Randy’s LA Marathon Race Report


Randy and Tonya With Their Finisher’s Medals

This wasn’t my first LA Marathon and I’ve run it through warm, hot (and I mean hot) and very wet weather. I’ve trained for it with different running groups and on my own. What made this one, my 9th LA Marathon, so memorable and such a great experience was all the Beach Runners that were out there that day.

I’ve previously trained with a large running group, the LA Leggers. A great group of people and I’ve made some wonderful friends from those days. But, I think we seem like such a close knit group, as we are a smaller unit with great mentors and with Gary and Steve to lead us on.

The LA Marathon morning started off with Chris and her boyfriend, Ted, picking up Tonya and myself around 5:45 am (the South Bay Beach Runners). Ted dropped us off at the Metro station downtown and we zipped up to the starting area around 7 am. Thanks again to Chris and Ted for making transportation up there so easy! We were there early enough to wait in the portapotty line for about 40 minutes. While in line, we talked to some racewalkers, who planned to do the marathon in 4 1/2 hours. Some of those guys are fast! I think one of those two did place in the top 5!

Finally around 7:45, we connected with all of the Beach Runners who were finishing up the body looseners. However, most important of all, we made it in time for the group photo. We then marched on down to the start line, to wait with some 20,000+ runners.

One thing that made this marathon different at the beginning is that you couldn’t hear anything. Didn’t hear the national anthem or the starting gun. When we finally approached the start line, could hear a bit of the Randy Newman “I Love LA” song, but not like when it starts downtown.

During the first few miles there were quite a group of us together. However, around the Hollywood Bowl, I saw Lani, John and Kristin zip ahead of most of us. By the way, once we started never did see Chris again! Where did you go?

From there until mile 10, Uncle Sam kept a group of us together: myself, Ashley, Kate and Michael (forgive me if I forgot someone or got your name wrong). While running together, we said hello to former Beach Runner Earl. As I was relying on the water stations for refueling, Uncle Sam kept on eye on me to make sure I would catch up. We even all stopped at the portapotty together around mile 9. I think you have the makings of a mentor in Uncle Sam!

I’ll confess right now, I don’t do well in heat and as I was starting to feel it effects, I dropped back and let Uncle Sam and company go ahead. My tendency from them on was to slow down or walk when the sun was out, then pick it up when there was shade. The last time I wanted to do was pass out that day.

A few miles later, I walked with Tonya for a while. Then Erin for awhile and we shared some pain gel for some aches and pains as she was not feeling great at that point. But she must have recovered as she passed our little group at the end. Steve ran with me briefly a couple times during the race. And somewhere during the marathon, I saw Huell Howser on the sidewalk watching us all run by (or was he a delusion due to the heat?)

Then, out of nowhere, Gary appeared and ran/walked with me for a while. Had a nice chat for him about running, traveling, yoga, etc. I left him in line at one of those lovely portapotties and I went on ahead. It was around mile 20 or 21, at this point I thought I was facing a lonely finish. However, somewhere around mile 22/23, I found 3 Beach Runners I hadn’t seen since the start: Larry, Beth and Roxanne. Larry kept us going, doing a run/walk routine (flashback to my Legger days!). Dave caught up to us around this time and went ahead. Then Erin passed us also. Somewhere around mile 24/25, Larry blurts out: I want a f$%$%g bacon cheeseburger! I think that was our motivation to finish. Anyway, it must have been the last half-mile or so and Larry made us all run in to the finish line. Thanks again, Larry, Beth and Roxanne. You helped me make a strong finish. We got our medals and Steve was there to congratulate us. Shortly after, Tony finished and then after we dropped her off, I stopped off at Jack in the Box for a f$%$%g bacon cheeseburger.

I’m not sure how many Beach Runners were out there that day, but I think I counted I was able to run with about 15 of you during some part of the race that day. Everyone was so supportive, whether it was coordinating transportation, calling each other on cell phones to see how we were doing or helping one another on the course. Congratulations to all of you that completed the marathon and thanks again for making this a great experience.

Randy, Beach Runner, SoCalRunning.com Member

March 13, 2007 | Filed Under Race Reports, Steve's Posts 

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