Sunday I got up at the awful hour of 4am to get ready, pick up Linz, and drive up to Napa for the Napa to Sonoma half marathon. It was funny driving through the city at that hour - there were hardly any people on the road and those who were ambling around were likely coming home from the night before.
We made it to Sonoma at 5:45 (after a stop for gas and a hunt for coffee) and got on the race bus to the start line in Napa. It was FREEZING waiting at the start. Shivers aside, it was still fun. I love the start line of races - there's a feeling of anxiety that always comes before a race (can I finish? Will I PR? Etc.) and there's also always a feeling of community. Something about runners - there seems to be an unspoken unity. Maybe it's the fact that we all have nasty feet, or hurt knees occasionally. Whatever it is, I love it.
The noteable few:
- There was a 72 year old running who runs half marathons every year - he looked like he was 50 - a great inspiration!
- One man was in the 100 club - he had run over 100 marathons. That's a lot of miles.
- A woman was doing her first ever half marathon - she started running to lose weight and made it through a few 5ks, then got hooked, lost the weight, and kept going.
Linz and I finished in decent time and it felt great. At the finish line was wine tasting but we just couldn't bring ourselves to quench our runners thirst with Pinot before noon.
Next half - Healdsburg - can't wait!
No comments:
Post a Comment