With a couple of weeks left of my self-induced month long rest, I’ve had time to finalize my race wish list for 2010. Of course, this is subject to change and still needs to by signed off on by my better half. I’m trying to run at least one more race per year and this year has five events on the schedule. Please let me know if you plan on running any of these races. I loved to meet you in person (just like Team Flash in Florida).

Walt Disney World Marathon
Orlando, Florida
January 10
Mission Complete

6 Tunnels Half Marathon or Red Rock Canyon Half Marathon or both?
Henderson, NV/Las Vegas, NV
March 13/March 6

I need to do a little more digging on these races. I ran the Red Rock half last year and it’s great. The course is run on the scenic drive that weaves through Red Rock Canyon and the views alone are worth the $70 entry fee (until 2/21). The inclines are steep and yes your legs will be put to the the test but the organization was great and the medals were a really nice surprise.

The 6 Tunnels half looks really cool and I’ve heard good things about it. It is all the way across the valley (Red Rock is literally 5 minutes from my house) but the course route follow an old railway line that was used in the building of Hoover Dam. It goes thru tunnels cut thru the mountains and there are views of Lake Mead and Hoover Dam along the way. It happens to be a day before my wedding anniversary so I need to tread lightly on this one.

Fargo Marathon
Fargo, ND
May 22

Yes, I’ve finally committed and will be going home to run in the city I grew up in. After being lobbied by several friends for several years, my boyz and I will be going back to my roots. This will be another chance to run with my sister and I’m really excited to be running with one of my very good friends from high school who is going to run for the first time since a cervical spine fusion in 2000. They’re shooting for 20,000 runners this year so if you’re looking for a great race around this time, this one’s for you!!! Runner’s World ranked Fargo the 8th in the Top 10 marathons in the U.S. They’re also breaking off the 5K this year a day earlier and are offering participants the Go Far Challenge where you can race both the 5K and either the 10K, half or full marathon and earn a special medal (much like Disney’s Goofy’s Challange). Go Far in 2010!!!

Running With The Devil Half Marathon
Boulder City, NV
June 26

I almost ran this one last year but I think I was a little beat up. This is one of those “what are you thinking” races. The event ranges in distances from 5K to 50 miles but the kicker is the starting times. Each distance is planned to start so you’ll be racing during the hottest part of the day. This is June by the way and it’s the desert – you put two and two together and you’ll understand the race name. The marathon starts at 10 a.m. and the half starts at noon. The one good thing about this race is you don’t have to worry about getting up at 3 a.m. to make it to the corrals. Heck, you might even have a chance for a nap before the gun sounds.

Disneyland Half Marathon
Anaheim, CA
September 5 (Labor Day Weekend)

This will be my fourth year running this race and I can’t imagine not having this race on my schedule. This is the fifth year the race is being held (can’t believe I didn’t know about the first one) and they will be offering a special 5th year medal. This race will also complete my Coast to Coast Challenge – running Disney World and Disneyland in the same calendar year. The Angels won’t be in town again this year so that should mean the route will take us thru Anaheim Stadium again. It’s a crazy adrenaline rush and I’ve been know to walk that section just to spend a little more time in there.

Ragnar Relay
Valley of Fire to Las Vegas, NV
October 22-23

This is going to depend on two things and two things only. First, how is my body feeling and second, can I find a team this year. I was so excited that Ragnar came to Vegas last year. Since my fist expo when I picked up one of their brochures, I wanted to run this race. So last year, I thought I had a team all lined up and ready to go when it all just seemed to fade away. This year, I’m going to be looking high and low for a team. Whether I know you or not it won’t matter – just give me a holler and I’m there.

Rock-n-Roll Las Vegas Marathon
Las Vegas, NV
December 5

I plan to bookend my marathons this year. Last year’s inaugural Rock-n-Roll “rocked” and I expect more of the same next year. With over 23,000 participants last year, I’m fully expecting this race to boom in the next couple of years into one of the nations bigger marathons. The organization was top notch, running up and down the strip is crazy and the course is well thought out. Even though I struggled last year I still thought the whole experience was one of my favorite of the year.

So that’s it (for now). After looking over this list after I typed it, I realized that I could be doing 7-8 race this year. That’s double what I’ve ever run before so we’ll see how it goes. I can guarantee that Fargo, Disneyland and Las Vegas are in stone – the others will fall into place.

RMFR

Disneyland 1/2 Marathon
Sunday, September 6th, 2009

First, let me say I’m biased when it comes to this race. It’s the one race I run that my family can actively participate in almost all the hoopla – and when they can’t, there’s plenty to keep them occupied. With that said, I enjoyed this year’s event (Expo aside) more than the previous two.

In previous years, I was always really early to the start which meant lots of waiting. This year, I slept in a little later and headed to the start a 1/2 hour before the gun. Big mistake. With over 13,500 runners, I was trapped in the back of Corral B. In fact, I couldn’t get into my corral until the wheelchair start when they lifted the gates between A and B. Normally this wouldn’t bother me much except I knew that the more people in front of me would mean slow going running thru the parks.

The weather was almost perfect – mid 60’s – but the humidity was in the 70% range. This meant more water and not skipping stations. As an added bonus, a marine layer of clouds blew inland just as the sun was rising and stayed for good hour before the sun burned it off.

As predicted, the first three miles thru Disney’s California Adventure and Disneyland proved to be slow. I was only able to average 10/min. miles and couldn’t wait to hit the streets of Anaheim. The coolest thing about this race is the community participation. I’ve never competed in a race with so many different organization represented. From cheer groups, bands, dancers, boy and girl scouts – it’s really fun to see a community get behind an event like this.

Knowing I had a lot of time to pick up, I kicked it into gear and started putting in low 8/min. miles. Since I’m no speedster, I think I’m most proud of the fact that between miles 3-9 I was able to keep this pace steady. In fact, when I paced out my time, I was actually looking at a 1:57 finish which would have been a great time for me and a personal best.

The sports geek in my really comes out when the race route reaches the Honda Center (home of the Anaheim Ducks) and Angel Stadium. First the course wrapped around the Honda Center and then onto the Santa Ana trail (a hard pack trail that runs next to the Santa Ana river). I swear that the first step I took on that trail, a rock with my name on it found it’s way into my shoe. Not wanting to ruin my new found “speed,” I chose to wait until I exited the trail at the next water stop. This is where my race took a turn for the worse.

As I took off my shoe and rid myself of my pesky passenger, I stiffened up like a board. In a matter of 30 seconds, I could barely move. Only the thought of running thru Angel Stadium got my wheels moving again.

Running thru Angel Stadium is awesome. It’s amazing how big the stadium is and imaging yourself playing in front of 40,000 fans makes the trip thru it an adventure. To add to the atmosphere, there had to be at least a thousand boy and girl scouts in the stands – all in the front row waiting for high fives. This was the coolest moment of the whole race and I truly appreciate everybody who was there and the organizers for putting that whole thing together.

After exiting the stadium, my legs were like boards. I downed my last gel and struggled to get back to a comfortable pace for the next two miles. Not until the last mile was I able to loosen up again and pick it up to the finish. I ended up finishing in 2:02:13 which was a course best for me by 8 minutes.

I love this race and as long as my family and I can make it there on Labor Day, I’ll run in this race. My only regret is that I didn’t run the inaugural race (I wasn’t so much a runner then) and be able to say I’ve run in every race.

Registration is now open for next years race on September 5th. Sign up early because it fills up fast. I’ll see you there.

The Disneyland 1/2 Marathon course has been released. I would say FINALLY but I haven’t checked in a long time and to their credit, it may have been posted for quite awhile. As a fan of all things sports, I’ve been eagerly awaiting the course route. I’ll explain…

In 2007, the first year I ran this 1/2 Marathon, the course wound around the Honda Center, along the Santa Ana Trail and then looped thru Angel Stadium. We entered thru an entrance in the outfield and ran down the first base line, rounded home base and then exited down the third base line. It was a total “geek out” moment for me as I’d never been to Angel Stadium. They had a camera on the runners and up on the huge video monitor. To add to the coolness of this moment, they had an announcer behind home plate who would call out peoples names based on their bib numbers.

Last year, the Los Angeles Angels were in town and that meant no running thru the stadium. Talk about a letdown!!! Disney then replaced our baseball running experience by routing us underneath the “the Big A”. Ummmm, no, not the same thing!!!

This year the Angels are again on the road. Rejoice runners!!! We now get to run thru the “Big A” AND make our victory lap thru the stadium. Let’s just hope that this trip down memory lane doesn’t include the weather from 2007 where the race was almost black flagged due to the heat and humidity.

Click here to view a larger map.

As we enter triple digit temperatures here in Las Vegas for the next 5 months, I’m already daydreaming about the fall and winter race schedule. This year it filled up pretty quickly without much thought having been put into it. I’m dying to get back on a training program because not having one leaves room for skipping workouts. Here’s the schedule and a review of each:

2009 Disneyland Half Marathon
September 6
This will be the third year in a row that I will have run this family-oriented race. The course runs through Disneyland and California Adventure theme parks as well as the well manicured streets of Anaheim. While running through the parks is an event to itself there is a small let down as you head out on the streets during miles 4-8. Things again get interesting as you run by the Honda Center (home of the Anaheim Ducks), down the Santa Ana Trial (flanking the Santa Ana river), around/thru (ran the foul lines in 2007 and thru the “A” in 2008) Angel Stadium until heading back thru California Adventure and Downtown Disney to the finish. Running thru the parks with the characters and employees is awesome and the community support with bands and cheerleaders is second to none.

Ragnar Relay Las Vegas
October 9-10
(Valley of Fire to Las Vegas)
I’ve been interested in the Ragnar Relays since seeing their booth at my very first expo in 2006. Now they are finally coming to me and I’m pumped. This isn’t set in stone as of yet, but I’m working on a team as we speak. The relay calls for teams made up of 12 runners and a couple of support vehicles. You run for 5 miles, relax/ride/sleep/eat, run for 5 miles, relax/ride/sleep/eat, run for 5 miles and you’re done. The spirituality and camaraderie that will accompany this run has me so excited that I can’t wait for it to come.

Rock-n-Roll Las Vegas Marathon
December 6
As excited I am for Ragnar, I’m just as excited for the new management for the Las Vegas Marathon. This was my first marathon in 2006 and the event was going downhill ever since. The previous owners ran into financial trouble and it showed. In 2007 and 2008 I ran the halfs, but now that the Competitor Group has taken over and brought Rock-n-Roll to Vegas, I going long again. If you haven’t run the Las Vegas strip, this is a must run. It’s hard to give a proper review with the event changing hands but if it’s anything like what I’ve seen from the other Rock-n-Roll’s, it’s going to be great!!!

2010 Walt Disney World Marathon
January 10
Yes, I know I’ve told you that I’m excited for each of the previous races but this one is it!!! Not for the fact that it’s Disney World or that the entire race is run thru the park. Not for the fact that I’ve never been to Florida or that it’s another great Disney family trip. This one is going special. My sister, who just finished her first marathon relay, is going to be running her first marathon with me. She’s been so supportive of my recent running conversion that I could not be more excited that she has made the running leap of faith and we’ll be side-by-side cheering each other on. I’m sure the race will be great too.

Looking at my schedule will help me thru my training runs this summer. There’s only so many times you can tell yourself that 95 degrees isn’t that hot – at 10 PM!!!