Robert Waite Photo's
Me, my wife, my son, my daughter, and a friend of my daughter ran. My fourth half, my wife's third, and everyone else's first. My son and daughter didn't really train for the race, my daughter's friend runs track and cross country, so she's pretty fit. My wife and I are training for the St. George marathon in a month.
Since we live locally, the plan was to go to the expo on Saturday, and then we had a hotel for Sunday night so we wouldn't have to get up extra early.
Got to the expo and got our packets. My wife and I were assigned to corral D; the kids were in corral F. My wife was going to run with my son, but I had other things in mind, so I had results from Fontana Days and they placed me in corral B. So I would be in the first wave.
Got up on Monday morning and got ready. We left the hotel at 4:30 and it was already about 78 degrees. We walked over to the staging area, had energy bars (Snickers Marathon Bars, YUM!), got some water, and then checked our stuff at the gear check. Not long after that, they called for people to head to their corrals.
Bid adieu to the others and headed to my corral. They had port o potties there so I thought I better make a stop. Took care of business then went and sat down.
We had some pep talks from the announcer, the president of Disneyland resort, and the mayor of Anaheim. Then the National Anthem was sung by a 10 year old girl with great pipes, then some fireworks. They sent off the wheelchair racers, and about 10 minutes later, we were off!
I.ve been training for St. George so I really wanted to see what I could do here. I was worried about the heat and was filled with self doubt. I decided I would go out conservatively and see how I felt.
Right from the start, it was hot and humid. We started on streets and made our way to California adventure and Disneyland. The crowd support was great! We got to the parks and workers and characters were there, cheering us on! We then exited the parks and headed west, toward the Honda Center and Anaheim Stadium. We were greeted by an almost constant collection of bands, dancers, cheerleaders, and spectators. I high fived as many people as I could!
I made sure that I drank water and (weak) Powerade at every aid station. It was hot, but I settled into a comfortable pace. Took a gel somewhere around mile 6 and pressed on. Doing some figuring in my head, it looked like I could PR if I kept up my current pace
About mile 10, right around Anaheim Stadium, the heat started to get to me. I was a little light headed and a little nauseated. I decided that I needed to slow down a bit. Then just before mile 12, the course goes under the freeway. Shade! I decided to walk that section to see if I could get my wits about me. It worked. I trudged on, getting back to California Adventure. One last water stop to grab some water, then on to Downtown Disney. Didn't have a kick in me today! Crossed the finish line and got my chip clipped, got my finisher's medal, and all that other stuff. Then went to meet up with family and cheer on runners and running family members.
Live Results sent sporadic texts to our phones. I was concerned and actually called my wife. She was struggling in the heat and sent our son on. I didn't know where our daughter was. I was afraid she would DNF. But I got some texts that confirmed she was doing okay. Watched them all come in and went to meet them and take pictures.
Went back to the hotel, loaded up, and headed home.
Live Results had my finish time at 2:12:15, 23 seconds off my PR. I was feeling disappointed. I felt good and didn't really have any issues, other than the heat. When I checked official results, my official chip time was 2:11:47. A 5 second PR! And my old PR was at Fontana, a much faster course!
My wife finished in 3:02:43
Son finished in 2:53:54
Daughter finished in 3:18:05
Daughter's Friend finished in 2:39:24
It took them about 20 minutes to get to the start line; it was probably in the 80's when they started and in the 90's when they finished! My wife said there were several people receiving aid when she was out on the course.
