Nike #5 is what I call it.
It’s the fifth time I am running this race. First in 2009 as a full marathon and then as half marathons. This year the course changed and everyone freaked out before the race – including me. LOL.
But really there was no need for this. I LOVED the new course (Darn it! This makes me want to run it again…). Even the hill at mile 10 had nothing on me. It probably helped that we ran it during several Team in Training runs.
I got a little confused as we were diverted at several sections until I found out that was planned to allow Muni Buses to continue to run.
Running through Golden Gate Park was fun – I really should go up there more often for some fun leisurely runs on weekends.
We started the morning off with a team regrouping at one of our team hotels to take one more team photo.
A couple of my running buddies and I took one last pre-race selfie and off we went:
We were all heading to different corrals and the streets around Union Square were packed with runners. My corral started at 7am. The weather was just perfect: overcast sky with a misty air. Not quite rain, but some humidity. It took me a little while to get used to the humidity, but at some point I didn’t notice anymore.
I couldn’t find any official race photos, so they are very few photos of me running, but I got this one after the hill at mile 10:
Shortly after the picture above was taken, came one of the other highlights of this race: getting my Tiffany’s necklace.
Part of the “Tiffany’s box opening ceremony:”:
The finish line festivities weren’t quite as exciting as they were in the past. No firefighters handed over our necklaces. It was handed to us by volunteers. Let me take this moment, to say Thank You to all the volunteers on the course. You did an awesome job!
I still would have preferred to be handed the Tiffany’s necklace by a firefighter… I am just saying.
Once past the finish line, there were lines for everything:
lines to have your photo taken with a firefighter
lines to go through the race partners’ tents
lines to get into the Nike merchandising tent
lines for massages (ok – these ones I expected)
lines to get back on the shuttle bus
a very long walk to get to the shuttle buses
This post-race experience was pretty disappointing. And since I “don’t do” lines, the only one I had no choice to take was the shuttle bus line. I would have liked to see the partners’ tent or get a photo with a firefighter taken, but lining up for a significant amount of time after a half marathon just wasn’t going to happen for me. Maybe something for Nike to learn from? It hopefully helps me to stick to my plan of not running this race again. I think 5 times is a good run. It’s time to explore new races.
The best part of the post-race was hanging out with some of my tean mates for well-deserved burgers, lava cake and beer!
