Alameda Runners – Get After It!

We did the Oakland Half Marathon today. You can tell it was a special event for us just by looking at all of the posts. I carried a pace sign for the 2:15 group today and the turn out was tremendous. At first, we thought there were about 30 people in our group. Looking back at the pictures, it was more like 50 people. I could feel the excitement just by walking around the start/finish area. People saw my sign and ask if they could join and just talked about distance running logistics. Quite a few people saw my sign and used it as a gauge to where they should start the run. Out of the small group on the original plan, only Michael stayed with me after mile 1. The rest of the group were people who saw the sign and joined us. Read more… »

This morning was the inaugural Oakland Running Festival, and we led the 2:15 pace group (half marathon).  We have two pages of pictures (page one) and (page two) ,  with Mike expected to randomly grab pictures and write a quick note about some of our adventures today.

The crowds were out in force along the route today, especially towards the end of the race around Lake Merritt.  The Oakland Police Department and event organizers did a good job making sure the streets were closed off, so we didn’t have any problems.

Already looking forward to the 2011 Oakland Running Festival!

Hm.  I should have known better, but I still made one of those mistakes that seems to be a live and learn type moment.  I know I shouldn’t eat a Clif Bar without washing it down with water — but I tried any way.  (Also learned that perhaps I should wait  to eat bananas after the run is over.)

Felt great the entire run, but all of the chow I ate on course came very close to coming back up.  Here is a picture that shows some of my discomfort.

Turned out to be okay, but there were a couple of uneasy minutes at the end.