K's Run

Re. my last post, I should run for K more often. I set a personal record of 2 hours, three minutes and various seconds for 13.1 miles. The only reason I don't have a more precise finishing time is because I was left off the official results. (I emailed some nice person associated with the race and they're taking care of that.)

A beautiful course that mostly followed the ocean, the race started and ended at Leadbetter Beach near the campus of Santa Barbara City College. I liked that fact that there was a small field of around 1400 half-marathoners. However the residents of Santa Barbara didn't seem 100 percent behind the race. Cars were often lined up, impatiently waiting to slice through the pack and get on with their day. Bicycle riders, especially along the beach, attempted to share the pathway with a horde of runners eager to finish strong. It seemed a collective decision had been made on the part of many to simply pretend there was no race.

But they failed and, if certain motorists were any indication, there was a great wailing and gnashing of teeth.

Meanwhile the racers had a blast. TNT was out in force. Teams from the San Fernando Valley, South Bay, Santa Barbara and my own San Gabriel Valley Team talked and encouraged each other the length of the run. Beginning around mile 6, I played hopscotch with a young TNTer from the San Fernando Valley. We supported each other, one passing the other over the next seven miles. Afterwards we shook hands. (She also posted a good finishing time.) That's part of why I enjoy Team in Training. There's running, then there's the company of runners, then there's the special camaraderie of TNT runners.

Anyway, K, you picked a great race. We did just fine. Here's a photo of the San Gabriel Valley Team from our 10k . ( I'm the gray-haired one in the back.)