Race 09-03 Jazztrax Snowshoe Stomp 10k

January 25th, 2009.
10k - 6th/19 - 1:07:36
Complete Results coming

This year I found 4 people who were interested in going to Bear Valley for a snowshoe race - Chikara (again), Jim, Erika, and Lisa. We all left the Bay area in a rented SUV at 6:30 Saturday night toward our reserved hotel in Stockton. The purpose of staying overnight there was to cut in half the 4 hour drive from SF to Bear Valley the morning of the race.

We made it to the hotel with plenty of time for a good night sleep and by 5:30AM Sunday we were on the road to Bear Valley. The weather was good, of course, until we started climbing into the mountains. By 5000 feet up the road was snow covered and it it was snowing. We left so early though we had plenty of time and were the first people at the race (I don't know if I've ever done that before). We had more than enough time to use the facilities, get a coffee (Jim), rent snowshoes (Jim and Chikara), and learn to put them on (everyone except me).

The turnout at the race was better than last year. There were 19 10k runners and probably almost as many 5k runners. We all listened to the race instructions eager to start. It was cold as expected and my hands were numb shortly after we started. A couple guys went out real fast and Chikara passed me only a couple minutes in, despite his snowshoe coming off just after starting. I made it to the half mile mark in a little under 5 minutes. Two other guys and I settled into 4th-6th. One of them asked if I was an ultrarunner, because he noticed I was walking up the hills. I told him I was and eventually he peeled off at the 5k turnoff as I settled into 5th. Soon I was passed by a fast guy who started 8 minutes late. No one else caught me and I didn't catch anyone else for the last 5k.

I decided relatively early to walk up the hills in order to save some energy for the end. Unlike last year the couple did not repeat over any sections - it was just a 10k loop. I liked it much better this way. The weather on the back stretch was much nicer. The snow stopped and it started to get brighter. I probably should have run harder on the ups and downs because I probably could have recovered after some short bursts. As I got to the end my I really started to warm up and took my headband off.

I finished strong in 1:07:36, 6th place out of 19. Chikara was 3rd despite his snowshoes coming off 6 or 7 times. Erika was 8th (1st female), Lisa 10th, and Jim 18th.

The awards ceremony was in the pizza kitchen of the lodge. There was more than enough food. I had a bowl of minestrone soup, a bowl of potato soup, a bowl of meat chili, 2 bowls of salad, a brownie, 2 pieces of cornbread, and a couple cups of warm cider flavored Clif drink. The middle school Jazz band that the race director instructs provided the music. Jim was especially impressed with their performance of Rock around the clock. He and I turned out to be the only people in the group who knew who Bill Haley and the Comets were. I got a medal for 2nd in the 20-29 age group (out of 2 people). Since there were more raffle prizes than runners I got 2 - a big bag of orange glucosamine chewy things and a $50 gift certificate to a computer repair store in Angels Camp. Not sure how I'll be able to make use of the gift certificate so I'm open to suggestions.

They way home was not totally uneventful. We saw a car skid across the road into a pole right in front of us. We saw a car in a ditch as well as many other tire tracks leading from the road off the side. After we descended the mountain it rained, then turned sunny, then hailed (2nd year in a row with hail). Still we made it home without anything bad happening (to us).

Barring any bad weather or excessive chain control requirements imposed by the evil Caltrans people, I will keep going to this race. This was the third time going (out of 4 years they have had it), and I was told that was tied with 1 other person for the most, need to keep the streak going.

Race 09-02 PF Chang's Rock and Roll Marathon (Phoenix)

I had wanted to run the Rock and Roll Marathon in Phoenix for several years now. I think I first heard about it from Chuck, back when we used to race together in Florida. I heard good things from other people as well. So I took a 3 day weekend trip to Phoenix for the race.

I arrived at Sky Harbor in the early afternoon after flying on United for the first and last time. I was happy though that the rental car company sped people right through the line and gave me a free upgrade from the cheapest car possible to a Mustang.

Immediately after leaving the airport I went to the expo downtown where Erika and I met Chuck and a couple of his friends. We hung around at the expo for a while. The expo was the best one I had ever been to. There were a ton of vendors - many giving free food which was excellent after flying. I already knew that PF Chang's was the main sponsor, but the sponsors names and logos were not plastered everywhere. It didn't have the commercial feel that the big SF races have. After that we spent some time downtown although it wasn't much of a happening place.

The next day I slept in a little too late butin the afternoon Erika and I went north to Sedona. We stopped at Montezuma's castle on the way.


We hiked up Bell Rock just before sunset. It wasn't difficult and I could have done more as there were many nice places to go, but I was careful not to spend too much energy walking around. I would have liked to spend more time there, maybe I will go back another time to do some hiking. After a little shopping in downtown Sedona we went to Jerry's house (Chuck's brother who I had never met) for a spaghetti dinner. I was late, as usual.




The day of the marathon I got up early checked out of the hotel and drove to the race. The hotel was close and I parked on a city street a few blocks away. It was very easy to get to.

I found Chuck at the starting line so we started together and ran together for a couple miles. I was trying for 2:55 and I think he was going for sub-3 so I pulled away a little after a mile or so. I got my mile pace down under 6:30 which made me perfectly happy but I did not expect to sustain it forever.

The Phoenix streets are designed on a grid so I had a very good idea where I was the whole time. I ran by the street the hotel was on, and thee was a supermarket right there that I wished I had found a couple days ago. The race went well until I got to mile 8 where felt I needed to take a restroom break. I finally found one in the 10th mile which cost me almost 2 minutes...When I came out within a quarter mile I caught up to and went by Chuck again. I was holding low 6:40 pace which crept up to 7:00 but I was happy enough. Things went well until around mile 16 again when I decided to take another break. This time I waited until mile 19 and spent an extra 3 minutes at that mile marker. After that I held 7:00-7:30 the rest of the way. And right before the 25 mile sign - you guessed it - I caught up to Chuck again. He was doing pretty well as was I. I finished last 1.2 in 8:21, passing at least a dozen people. My final time of 3:04 wasn't what I hoped for but good enough to go to Boston in April.

The race wasn't as scenic as I was expecting but it was still fun. There were around 25 bands playing along the course - mostly Rock and Roll. My favorite was the Elvis impersonator who was fun to hear around mile 22. There were also a lot of cheerleaders there which I had never really seen at a race before. Although the streets weren't packed it was nice to have someone cheering there I guess.

The post race food was excellent. I had a couple Dole fruit cups, about 4 popsicles, among other things, some fruit, energy bars, etc. I drank some Cytomax during the race even though I don't like it, but I certainly didn't want any after I was done. The post race gathering was in Sun Angel Stadium at ASU.

After the race we went to Jerry's house again and he generously lent his shower to anyone who ran. We made it there in time to see the end of the NFC Championship game, which the Cardinals won. The house full of 20 or so people erupted at the end of the game. Ironically the Cardinals are going to the Super Bowl in Tampa, and the game is being played at the stadium across the street (literally) from where I used to live. Shortly after I had to leave to catch a plane home. The flight back was uneventful. I made it back home around midnight so I went to bed around the same time I normally do.

I would like to do the race again, but while I was there I found out about the Sedona marathon which is in February. So if I go back I would probably run Sedona to try something different.