank you SO much Glenn!!!! Did I say I was never doing that again?
great video capturing the weather conditions. i thought last year's portland race was bad, but looks like this topped it!
ReplyDeleteGlenn - Thank you so much for your kind and thoughtful words regarding my Graves Disease. It has proven to be and is a challenge but we'll get through it especially with kind people like you around!
ReplyDeleteKathleen
It's awesome that you went out in those conditions! It sounds like the weather made things so rough, but I keep reading great stories about how empowered people feel now. It's inspiring!
ReplyDeleteI haven't gotten a chance to watch your video yet (snail-like internet connection), but I'm looking forward to it. They are always enjoyable!
Finding easy, free parking in West LA?!? Awesome.
As usual, a terrific video Glen! The marathon was pretty terrific too.
ReplyDeleteIt was good to see you out there, Glenn!
ReplyDeletei love your videos! :) and your recaps. wow that is def some heavy rain. those poor people at the end - they look so cold!!
ReplyDelete49 may not be "cold" to most people, but throw in the rain AND the fact that you're out there for 4-5 hours and well, that's pretty darn cold no matter where you're from. except maybe mongolia, they might still be ok.
Great video. The wind and rain didn't seem to affect the winner, a first time marathoner who beat the course record...pretty impressive.
ReplyDeleteHi Glenn, I saw your video posted on another blog, and it routed me to your blog.
ReplyDeleteYes, it was wet, yes it was cold, but for me, the LA Marathon was my best marathon yet! Haven't gotten around to posting my experience on my blog yet, but I really want to assert that I think the spectators/supporters and volunteers got the absolute worst of it...as least us runners were moving and could keep warm (as long as we were prepared with the proper gear, which luckily I was)!
Your video is great in capturing the weather conditions on Sunday. I really had a blast in the rain though and think it made my experience that much more special and memorable!