Today was the 21st running of the Los Angeles Marathon. The weather was the best it’s been in probably ten years – no rain, cool temps (upper 40’s at the start), calm winds – you name it, conditions were perfect. Both Chuck and I have run this race several times – Chuck more than me. We remember when it used to start and finish down by USC (referred to by all as “the good old days”). Chuck has had the bad luck to have run it during every one of the rainy years. So neither of us is all that hep to continue putting ourselves through the pain and misery that is running 26.2 miles. So today we went down and watched some friends do it. We watched the winners finish from the comfort of our couch, then headed for downtown L.A. After parking we trudged to the finish (or as near as we could get, which ended up being about 20 yards from the 26 mile sign) and waited…and waited…until finally Spankie (aka Bev) came speeding by at about a 3:36 finish pace. She had threatened to be doing cartwheels at the finish – let’s just say she was definitely NOT doing cartwheels though she did look quite sharp in her running skirt. Next came Dave who looked strong and was headed to a finish well under the 4:00 finish he had predicted. We waited another hour for some other friends but never saw them. We did get to see an assortment of wheelchair entries, the first dog (running with its master), and a whole lot of other very tired runners. We bugged out at about the 5:00 mark and hopped on the Red Line for the 21 mile mark. We ran for about two miles after we got off before finally finding our friend Bill, a Legacy runner (that’s a person who has run every one of the races) who didn’t train this year at all. He was looking really strong when we saw him – he had encountered a race walking coach early on and had taken his tips to heart so was basically power-walking the course. We kept him company to the finish, snapping photos along the way and generally having a good time.
We both came away with that awful energy you get at races like this. There’s a feeling in the air when you get 25,000 people all participating in what comes down to a very emotional experience – it makes you want to get out there and do it yourself. So we’re thinking if Bill sticks with this crazy streak and makes it to 25, we’ll sign up and keep him company the whole way. In the meantime, there’s Deadwood in June and we can enjoy for ourselves that special feeling when you have blood blisters on your toes that are ready to burst.