Big Sur Marathon

[ststephen]

Not a big TR but just a few quips and shots from today's race.

The Big Sur Marathon starts 26.2 miles south on Highway 1 from the finish in outskirts of Carmel. They shut down Highway 1 to most non-race traffic for most of the race and shuttle the runners down in school buses. To get that all done in time for a 6:45 start means you are boarding a bus around 4:00 AM. Ouch!

Then, you are at the starting area still in the dark wondering why you are not sleeping comfortably in your bed.

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I was running this race with a big group of friends who were all supporting an amazing member of our running family: Khartoon (pronounced Ha-Tune). She is 73 years-old and today's race was her 25th Big Sur Marathon. She's got maybe 80 marathons and some ultra-marathons under her belt too but didn't start running until she was 45. Not surprisingly she is full of life and greets us for our long runs early in the morning with her trade mark greeting: "Good Morning, Sunshine". Here she is before the race

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And some other shots of our group. Apologies for the poor shots but the smiles make up for it:

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Soon we were on our way:

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In case we forgot how far it was back this sign reminded us:

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Check out the Navi girl in this shot. I said "Go Team Pandora" when I saw her :haha:

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You can see the road winding up the big hill of the course in the distance: Hurricane Hill.

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At the bottom of Hurricane Hill is the famous Bixby Bridge

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There was some music along the way:

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They had these humorous mile markers. I didn't shoot most of them but here was one at the end:

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Finally the finish line:

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Congratulating Khartoon at the end:

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It was a tough hilly course and I am quite sore today, but it was rewarding. If you're wondering I had a very slow time, my second worst ever at 4:26. But any day you can run 26.2 miles is one to be proud of.

[Felicia]

Awesome accomplishment! Looks like you had a beautiful weather day.

[DiscGo]

Good work! I am very impressed. And as far as marathons go, I would think that the Big Sur marathon is among the prettiest in the world.

[erial]

Where's the photos of the belly dancers? Looks like you had a great day weather-wise. Any headwind to contend with? And all that slogging thru Buckskin, any factor, plus or minus, in your race time? That course is a tough one, but the scenery and the comraderie don't get any better. Your photos are the exclamation point.

[Sombeech]

Looks like an awesome place to have a marathon.

[ststephen]

Dang, I missed belly dancers??? I'm gonna get my man card pulled!

I do think this has to be one of the most beautiful marathon courses. It's hard to put together 26 miles of scenery. Honolulu was not so consistently pretty, for example.

I think my backpacking trip and Buckskin slog was OK. The spring break dates put it unfortunately right at the weekend I would have done my last long run (21 days out) so we had to do that one weekend early. But I think it was OK to have a cross-training weekend in that slot instead. What I lacked was more (OK *any*) speed workouts in my training. I really did the bare minimum for this race, which is my modus operandi for marathons :lol8:

That's not all laziness, I think it's easy to over-train and then get injured or just be too worn out to perform well on race day. But when I had my personal best marathon time I had a more rigorous training program. This was more about team spirit and just having fun.

[accadacca]

Congrats! Yep beautiful.

Hey, speaking aliens...

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[erial]

The belly dancers were usually around mile 25 near where the divers put in. Haven't run Big Sur since 2005 so maybe the ladies are no longer encouraging the runners at that spot. I see where Big Sur next year will be held on May 1. No conflict for me so I hope to make it back out there.

I was curious about the Buckskin/Marathon matchup because I'd spent a week in Zion last November before experiencing a late race bonk at the Chickamauga Marathon. At the time I was more inclined to blame it on jet lag rather than hike fatigue. Hey, bonks happen. So does Plantar Fasciitis. Now that really sucks.

[TreeHugger]

Congrats on what looks like a really fun race!! I can NOT believe Khartoon is that old, she really doesnt look it and what an inspiration!!

[ststephen]

Ah, yes at the beach where the Carmel River is. I think there was a samba band instead of belly dancers:

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OK, since I did stop to snap a pic I think my man card is safe after all :naughty:

Treehugger: I can't wait to tell Khartoon that, I'm sure it will make her day!