Well, I downgraded to the half, and as a result I got to sleep in for several hours. As I was heading to the BART station past all the full marathoners running through mile 5, a woman on the side of the road exclaimed, "Oh no, did you have to drop out?" I informed her I was running the half and it hadn't started just yet. When I arrived at BART, the platform was covered with many other runners heading to the race, and when we exited two stops later, I really don't think I had ever seen so many people in that station, even at rush hour.
The race started right across the street from where I used to work. I wished I still had the key card to get in the building because it was freezing outside and I had to use the restroom. But I headed into the park with the masses and shortly ran into a friend. When they let us into the corrals, it became claustrophobic. I am not sure there was quite enough room for the 4000 people that were supposedly starting the half. The pace markers were not very far apart.
The mayor greeted us, to not much cheering. I don't think she is very popular. However, the Oaktown pride was still alive, as someone near me in the corral yelled,"I love Oakland." People jumped up and down to the "I Work Out" song. Finally we started. The course was full of potholes, and it was difficult to deal with all the runners and try not to turn your ankles. There were also numerous turns on the course, and at every one, numerous jerks listening to music cut me off to cut the corner tight. I realize that ideally you should run the inside of the course, but when you are as slow as me (or really anybody who is not going to win the race), you should probably just hold a line.
There were not too many spectators along the first part of the course. At one point some people with a stroller went through the cross walk not far in front of me and not very fast. Someone in a "Half Full Running Club" shirt yelled at them, telling them we were in a race. Now, they could have crossed much faster, but it didn't slow this girl down much and she clearly wasn't going to win the race either way. I have no idea why you would want to make the local neighbors hate the race more than they might already. All her running club buddies commiserated with her. Net to self: do not join that running club.
Near the BART stations and by Lake Merritt, there were huge crowds of spectators. It was fabulous to have so many people out cheering for us. The TNT cheer and water station was a noisy tunnel of support, and of course I saw several people I knew there, although Matt did not notice me. I also saw one of my coworkers at a water station.
I can't say I enjoyed the course and event as much as I did last year when I ran 18 miles of the full as a bandit. The full takes you to more of the city, and there were not nearly so many runners packed so close together. I on't remember ever getting cut off at turns. And there was enough space to see and avoid all the potholes and uneven pavement.
In the end, I PRd. 1:56:20, about four and a half minutes faster than the PR I set last year at Kaiser. This course was definitely flatter, and the weather was perfect for running - 50 and cloudy. I didn't even rain. So I am glad I did this race. It was nice to roll out of bed and BART over to the start. But definitely not one of my favorite races. (Could be that I was just trying too hard.) Thanks to Matt and everyone else who was out there cheering or volunteering!
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