5 Reasons Why I’m Excited to ROCK San Diego

 Rock 'n Roll San Diego | May 31

1. I started running in San Diego.

Albeit very, very casually, it was in the summer between my two years in grad school at SDSU that my roommate and I decided we would train for a half marathon – to be specific, the America's Finest City half. It was in San Diego that I ran my first road race, the Coronado Independence Day 15K (I tell you, at that point, 9.something miles was far). We never made it to the half (and I have yet to run that one), mostly because I blew out my knee that summer, but the morning I moved out of SD in June 2008, I spent an hour running up and down the Mission Beach boardwalk, never more in love with that city than then.

2. Course Scenery

The city itself is gorgeous, but the course takes you through some of the best parts of the city. Obviously starting near Balboa Park is awesome, but actually running through it? A dream.  Up through Normal Heights and into some San Diego residential neighborhoods, where crowds are out in full force! The best kind of course support, for sure.

Finishing down at Petco Park will be pretty amazing, too, so I’m excited for that grand ol’ finish line!

3. Course Entertainment

This goes without saying, but especially as I don’t run with music 99% of the time anymore, I especially look forward to Rock ‘n Roll races because of all the entertainment! The finish line concert is with O.A.R, but you can check out the full list of entertainment course-side here. Can you say FUN?

4.  All The Social Media Fun

While I don’t ACTUALLY get to participate in #allthefun (tear), as I’m working all day Saturday and then BOOKING it to San Diego that evening, there’s tons of fun that YOU can have. My current favorite? The Twitter scavenger hunt, taking place at the expo on Friday and Saturday. Check out the deets here and make sure you play along when you’re at the expo!

You can also check out We Run Social – some amazing folks with a passion for making running truly about connections, fun, and winning on the interwebz (in their words, not mine!). You can check out Pavey’s post for information about ALL THE FUN (seriously) that’s going down over the weekend. Again, tears, because I’m missing out on 80% of it. But at least I get to run the race?!

5. It’s the OG Rock ‘n Roll Race

That’s right – RnR SD is the original race of the entire Rock ‘n Roll series. What better than to run the race that spawned an entire series that is now not only nationwide, but global?! I’m excited to see where it all began – and again, in one of my favorite places ever.

Who’s ready to ROCK San Diego with me? Are you doing the half or full marathon?