Being A Runner-Spectator

With the Ultramarathon Man - Dean Karnazes at last year's B2B Expo.

As many of you now know by now, I didn't take part in the 102nd Bay To Breakers 12K on Sunday.  A number of people were surprised, as late as Saturday afternoon when telling them.  I've heard the comments from people such as "he's cheap to pay the going rate for a 12K these days."  There was another mentioning that I was afraid to participate because of the unfortunate tragedy that happened in Boston in April.  

For the first time since doing this event for 32 years, it was nice to see the race from a different perspective.  Sunday morning, I woke up at about 5:45 am and left the apartment for a 13-15 mile training run.  I decided to run west along the Presidio route and through Land's End before heading south to Golden Gate Park.  Roughly about 7:00 am, I was at the Great Highway and Kennedy Drive, the west end of the park.

Continuing in the park, I decided to run east towards Sperckles Lake which is a little over six miles into the race.  Surprisingly, there weren't much in the way of spectators that I've seen in the past while running.  The weather was fantastic with blue skies and no wind!  A few minutes later,  I saw the first runners.  Tolossa Gedefa from Ethiopia was running in front followed by U.S. Olympian - Ryan Hall.  Hall, in the red Asics singlet, was attempting to become the first American since Ed Eyestone in 1986 to win the event.  Gedefa and Hall finished one-two.

Continuing east, I was surprised, not only at the lack of the SFPD, but the number of backpacks that the midpack runners were wearing.  I thought that the SFPD was going to crack down on that.  Also, there were numerous runners that had no bib numbers as well as the usual nude runners.  I wondered how it was in other areas of the course, especially in the Panhandle and Alamo Square where I avoided running this year.

However, from my perspective, it was great to see the top runners run right before your very eyes.  I had only seen this a couple of other times at the San Francisco Marathon.  There were some very good runners today.  There was a little nostalgia when seeing the original U.C. Davis centipede, the founders and first winners of the centipede division back in the late 1970s.  I didn't feel old after all out there.

In the park, it seemed like smooth sailing for the runners but a lack of spectators.  In defense, there was another event on Sunday with the Tour de California bike race that began at the Marina Green.  

I've already talked too much about why I didn't run this year.  For the first time since 1991, I didn't enter.  Here is the list:

1.)  High entry fee.

2).  No participant medals (only given out in 2011 and 2012).   Seems like the runners are paying more for less.

3).  Course change at about the seven mile mark that didn't make any kind of sense.

4).  Increased entry fee in early March before the Across The Bay 12K race.

5).  Despite a 48 hour reduction in the entry fee (I believe in May), the corral that I was in the past several years was already filled.  No way was I going to pay and wait in a 16 minute a mile corral when averaging eight minutes a mile in this event!

6).  Had made a commitment in late February to run the San Francisco Marathon in June.

7).  Have been disappointed with the race organization for several years.  Didn't see much of an improvement this year.

This year is not the first time that I've been disappointed with this race.  It probably won't be the last either!

The 1977 Bay To Breakers had become an event that the race organizer at the time, Frank Geis, needed some much needed help.  The race became uncontrollable with unofficial runners jumping in from side streets and more.  I was knocked down twice in 1977, but got up with scrapes on my legs and finished in the top 100.  Until there was better organization, I didn't return until 1982, thanks to a conversation with Len Wallach and his organization.  In 1984, Len was instrumental with the success of the Los Angeles Summer Olympic Games and his role with the men's and women's marathons. 

In the 1990s, I suggested time after time to the Bay To Breakers organizers that they needed to do a wave start. It was something that I first saw in 1984 when running in Boulder, Colorado with the Bolder Boulder 10K. It's very successful at doing it as is the Boston and New York City Marathons currently.  The organization didn't seem to think it was important.       

Then in 2001, the Examiner newspaper changed ownership.  Initially, things seemed the same as year's past.  There was a change of television stations covering the event from KPIX to KGO.  Remembering how both stations handled it, they did it well with professionalism.

In 2002, it really changed with KRON 4 taking over the televison coverage.  It seemed that KRON 4 treated it more of a comedy show rather than a race-event that KGO and KPIX provided.  In 2010, KRON didn't even show it live despite the fact that they had the rights to the telecast.  That year, the course record was broken, an unfortunate happening for the race organizers and the television station.

The entry fees have skyrocketed thanks to a change of sponsorship from Albertson's to ING to Zazzle.  The collectable t-shirts were more than a disappointment.  The 100th edition t-shirt was a disaster when compared with the past t-shirts that we saw at the expo.  It was reminiscing to see the t-shirts from the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s.  The following year, there was no t-shirt for the first time since the early 1980s unless you wanted to pay $40 for one (thanks to Zazzle)!

There has been an increased problem with drinking in several neighborhoods.  There were some issues with a lack of porta-potties in several areas which caused some ugly scenes in the Alamo Square and Panhandle areas.  The rumblings of canceling the event even before the centennial race in 2011 made headlines.

Another tradition known as Footstock has been eliminated.  You could pick up your t-shirt at the Polo Fields, listen to some music, meet friends and unwind after a cross city 12K   

The organizers haven't been totally wrong though.  Several years ago, they're finally using the wave system nearly 20 years after my initial conversations with previous organizers.  It has made the race more smooth, especially what I've experienced over the years.  Then, of course, there are less entrants now than in years past.

There seems to be less people jumping in from the side streets, something that was dangerous in the past.  Thanks to the human walls early in the race, it has made it better.

Though Craigslist came on board late, there needed to be a major sponsor.  Hopefully, it will be better than the last two sponsors. 

I did see this year's t-shirt, but not too closely while spectating-running on this day.  Definitely, the quality looked better than it did two years ago! 

Despite all of what I posted in the above paragraphs, I still participated until this year.  However, my seven reasons early in this post were the reasons I didn't run on this beautiful Sunday.  Regrets?  No way!

The third Sunday of May in 2014 will. hopefully, be another story.  Definitely, I would like to run it again for the 33rd time! 

San Francisco's First Marathon

The route of the first San Francisco Marathon above on July 10, 1977.  There was an error on the distance however......

The Wipro San Francisco Marathon, that I'll be running, will be held on Father's Day, Sunday, June 16th.  Due to the America's Cup that will be held later in the summer, the marathon, for the first time, will be held in a month other than July or August.  The event will be held for the 36th time, more than any other marathon that has started, finished or both in the city.

However, the San Francisco Marathon is not the first marathon that has been held in the city.  The first marathon finish in San Francisco happened on January 31, 1909.  Known as the Examiner Marathon, it started in Belmont, a small town down on the  Peninsula between San Francisco and San Jose.  However, the first full marathon that started and finished in the city happened on February 22, 1909, less than a month later.

The marathon boom was starting to take off after the 1908 Summer Olympics in London, England.  The Olympic Club staged the event on Washington's Birthday, likely an idea taken by the city of Boston.  Boston has annually held the Boston Marathon on Patriot's Day.  The Olympic Club, founded in 1860, was largely responsible for starting the famed Dipsea Trail Race in 1905.  Also, they were prominent with the Cross City Race in 1912.  In the 1960s, the Cross City Race was renamed the Bay To Breakers.

In the Olympic Club Marathon, there was only one entrant from the club in Otto Boeddiker.  In the previous month's Examiner Marathon, Boeddiker learned a lesson that marathoners have had to deal with and that is pacing.  He dropped out more than halfway through the race that day.

At 12:10 pm, a clear and crisp day was ideal for the 47 runners who began at Baker and Fell Streets in the Panhandle portion of Golden Gate Park.  Two hours, 40 minutes and 31 seconds later, Otto Boeddiker led 24 other finishers.  Lloyd Logan of the Siaplamat (Tamalpais spelled backwards) Indians was second in 2:41:39 and Mike Damon of the Golden City Wheelman was third in 2:43:35.  Six runners finished under 2:50, 11 runners under three hours and the last finisher (25th) completed it in 3:26:13.

Despite the success, there wasn't another marathon in San Francisco until 1915 at the Panama Pacific Exposition.  Then there was another dry spell until 1928 when the Examiner sponsored one which was sanctioned by the Amateur Athletic Union.  It was one of nine marathons in the United States to help select runners for the upcoming Summer Olympic Games in Amsterdam.

From 1928 until 1958, there's no record of another marathon in San Francisco.  The Examiner sponsored two more in 1958 and 1960.

Then on May 30, 1970, the Golden Gate Marathon was born.  For three years, it would start in Tiburon and finish at the Marina Green in San Francisco's Marina District.  From 1973-1977, it wasn't held but resurfaced in 1978 when the race began in San Francisco and finished in Marin County.  That would go on through 1984.

It would be 17 years from the last Examiner sponsored marathon in 1960 before another marathon started and finished in San Francisco.  On July 10, 1977, a local running club, the Pamakid Runners staged the current San Francisco Marathon.  The event began at the entrance to Golden Gate Park, run along the Great Highway, circle Lake Merced, come back north on the Great Highway and finish at the Polo Fields in Golden Gate Park.

There have been several course changes to the event since 1977.  Other than 1988 when the marathon wasn't held, today's version starts and finishes just south of the Ferry Building on the Embarcadero.  The landmarks are Fisherman's Wharf, Crissy Field, the Golden Gate Bridge, the Presidio, Golden Gate Park and AT&T Park just to name a few.          

Running Notes #2

Kezar Stadium in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park

There were some interesting happenings in the world of running over Mother's Day weekend.  Here are several.........

Jon Olson of the United States won the 24 hour World Ultra Marathon Championship in Steenbergen, Netherlands.  Suzanna Bon, also of the U.S. was third in the women's division.  Both Jon and Suzanna run and are members in the Pacific Association USA Track And Field area.  Also, the U.S. men's and women's teams won the Gold Medal!  Congratulations to everyone who participated.  The link to what happened over the weekend is http://www.ultrarunning.com/ultra/features/news/americans-dominate-world-.shtml

Back home, my co-worker - Eli ran in his very first race.....a 5K.  However, this wasn't your normal 5K!  The name of the event was Run For Your Lives - the toughest Zombie 5K and it took place in 90 degree temperatures in Clearlake Oaks, CA.  Eli mentioned to me that it wasn't easy with the footing but he finished, and that's all that matters!  Congratulations Eli and to all the participants who finished!

There was another ultra marathon and it took place in the Philippines.  The Western Pangasinan 63K took place from Saul to Bolinao.  Unfortunately, I don't know where the two towns are but am sure I'll get some replies on this one.

My favorite running group in the world - the OK OK Runners based in the Metro Manila area did very well.  The group is what a running group should be, unlike some running groups (clubs) that I know too well.

There were only 11 starters and nine finishers in the event.  However, the OK OK Family did extremely well with Rexie, Edrick, Celito-Jose, Gen Power Up Runner and OK OK Otek winning the team title (if there was team scoring).  Congratulations to the OK OK Family and to all those that participated!

Finally, and this is unfortunate, I've thought about terminating my Facebook account.  It seems of late that items that I post on Facebook has a couple of people here in San Francisco (who claim to be runners and for that matter, friends) making snide and "wise ass" remarks.  This has happened several times over the past few weeks.  Before, I would just ignore it.  However, now getting a little ridiculous and getting personal.  One of the latest posts had me deleting the response to the post.

If it continues, the friendship will be terminated as well by deleting you from the friendship list.  Hopefully, this message has been read loud and clear, and I approve this message!  

           

Mother's Day Running Weekend!

Top Of The Hayes Street Hill at Alamo Square.

Mother's Day weekend turned out to be the best running weekend I've had in a long, long time.  Not only I had the weekend off from work, but was able to get two quality workouts in.  With the Wipro San Francisco Marathon roughly five weeks away, getting workouts such as a 30K on one day and a 10 miler the next speaks a lot of volumes.  

The first workout started early Saturday morning.  The idea of doing a Double Bay To Breakers has been on my mind since the early preparation for the Wipro San Francisco Marathon.  The day before Mother's Day would be a perfect time to attempt this.  Back in the 1970s, I would do a three to four mile warmup on the Bay To Breakers course prior to the actual race.

However, in 2013, I will not be running the 103rd Craigslist Bay To Breakers.  After running it for 32 years (including 16 of the last 17), the high entry fees and the fact that there isn't a finisher's medal (2011 and 2012) has kept me away.  Several runners even tried to talk me into doing it as late as last Thursday.  However, there is still the enjoyment of running the historic course that thousands of runners will face a week from Sunday.

I woke up at 6:00 am and reached the Bay To Breakers start line at about 6:30 am.  The weather was chilly and the fog was thick.  You could see a block to a block and a half in front.  Without any hesitation, off towards the Pacific Ocean!

The nice part about running early on a Saturday morning is that there's very little traffic unlike the weekdays.  It was nonstop running until nearly the two mile mark at Hayes Street and Van Ness Avenue.  After a short wait, the run continued with the five uphill blocks known as the Hayes Street Hill ahead.

The legs seemed a little heavy during the last block but it was fine during the downhill portion.  It continued to amaze me that there was so little traffic through the first three miles.  Turning on Fell Street, the traffic was light, but for safety reasons, I stayed on the sidewalk until reaching Stanyan Street.

In Golden Gate Park, it was still foggy but you could tell it was lifting.  There was no wind but you could hear the foghorns in the distance.  It was a lot of fun practically being by yourself.  I was thinking of what it was like back in 1912 when the first edition of this event was held.  I'm not sure if there was asphalt on the streets like there is today on Kennedy Drive.  I know that there was a close finish that year from reading articles and the book - The Human Race by the late Len Wallach.

Though being relaxed, the course once you pass the five mile mark starts a downhill trend until reaching the Great Highway.  It really feels good when one nears the Pacific Ocean.

Once reaching the finish line, we turned around and headed back.  Back on Kennedy Drive, the slow uphill climb was challenging and it became known that this was going to be slower.

I started seeing some runners and cyclists as Lindley Meadow and Stow Lake were in range.  Also, the thick fog was starting to burn off and actually started warming up.  It was closing in on 8:00 am and there was more autos on the road.

Leaving the park, I headed over to the north sidewalk on Fell Street again for safety reasons.  I started feeling tired but having some water got me through it.  On Hayes Street, the last serious hill was in view.  It seemed tougher than the last block to the top coming from the east.  When reaching the top, the skies cleared but there was fog over San Francisco Bay, something unusual.

The last two and a half miles were fairly easy and I was focusing on just staying loose. It was about 15 miles into the workout now and felt like running 20 with all the hills.  However, there are no shortcuts when preparing for a marathon and this was no exception!  Turning on Howard Street for the last 12+ blocks would be fun.  

Finishing on Howard and Main Street, once again I was thinking about this year's race and the fact that I won't be there.  However, there's 2014!  With a slow 1.5 mile jog, the GPS read 30 kilometers!

With a solid rest Saturday night, I woke up Sunday morning and decided to go out for an easy nine to ten mile run.  There was a 5K race in the Crissy Field area that got my attention.  However, there are always 5Ks to run.  Nothing personal but I wanted a quiet run and enjoy the scenary.  

The weather was cool like on Saturday with more fog, especially around the Golden Gate Bridge.  I saw, and exchanged hellos to a couple of runners from the Dolphin South End Runners club as I was heading towards the bridge and the South Tower which is the five mile mark.

The problem I have with running on the bridge is the amount of traffic there is on the east side.  You have to deal with pedestrians that weave all over all the lanes just so they can get a picture of family members or friends.  Then you have the cyclists that have the west side of the bridge to themselves on Sundays but they want to cycle on the east side as well.

Fortunately on this day, the east side was relatively quiet for a change and I took advantage of getting a small part of the workout in.  And coming back from the South Tower, I decided to run through parts of the Presidio that I've never run before including a couple of trails.

Leaving the Presidio, I headed back through the Marina Green and Fort Mason on the way home.  The pace was a little slower than yesterday but was happy with the outcome.  Finishing at 10.15 miles in over an hour and 35 minutes was nice indeed.

With 34 days and counting before the marathon, things are looking better than they were before the weekend began.  Hope everyone's having a nice Mother's Day.

Favorite Distance Runners

Recently, I was asked at work who my favorite distance runner was.  Being involved in the sport of running for a long time, there are a large number of runners that I've enjoyed watching whether it was on television or live.

Growing up in my youth, Jim Ryun became an instant favorite of mine.  At a track meet at the University Of California - Berkeley, I saw Ryun break the world record in the mile at 3:51.3.  Later, he broke the record again in Bakersfield clocking a 3:51.1 a couple of years before the Summer Olympic Games in Munich, Germany.

There are numerous people that I've followed.  Steve Prefontaine, Kenny Moore. Kip Keino, Alberto Salazar, Bill Rodgers, Haile Gebrselassie, Meb Keflezighi, Joan Benoit-Samuelson, Rosa Mota, Scott Jurek, Dean Karnazes,  Lynn Jennings, Deena Kastor and Paula Radcliffe would be runners that I would read, watch and/or follow as much as possible.  

There are two elite runners that I'll always thank in my running career.  A few years ago, I had a chance to meet U.S. Olympian - Jeff Galloway at a running expo here in San Francisco.  We talked about his various training methods regarding the marathon.  They have worked for me during the last couple of marahons and half marathons.  From time to time, Jeff and I exchange e-mails on the running progress.   

In November 2005 prior to the ING New York City Marathon, I had the opportunity to meet the late Grete Waitz from Norway.  It was a huge honor to meet someone who was one of the pioneers of Women's Distance Running.  Grete was a nine time winner of the race and had done well in many races around the world.  She shared with the importance of hydrating in any marathon.  It worked the following morning when I ran through the five boroughs of New York.  

That day, the morning started out overcast in Staten Island and really warmed up when crossing the Verrazano Bridge to Brooklyn.  Without the fluids, there would have been some issues with cramping.

I've been fortunate to meet several other Olympic athletes in Frank Shorter, Joan Benoit-Samuelson, Steve Scott and, to me, the greatest 400 Meter Intermediate Hurdler ever in Edwin Moses.       

Favorite Places To Run

Living in a congested city like San Francisco, you can find places to run.  For those of you reading this blog that plan to visit the city one day here are some of the areas where I do some training runs.

One of my favorite places is Crissy Field and the Presidio.  Whether it's a weekday or weekend, it's nice to get off the pavement and onto the dirt trails.  A runner or walker sees a beautiful view of the Golden Gate Bridge and San Francisco Bay while looking west and Alcatraz, the San Francisco Skyline and the East Bay Hills on the return trip.

One of my other favorite training runs is climbing the road to Twin Peaks.  Depending on the time of the day one trains, the roads aren't too crowded.  I took this photo from the top last year on a winter day and you get a view like this.  Twin Peaks is roughly over 1000 feet above sea level and one can get a good hill training run in.

If you like to leave the city for Marin County, running in the Marin Headlands is a sight to see.  There are roads and trails that are amazing!  I'll run this during my long distance training runs.  The only drawback is having to run across the Golden Gate Bridge on the east side when you're dealing with pedestrians and cyclists.  However, if you get up early in the morning, it's worth running, especially on a beautiful day!

There are other areas that I recommend such as Golden Gate Park, Lake Merced and the Great Highway area.    

Running Notes #1

Every once in awhile, I'll share a post on what's been going on in the running world.  It will be about some item(s) that I've read in an article, saw on television or saw on the different social media channels.  Anyway, here we go with some......

First off, the Wipro San Francisco Marathon has limited spaces left per an e-mail that I received a couple of days ago.  Also, their website at http://thesfmarathon.com shows it as well.  I don't know the status of the First and Second Half Marathons or the 5K but one who wants to do this might want to do it soon.

Speaking of marathons, there were quite a few of them in the United States over last weekend.  One of the ones that has some beauty is the Avenue Of The Giants Marathon up near Weott, California.  I've never done the full marathon (only the half) but there's something to running amongst the giant redwood trees at Humboldt Redwoods State Park.  There were 523 finishers led by Austin Huff of Arcata in 2:40:51 and Stephanie Crawford of Portland, OR in 2:58:15 (first woman and sixth overall!).

Across the Pacific Ocean in the Philippines, the fifth annual Tagaytay - Nasugbu 50K ultra marathon was held on Wednesday, May 1st.  The date is a national holiday in the Philippines.  There were 210 finishers led by Rogel Anajao in 3:45:30 and Daphne Codilla in 5:36:49.  Anajao and second place finisher - Arland Macasieb who finished in 3:49:25 broke the previous course record.  Compare this with the year I ran (November 14, 2010), there were 159 finishers.  Race Director - Jovie Narcise continues to provide great quality races in the Philippines!  Congratulations to him, his staff and all the runners who continue to support ultra running there!

Last weekend, the Miwok 100K was shortened because of the fire danger due to the warm weather and lack of rain in Marin County and the San Francisco Bay Area.  However, the ultra went on as a 60K instead.  Congratulations from the race director - Tia Boddington and staff down to all the runners and volunteers that still made the event a great one.  Dylan Bowman (4:49:56) and Helen Cospolich (6:18:30) were the men's and women's champions.  There were 376 that started and 348 that finished!

Finally, though I'm not running in the Bay To Breakers 12K this year, I've heard very little about the race.  It was nice that Craigslist became the major sponsor of the event.  Just curious.......