Superstitions & Other Issues

While I'm not really superstitious, there are some superstitions I follow for a race.

I don't wear the race t-shirt until I finished the race.  Of course, I will try on the t-shirt at the Expo to see if it fits.  I find it weird to see people wearing the race t-shirt during the race.  But, hey whatever floats your boat!!

I always put on my left sock, then my left shoe, then my right sock and right shoe before a race.   

The biggest superstition is, if a timing chip is suppose to be on my shoe, the timing chip has to be on my left shoe.  While this may never be an issue, if the timing chip had to be on your right shoe, I would not do the race-even if the medal was the best design!

Other issues-

I won't do any half or full marathons that start in Orange County.  I hate what the Orange Curtain stands for and most of the people who live there!  If I decide to do the So Cal Ragnar race, I will do that.  But that is a bit different.  Whether I can stand being in a van for about 23 hours with people I may or may not know, is more of an issue.

Thus, I won't do any Disney races.  But, also Disney races are so damn expensive!  And other than running around Mickey's House, it's a boring course!!

Even though I live in Los Angeles and would love to do 5K's or 10K's hosted by the pro sports teams, I won't do any in LA since I hate all the teams in LA, except the Lakers. 

I have never done a full marathon.  I would do the LA Marathon, but that bastard jerk owner, frank mccourt, is the owner.  Since I have no respect for that jerk mccourt, I will not do the LA Marathon as long as he is the owner.  That cheap bastard only cares about one thing- $$$$$$$$$$.  Look at the high prices for the LA Marathon! 

Some Notes on Race Reviews

Every race that I review will be a honest review.  I pay for all my races!  I'm not sponsored by any companies nor am I an ambassador for any races.  I hate reading reviews that offer all glowing BS reviews because that person is either an ambassador or gets to run the race for free! 

Now, if I ever get to run a race for free, I will still post an honest review.  I won't run a race if the race organizers say I can't post a online review. 

2014 & 2015 Awesome 80's 5K & 10K

Pac Man Fever and Back to the Future!  Those are the two reasons why I did the Awesome 80's Race in 2014 and 2015!  The medals they gave out were awesome!

Bib pick up- There wasn't an Expo for either 2014 or 2015.  You picked up your bib and a damn cotton t-shirt at the Rose Bowl.  In 2014, they only had half the list of runners, somehow they didn't bring the other half.  If you didn't know your bib number, you better have a smart phone.  Despite that, pick up was fast and easy.  In 2015, they had the entire list, so pick up was quick and easy.

T-shirt- A Ms. Pac-Man t-shirt design in 2014 was fine, but it was a damn cotton t-shirt.  I asked the race organizers that I would even pay extra if they changed the T-shirts to tech material.  But, in 2015 same damn cotton t-shirt.  If 2015 wasn't the 30th anniversary of Back to the Future, I wouldn't have done the race.

Race Day.

2014- I did the 5K and the route was a boring run around the Rose Bowl.  The race organizers didn't even close down the course, so there are other runners and even walkers with strollers on the course.  It was fine.  But, they didn't even keep time for each runner.  They had some BS, that it was a "Fun Run"  Well many people were upset because in 2015 every runner had a chip!

2015-I did the 10K was the route was two times around the Rose Bowl.  BORING!  But, this time the bibs had a timing chip because of the uproar from 2014.  The race was disorganized from the start.  If memory serves my correctly the starting time was 8am.  But,  we didn't start the damn race until 8:20 am.  The loud obnoxious DJ tried all the stupid BS delay tactics like let's stretch or have some stupid contests.  Right then I decided I'm not doing this stupid race again.  When finally started and if there is anything worse than running around the Rose Bowl, it's running around the Rose Bowl twice in the damn rain!  Of course the race organizers can't control the weather, but this was the day Southern California got record rainfall for a day in July!

Medal-  The only good thing about this terrible race!  2014 the medal was Ms. Pacman shaped the size of a cassette tape!!  Do kids even know what cassette tapes are?  In 2015, since it was the 30th anniversary of when a flying DeLorean went Back to the Future, the medal was a DeLorean. Both medals were heavy, not some cheap ass thin medals like the crappy New Year's Race medals!

I only did the Awesome 80's Race because of the medals.  The organizers do not listen to runner's concerns, the people paying the fees. It's a boring course!  Let me tell you how disorganized the terrible race organizers are!  Every good race organizer sends past participants an email when registration starts for the next year's race.  I  never got that email from the terrible Awesome 80's Race for the 2015 or 2016 race.  I have the same email address and check my spam folder, nothing from the terrible organizers!!  I found out about the 2015 race through social media.  I wasn't looking or cared if I saw info about the 2016 race, but again no email!

There is no way in hell I would do another Awesome 80's Race.  Terrible organization, late starts, boring course makes for a bad combination! 

2016 Rock n Roll San Francisco

Flight 93!  Whenever I do a race in San Francisco my bib has Flight 93 printed on it to honor the 40 Heros of Flight 93.  On September 11, 2001, 40 strangers boarded United 93 from Newark, New Jersey bound for San Francisco.  But, Flight 93 was one of the four hijacked planes that terrible day.  In 30 minutes those 40 strangers fought back and tried to take over the plane from the terrorists.  Their fight would end in a field in Shanksville, PA.  Thus becoming heros to an entire nation!

There are a few things I do not like about the Flight 93 story.  First of all Flight 93 had information about the other three hijacked planes.  The passengers on FLight 93 acted upon that information.  The passengers in ALL THREE of the other planes would have done exactly the samething as the passengers on Flight 93, if they had the same information!

I also don't like how people think it was only four passengers who fought back!  Richard Guadagno, worked for the US Forrest Service.  He carried a gun while on the job.  If you don't think he fought back, you're an idiot!

But, most of all I hate the idiot "truthers!"  Only an idiot would believe the terrorists wanted to crash into a field in the middle of nowhere!  Whether the passengers reached the cockpit and fought for control of the plane or the terrorists lost control of the plane, the terrorists failed to accomplish their mission!  A national symbol was saved!

So, every time I run a race in San Francisco, I try to see the city through the eyes one of the 40 passengers of Flight 93.  San Francisco may have been home for some, a business trip for others, and vacation spot for others.  It's a beautiful city and every time I see San Francisco, I think about the 40 Heroes of Flight 93!

Writing this review on the 5th anniversary of the successful completion of Operation Neptune Spear by US Navy Seals, makes it even more special!  Geronimo, Geronimo, Geronimo!" Geronimo EKIA!!  "We got him!!"

Another reason I love doing RnRSF is that I can wear my BALTIMORE RAVENS cap and SUPER BOWL CHAMPION t-shirt to rub salt into a very deep wound!!

Expo-Held at the Moscone Center, where parking is expensive or terrible.  I took a bus and walked a couple blocks.

A good sized expo with a lot of vendors.  Bib and t-shirt pick up is a breeze.

Race Day-The starting line is near the beach and it's freezing!  Dress in layers when you do this race.  Gear check was quick and easy.

Course-the first 3-4 miles is where you'll get most of the elevation gain for this race.  Then you see the beautiful Golden Gate Bridge and you can't wait to get there!  The Golden Gate Bridge isn't flat but, it's not very hilly either.  They close down two lanes of traffic for runners and it can get crowded!  But the views are fantastic!  After the bridge you go downhill for a little bit until reaching a long stretch of flat roads.  But, just when you think you're done with the hills, about two miles from the finish comes a hill.  But, then you're basically running downhill to the finish!

There were mile markers and timers everywhere!

This year RnR SF had "The Blue Mile" which is a tribute- signs with a picture of the men and women in the military who made the ultimate sacrifice for this country!  This was a very moving scene.  I think since this is RnR San Francisco, the Blue Mile should include the 40 Heroes of Flight 93!  So what, that they aren't in the military!  They won the first battle in this war!!! 

I always say Rock n Roll is my easiest half marathon because I have the help of the 40 Heroes of Flight 93 helping me!  I can feel them pushing me through the tough hills on the course.  I can feel their presence when I see and run along the Golden Gate Bridge. 

Finish Area- One compliant about RnR races is that the Finisher's Photo Op is now reserved for the official photographers of the race.  It's an easy work around, just ask the person behind you to take a picture, like I did!

The medal was pretty cool.  Not a great design but, not bad either.

Water, bananas, protein bars, and some other snacks were given out.  You could have gotten as many protein bars as you wanted!

It's no secret that I love RnR races!  They are always well organized! I hope the 2017 RnR San Francisco has "The Blue Mile" and includes a picture of each of the 40 Heroes of Flight 93!

2015 Sunset Strip Half Marathon

One of my favorite half marathons in 20015 was the first Sunset Strip Half.  What attracted me to the race was the great medal and the great swag.  The long sleeve tech t-shirt was awesome!

I'm always leery of a new race.  Do they know what they are doing?  Will they be organized?  Will they just take our money and leave all runners hanging.  But, the price was right, about $70.  So I figured do it and become a legacy runner.  There were a few bumps before the start.  Their social media game needed work.  They wouldn't answer/reply to questions on all social media platforms.  

Bib pickup- This was in a park near the starting line.  Parking was metered street parking.  Not much in the way of vendors.  But, getting the cool t-shirt and bib was very easy.

Race Day- Gear check was quick and easy.

Starting line was fine, but they needed to do wave starts.  The start was too crowded.  Route was really cool!  You got to run by some iconic nightclubs where some hall of fame bands and singers got their start!

There were a couple out and back, but instead of putting the water station in the middle, they were on one side.  Maybe they lacked volunteers but to help runners, put the water station in the middle of the street for out and backs!  But, the water stations were well stocked and staffed.

Pretty good snacks after the race too. 

The best part of this race was the seeing a soldier in full uniform run the entire half marathon carrying the American Flag!  I was stretching and heard loud cheers and the announcer said the female soldier was crossing the finish line.

I was really looking forward to the 2016 Sunset Strip Half Marathon, but after numerous attempts to contact the organizers through social media, it became clear there wasn't going to be a race in 2016.  Too bad because besides a few minor issues, this was a great race!

Pat's Run

Pat's Run is by far, my favorite run because of who it is named after and who it helps!  Pat's Run, which started in 2004, is named after Pat Tillman, who gave up his NFL career and joined the Army after the 9/11 attacks.  Pat Tillman was killed by friendly fire on April 22, 2004.  Then President Bush lied to the Tillman family about how Pat was killed.  They came up with this fairy tale that it was enemy fire, while it was clear from the start, it was friendly fire.

The Pat Tillman Foundation hosts Pat's Run in Tempe, Arizona, where the finish line is the 42 yard line at Sun Devil Stadium.  There are about 40,000 runners in Tempe each year!  The Foundation also hosts Shadow Runs all across the country.  There has been a Pat's Run in the Los Angeles area since 2006.  Since 2014 Pat's Run has been at American Junkie in Hermosa Beach.  Pat's Run are 4.2 miles, which represent the number 42, which Pat Tillman wore at Arizona State!

Pat's Run raises money to fund scholarships for Military Scholars! 

Each year Pat's Run has a theme.  The themes are the t-shirt you get for doing Pat's Run.

In 2014 it was Never Stop Honoring.

2015 Run with It!

This year's theme was Live Your Dash.  The theme came from one of Pat's friends, who said you have two dates; the day you were born and the day you die, and there is a dash between those two dates, so Live Your Dash!!!

The Arizona St. Alumni Association of LA hosts Pat's Run.  You register through the Pat Tillman Foundation website.  You do not have to be an ASU Alum to run at Pat's Run!!  Now, the most important thing to remember is that you must register before the deadline to get a t-shirt on race day!!  If you register after the deadline, the t-shirt will be mailed to you.  This has been an issue because people do not read!  T-shirt pick is very quick and easy. 

American Junkie is a bar/restaurant on the Hermosa Beach Pier and serves as the start and finish.  You pick up your t-shirt at American Junkie and after a few announcements the race starts.  There is no timing chip.  You either use your running watch or an app.  This was the first year runners got bibs.  The t-shirt and bibs are exactly like Pat's Run in Tempe. 

In 2014 and 2015 the route went south towards Redondo Beach along the strand.  But, this year the route took us north towards Manhattan Beach.  There stand is open and there are runners, walkers and bikers but it is never really too crowded and you move along fine.

After the race, American Junkie hosts a very good brunch which is included with your race registration.  Eggs, sausage, bacon, pancakes, cinnamon rolls, and some fruit were on the buffet this year.  You can add bottomless mimosa for $10.

As long as I'm in a city where Pat's Run is being hosted I'm doing it!  It honors a great man who made the ultimate sacrifice for his country.

2016 Rock n Roll Arizona

Two weeks after doing the terrible New Year's Race, I drove to Arizona for Rock n Roll Arizona!!  Rock n Roll Arizona would be my first race in the state of Arizona!  I haven't been to Arizona since 2007.  I was also looking forward to going to Arizona to see my friend who would be running her first half marathon! 

I love the way Rock n Roll organizes their races.  Almost every race smoothly and their medals are almost always great. Or maybe I just loving getting all the medals! 

If you're going to do a lot of Rock n Roll races, buy the Tour Pass.  There are two different tour passes.  A 3 pack tour pass- you can do any three RnR races or the Global tour pass-you can do any RnR race!

After getting a tour pass, the next thing to do is register, for FREE, for their "Heavy Medal" program.  If you run two or more half or full marathons, RnR will send you one of their Heavy Medals!  Heavy medals for running 2-4 races are mailed to you.  Starting with race #5, you can pick it up after the race.  I don't know why RnR wants to spend all that money on mailing, but hey, I'm not going to complain about getting FREE medals!!

RnR also has their Remix Challenge, where you do the 5K on Saturday and either the half or full on Sunday, and you get the Remix Challenge Medal, again FREE of charge.  For 2016, the Remix Challenge Medal is awesome!!  There is no need special sign up for the Remix Challenge.  When you pick up your bib you will get a wristband to get your Remix Medal.

If that wasn't enough RnR has"Limited Edition" Medals, which are basically medals for doing 2 or more races in a certain area.  In California, if you do 3 of the 4 RnR races, San Francisco, San Diego, San Jose and Los Angeles, you get the CA Combo Medal.  By finishing the RnR Arizona, I got the Desert Double Down Medal.  Again these medals are FREE!!

RnR Arizona would be tied, with RnR Vegas, for the most medals I've received in two days of racing, 4.  The two race medals, Remix Challenge Medal and the Limited Edition Medal.

I think the most medals for two days of RnR races is 6- the two race medals, Remix Challenge medal, and two different Limited Edition Medals-the second Limited Edition Medal is the World Rocker- finish two halfs in two different countries, and heavy medal!  RnR Vancouver is one of the races where you can earn 6 medals for two days of races, but you have to do other RnR races to be eligible for the limited edition medals.

Expo-

Located in downtown Phoenix, metered parking was easy to find.

Bib and t-shirt pick are very quick and easy at RnR races.  The lines move quickly.  The best thing about RnR races is that they give you a package of safety pins for your bib and blue tie down thing for your gear check!

Timing Chip- Unlike the cheap New Year's Race, RnR races have a time chip that is attached to your bib and you can keep the chip.  There is a video at the Expo that shows how the chip is suppose to be attached to your shoe.  Now comes a pet peeve.  The timing chip has two pieces-the actual chip which has your name, and an strip that can be thrown away!  Many people keep that extra strip on their bib.  The problem is that when race photographers are taking picture, the extra strip can block your number.  So it makes it tougher to identify your race pictures.  If I see a runner with that extra strip, I'll tell them that it's not needed. 

This was a very busy weekend for races all over the country, so I was pleasantly surprised to see so many vendors, and quality vendors at the expo.

But, the vendor I was most looking forward to seeing was the new energy sponsor for RnR, Glukos.  I use GU and Cliff brand gels and chews/gummies during a race, but had never heard of or seen Glukos.  Now, I never try something new on race day.  So I just bought a couple gummies and saved them for later.  I now love Glukos brand gummies and tablets!  They taste great and they work for me.  They are still hard to find at stores, so I still get the other brands, but whenever I do a RnR race, I'll stock up on Glukos.  If you're new to running, try different energy products and find out what works best for you!  You can talk to three runners and one will swear by GU, the other Cliff and the third, Glukos. So, try different brands and see what works best for you!!

I went Friday night because I had to pick up my bib for the 5K on Saturday, since RnR either does have or charges for race day bib pick up.  Which brings me to an issue that gets debated a lot on RnR social media.  At all Rock n Roll races, you must pick up your own bib!  They do NOT allow a friend, spouse etc to pick up your bib for you!  This maybe the only race that has this policy, but the policy is clearly stated when you sign up!  Can this be a logistical nightmare for runners traveling to a race?  Of course!  Flights are delayed or canceled, hotel rooms are expensive etc.  But, again RnR clearly states this policy!  So be prepared to pick up your own bib!

5K-Course is very nice, running along Tempe Town Lake.  Not many bottlenecks, even with a ton of people running the race.

One of the best things about RnR is the post race refreshments!  They are always stocked and give out good stuff.  The 5K is usually water, bananas, and some chip/pretzels.

Half-

Corrals were packed.  We also had to wait in the corrals for the train to pass before.  So I didn't cross the starting line until about 20 minutes after the race started.  The course was fantastic!  There was a slight hill at the 9 mile mark, but beautiful views.  I didn't know that the route takes you through the cities of Scottsdale, Temple, and Phoenix!

Post race refreshments- Water, Gatorade, chocolate milk, bananas-though they were all green, and Power Bar protein bars were given out.  At some RnR races you can get as many protein bars as you want and at others, like Arizona, there is a strict limit of one per person. 

My friend completed her first half marathon in about 30 minutes less than her estimated time!   Great job!!

My complaint about many RnR races is that there aren't always mile markers or timers on the course.  This wasn't an issue at RnR Arizona.  There were mile markers everywhere and timers that actually worked!

Medals-

As I said before RnR almost always gives out great medals and that was really true in Arizona.  The 5K and half medals, along with the Desert Double Down "Limited Edition" medal were awesome.  But, I just loved the Remix Challenge Medal! The Remix Medal is the same design for all cities that have the Remix Challenge, but the color will be different





The only complaint I have for RnR Arizona is that there are just way too many people wearing the school colors of that douchebag school in Tucson!  Don't these people know this is Sun Devil Territory??  After all, the Territorial Cup is in it's rightful home, TEMPE!  Fear the Fork!!  RnR Arizona needs to ban all gear from that douchebag Tucson school at future races!!!

I would gladly do Rock n Roll Arizona again.  

2016 New Year's Race

"Here's the story of a lovely lady
Who was bringing up three very lovely girls.
All of them had hair of gold, like their mother,
The youngest one in curls"

Why the Brady Bunch song to start this review?  I got a secret!!

After I finished the 2014 Hollywood Half, I learned about the the Best of LA Challenge Medal!  If you did the 2014 New Year's Race and the Hollywood Half you got the Best of LA Challenge Medal!  I was looking forward to earning the Best of LA Challenge Medal in 2015.  But, for whatever reason in 2015, there wasn't a Best of LA Challenge Medal.  Guess the organizers of The New Year's Race and the Hollywood Half couldn't get things worked out.

I'm guessing the New Year's Race organizers had enough feedback about a challenge medal because the 2016 New Year's Race, race organizers added the Doubleheader Challenge- run the 5K or 10K, then the half marathon for the Doubleheader Challenge Medal.  On social media many people pointed out that if you signed up for the Doubleheader Challenge, it was about $25 more than if you signed up for the each race.  So, you paid $25 extra for the Doubleheader Challenge medal and hoodie.  Would it be worth it?

An interesting thing happened about two weeks before the race.  If you did a virtual run, at any distance, for $25, you received the same Best of LA Challenge Medal that runners who completed the 2014 New Year's Race and 2014 Hollywood Half.  What did that mean?  Race organizers had a ton of medals left over from 2014 and found a way to get rid of them.   I didn't care, I liked the Best of LA Challenge Medal so much, I signed up for the virtual race and got that medal!  Besides I would do both half marathons in 2016!

Running two races on the same day was something I had never done before.  But, after seeing the Oakland Running Festival, We Run the Town Challenge, I was excited to do this challenge.  On the Oakland Running Festival website they mentioned that Challenge runners would get all three medals after finishing the half marathon.  The New Year's Race Challenge did not mention when Challenge runners would receive their medals.  So, I went on social media and asked.  But, I didn't get a reply for awhile.  I continued asking and got a response to email them and they would answer.  But, why are they playing Cindy Brady-I have a secret?  Why wouldn't you tell all Challenger runners when they are going to receive their medals?  I mean there are some logistical reasons to know, right?  If you get the 5K/10K medal after the race, where are you going to put the medal?  Nobody wants to run a half with a medal in their pocket.  Will gear check be well staffed so runner can put the medal in their bags?  So, I emailed them and they replied that the 5K and 10K medals would be given out after the race.  Then they gave some BS reason that they wanted to keep this a secret for security reason!  WTF kind of BS is that?  The Oakland Running Festival tells all runners they will receive their medals after the half, on their website!!!  While I preferred the medals after the race, just knowing that we would get the medals after the 5k/10K was fine.  That made my decision to have a gear check bag easy!

They changed the day of the race from the usual Saturday to Sunday.  Now, I understand why they changed to Sunday, because of the way New Year's Day fell on the calendar.  New Year's Day was Friday.  Maybe the race organizers correctly thought that people wouldn't want to pick up their bibs on New Year's Day.  So instead the expo was on Saturday and race on Sunday.

But, when I signed up and in all postcards, the races started at 4pm for the 5K and 10K and 6pm for the half.  Later, without notifying runners the start times changed to 6pm and 8pm.   I only found out about it on social media.  Hey New Year's Race, thanks for keeping runners informed!  NOT!!

This race has always been advertised as a night race.  They didn't surprise runners by changing at the last minute to a night race.  So, why do runners complain about the race being a night race?  Read all the crybabies bitch and complain about running at night on their Facebook page!  Really people, get a damn clue!!! If you don't like running at night, just don't sign up for the race and STFU about it being a night race.  What?  Are you scared of the dark?

Ambassadors- Race ambassadors are selected to help promote the race.  If you follow the ambassadors on social media, they will post discount codes for that race.  I'm not sure how they select ambassadors but some ambassadors for other races are terrible!  For example the Long Beach Marathon!  While waiting in line at bib pickup for Rock n Roll Los Angeles, I tried to talk to one of the ambassadors about the race.  She had on a LB Marathon t-shirt and told me she was an ambASSador.  That's about the only thing she told me.  She basically blew me off and told me to go check the website.  Yeah, thanks for your help!  Next time try and promote the race instead of being an ambASSador!  Luckily, the New Year's Race ambassador I met wasn't a jerk!

Riding the trolley while in San Diego for the Rock n Roll San Diego Half.  I met New Year's Race ambassador Martin and it was great to know that not all ambassadors are jerks!  I saw he had a New Year's Race t-shirt and I talked to him about the race.  He told me he was an ambassador and gave me some more information about the race.  He was very nice and helpful. 

Expo-Inside the Biltmore Hotel.  Bib and t-shirt were quick and easy.  Expo itself is very small with limited amount of vendors.  On weekends there is a $5-$7 parking lot caddy-corner to the hotel or take the metro!

T-shirts, short sleeve for 5K, long sleeve 1/4 zip up for the half, were cheap quality.  Hoodie for Challenge runners was also thin and cheap.  The worst part was they ran small, so the XL I got was more like a large.  This was not worth the extra $12.50 for challenge runners.

On social media the New Year's Race organizers tried to justify the higher price for the Doubleheader Challenge, by saying "Other races have a higher price for their challenge."  By other races they mean Disney.  While it is very true all Disney Challenge races are very expensive, you get great quality t-shirts and medals.  Not to mention Disney customer service!  I'm not saying Disney Challenge races are worth the, at least, $325 price tag, but Disney doesn't give you cheap crappy t-shirts or medals like New Year's Race!!

Race Day- Gear check was well staffed when I dropped off my bag.

Time chip-Another example of how cheap the New Year's Race organizers can be, is the damn timing chip.  You have to return the timing chip after the race.  They give you two twist ties at bib pickup to tie the chip on your shoe.  Right after finishing, you have to take off the chip and give it back.  Come on don't be so damn cheap!  Get the timing chips on the bibs or the chips you don't have to return!! 

The 2015 New Year's Race started somewhere near 5th and Main, which is a very narrow street.
 So of course, the corrals were jammed packed, since nobody enforced the corrals and all three distances started at the same time.

This year the starting line was near Grand Park and with the 5/10K starting before the half overcrowding wasn't an issue.  So, good idea by the race organizers to start and finish at the same area.

5K route was terrible because all runners got bottlenecked within 100 yards of the start!  What idiot designed this route?

Half was great.  But, what I don't get is all the runners crying about the hills.  WTF do they expect?  The race advertise runners will be running through the hills near Dodger Stadium!

The 2:30 pacer was great!  He was always talking, which is great!  Saying things like, "Let's hit this hill.  Or we have water coming up."  He was very encouraging and helpful.  Most pacers just run and rarely talk or if they do, they are talking to their friends. If anybody knows the name of the 2:30 pacer, please contact me!  I would like to give him the proper credit!

After the race I grabbed some water and a banana.

Medals- cheap, thin, piece of crap for the 5K and half.  What I really don't like about the 5K and half medals is that both are the same design, the half medal is just bigger.  Come on use some imagination and have two different designs!  The crazy part is that on social media runners were saying they ran out of 5/10K medals!!!  How does that happen????  Hope they got their medals!!

The Doubleheader Challenge medal was pretty cool.  That was worth the $12.50.  But, what wasn't cool was the long line to get the challenge medal.  It would have moved faster if  they had more people working the table and if they told us to unpin our bibs, so they can mark the back after you got your medal! 

5k, Half and Challenge Medal.

Gear check was well staffed and I was quickly able to put the 5K medal in my bag.  Race organizers didn't have to be Cindy Brady-I have a secret, but at least they had gear check well staff, so no waiting.


While I love the challenge of running the hills, I won't do this race again.  The medals and t-shirts are cheap.  But, the New Year's Race customer service is the worst!  Playing Cindy Brady-I have a secret, is just stupid!  There is no reason to keep when Challenger runners are going to receive their medal a secret!

The Brady Bunch,
The Brady Bunch,
That's the way we became the Brady Bunch!

2016 Hollywood Half Marathon

My first half marathon was the 2014 Hollywood Half Marathon.  I had no idea how races are set up.  I just went to the Expo, picked up my t-shirt and bib and then showed up on race day and ran.  Now after doing over 20 races, I know which races are well organized and which races are a disaster!

File the 2016 Hollywood Half, which is the 5th anniversary, as a disaster!

Expo:  Hollywood Paladium is a very dark and small place to host the Expo.  Last year many people had trouble taking pictures because of low lighting.  This year, they improved the lighting, which is good.  But, really they need to move it to another location.

I took the Metro, so parking isn't an issue. 

Not many vendors at all.  Though I was able to find and buy a very good case for my sunglasses.

Bib pick up was easy.  But, they put the bibs on one side of the room and t-shirts on the other side without any signs or people directing runners.

T-shirts-Cheap low quality crap!

Race Day:

I took Metro to the race.  It is much easier and quicker, than trying to find parking and dealing with street closure!

Gear Check.  The final instructions said gear check will be open at 4:30am.  I got to the gear check at 5am and there was a huge line!  There were three sections/tables for gear check.  But, only one of the tables had any volunteers working.  Now, understand I am not knocking the volunteers.  They are working hard and trying.  I am knocking the lack of training and direction by the race organizers.
After waiting in line for about ten minutes, finally all the tables were manned by volunteers, only 40 minutes after gear check opened!! TERRIBLE!

The race organizers told runners, on social media and the emailed final instructions, that gear check would be near the FINNISH LINE!  But, then I saw people commenting on social media that they couldn't find gear check! When all else fail, read the damn instructions!

Timing chips-on the back of our bibs.

Race:

This race has a terrible problem of walkers.  I don't care if you walk, but don't walk four abreast and block other runners!  On the race website they have a "Celebrity Etiquette Guide."  Whatever, I'm not a groupie and wouldn't recognize most celebrities!  And I sure as hell wouldn't bother them while they are running the race and ask for a pic.

What the Hollywood Half Marathon really needs is to add a "Runner's Etiquette Guide," with the number one rule, don't walk four abreast during the race!

Course- A pretty boring course once you get to the 101 Freeway and Hollywood Blvd.  The worst bottlenecks are at the turn-arounds on the out and back portions of the race.  

The fuel station was pretty empty by the time I got there.  Not many gels or chews left.

The post race refreshments were basically gone by the time I got there.  I just grabbed two bananas and some water.  No protein bars, no bagels- like past years,  nothing.  Weak, very weak!

Medal-  In and of itself, the medal is great!   As you can see, the medal has the medals from the past four races.   But, the medal should have been the "Legacy Medal!'  Legacy Runners are runners who have done the race since the first year.  Why the hell do I want a medal with medals from races I never done before?  I would have been happy with a star medal with a huge 5 to commemorate the 5th anniversary.  If I was a legacy runner, I would be pissed my legacy medal is a pink star medal.

Results and Pictures- Results were posted online by late afternoon.  So, that's fine.  But, as of 4:45pm April 17th, the pictures from the race still haven't been posted.  I got an email on April 15th, saying the pictures were ready.  But, when I clicked on the link, there was a form to fill out to be notified by email when the pictures were ready!!  WTF? 

While the Hollywood Half is special because it was my first half, I really hate doing this half.  Nothing is organized and they have no imagination!  I mean the medals are just a star with the color changed every year.  Next year they are suppose to have a different design and then the next four years only the color will change.  Very doubtful I'll do this race next year. 

Welcome to The Stairclimber Runner

I started working out on the hidden staircases in Los Angeles.  Doing 4-6 mile routes with anywhere from 6-15 staircases in the route.  Those route would have anywhere from 1,200 to 1,500 ft of elevation gain!  Then I did the Pat Tillman 42 staircases and anywhere from 14-18 miles!

Then, I wanted to challenge myself and see if I could finish a half marathon.  So, I signed up for the 2014 Hollywood Half Marathon with one month to train.  I trained by doing the stairhikes and once a week a trail run in Griffith Park.  We would run 4-6 miles with at least 2,000 ft of elevation gain.  That's it!  I had no idea there were things like; long run, tempo run, shake out run. 

To this day my training is stairhikes and trail hikes with lots of elevation gain!  If I run more than 5 miles before a race, it is because I did another race!! 

So race day comes along for the Hollywood Half.  I had no idea what to expect but I ran the race and I found I loved the challenge of finishing half marathons.

So, I started this blog to review the races I have done and will do in the future.  

My requirements for running a half:

Must give a finishers medal!

I won't do any races that are owned by that jerk, frank mccourt, the former owner of the LA dodgers!  Yes,  I did not capitalize his name for a reason!  The ironic thing is, I hate everything about the LA dodgers!!

This also means I will not do the LA Marathon as long as he is the owner.  Or the other races organized by his company!  Like the half marathon in Pasadena in January 2017,

I won't do any races behind the Orange Curtain!  So, that rules out the very expensive and very overpriced races hosted by Disney!!

Since April 2014 I have completed 16 half marathons.  In this blog I will recap past and future half marathons.