Race Report: San Diego Holiday Half Marathon

San Diego Holiday Half Marathon

December 27, 2015 | San Diego, CA 

I ran this race at the super last minute last year, had a blast, and was excited to be able to get picked up as a pacer for this one to run it again! Sidenote: I was supposed to pace 2:10 and then we were supposed to be up in the mountains for Christmas so I cancelled, and then plans changed again two weeks later so then I got to jump back in for team 2:45. Still a win and a good, long slow run in the books for a beautiful Sunday morning run.

My sister decided that she wanted to come down and watch (who knows why?) so she convinced Doug to come along too. He was my spectator last year so at least he knew the course and places to hang out and catch me along the way! We left the house at 5 and were down to the start line right about 6:30 in time for our pacers' meeting with Beast Pacing.

The entire pacing team!

With a start time of 7:30, we headed into corrals at 7:15 to get lined up. While we were told there would be signage to split folks up by pace, the corrals were only marked and people only knew what corral they were in by their bib number which apparently corresponded with what they put as their finish time. *shrug* But I had no clue, so I just plopped myself in and we figured it out from there!

The course is super PR-friendly, with one good hill in the first 1.5 miles and one slight incline in the mile 6 zone, but otherwise is a pretty good net downhill (700 feet or so). Being point to point, it's also super spectator friendly, so your fam and friends can find multiple points to stop and cheer you on - if you're a super speedy, that's a little more difficult, but at my slow pace yesterday, Doug and Andi were able to see me twice on the course and be at the finish well ahead of time, too. 

Naturally, my Garmin died again in the corrals, so thankfully my partner Robin had hers and we just followed my printed pace band to stay on track. We were definitely banking time so in the second half we definitely had some good stretches to walk in - still had fun, helped people keep track knowing that we had an x-minute lead and giving people the confidence that they'd finish in a time they were stoked with. Nearly everyone who started with/around us finished pretty ahead of us once we realized we could walk nearly the entire last mile. That's fun! I love pacing and helping people meet their goals. :) 

This race certainly seemed more organized than last year and with the new start line at the Doubletree Golf Resort rather than across the street in the Albertsons parking lot, there was a lot smoother start, announced and organized (minus this apparent missing signage). 

It was a perfectly gorgeous morning (though freeeeezing at the start) and by the time I finished, I was plenty warm in my 2XU Hyoptik tights and long sleeves. A few fun photos on the water (which, by the way, the water is higher than I've ever seen here) and we were on our way to breakfast and back home... 

Thank you, Southern California, for the prettiest racing weather ever. All. Year. Long.

Last race of 2015 in the books! Look forward to my racing year in review later this week!

What was your last race of 2015? 

Race Recap: Inaugural Riverside Turkey Trot

Riverside Turkey Trot 5/15K

Riverside, CA | November 26, 2015

I'd been eye-balling a turkey trot race for a while, but couldn't decide on which one to do. I'd done the local Claremont trot two years ago, but as soon as I heard about this inaugural race and it offering a 15K, I knew I was in. 15Ks are hard to come by, especially around here, so I was super excited to not only be running, but to get another chance to pace this race. I was in for the 15K and Doug then signed up for the 5K -- look at us both getting our pre-turkey sweat on!

The race also offers a combo challenge - 15K and then the 5K and you get a bonus medal. The 15K started at 7 am for that reason, and then the 5K not until 8:45 so you had a solid hour + 45 minutes to finish the 9.3 miles, jog back to the race start (.10 miles, if that) and start again with the 5K. 

15K course map.

5K course map.

While race day packet pick up was offered, Doug and I made our way down to south Riverside (Arlington Park, home of the Citrus Heritage races) on Sunday morning to get our stuff, as we figured it was one less thing to worry about on race day. 

Since the start times were so drastically different, I left home by myself about 5:45 to be at the start line at 6:15 to meet up with the other pacers and get things in order. It was mighty cold, and I'm glad I left my long sleeve tech shirt on and didn't even get warm until mile 8 (which says a lot because normally my arms are warm in the first two miles). Doug and his coaching buddy Eddie followed along about 8 am for their later start time. 

There was a good number of people lined up for the 15K - again, the selling point being that 15Ks are hard to come by! Final results show just over 350 finishers, which is a pretty great turn out for that race, and then another 900 for the 5K alone. Fantastic, in my books, for an inaugural race. 

As the 12:00 minute pacer, I was looking forward to a good, fat-burning slow run and just wanted to enjoy the morning, as cool and perfect as it was for a race. There were a couple of folks who lined up around me, but only one guy, Dave, actually hung with me the entire race as we talked about races, running the 50 states, his daughters and running partners, and literally killed the entire race just talking. Sometimes those are the best ways to distract yourself during a race! 

Running along the Santa Ana River trail was absolutely beautiful and a great change in scenery. I'll be running at Fairmount Park for Lace Up again next weekend, so it was nice to have a slight change in scenery but also to familiarize myself with the area and what I'm getting into for next weekend's half marathon! We were a little fast coming into the second turnaround at mile 6, so got to slow up a bit and enjoy the last few miles - my Garmin came in about .10 miles short (9.2) so we were tracked at a slightly speedier pace than what we maintained. I was relieved to see that another pacer or two had also caught the course short and that it wasn't just me! 

After the next pacer came in and I could pass off my signs, I headed backwards along the 5K course (also the last 1.5 of the 15K course) to find Doug and run him in a bit. I ran with him for another half mile or so until he hit the monster downhill into the finish, and then ran back up to find his friend Eddie (his second 5K ever, and his first was just five days prior!) to run with him the rest of the way in. An extra 1.8 miles for me to round out to an even 11 for the day! 

Medal adorableness.

We hung out at the finish line for a bit and then made our way out to head to a (light!) breakfast before getting on with our Thanksgiving day excitement (Disneyland + duh, dinner!). A great race, Eddie PRed and Doug ran just about his target time for the 5K. A success all in all! 

Race Pros:

- Great course; mostly flat and fast with few rolling hills

- Fantastic medal + tech shirt for both 5K and 15K participants 

- Pacers for both races 

Race Cons:

- It's totally a pet peeve for things to say "1st Annual" because for as much as you intend for it to be an annual thing, you never know... plus, having an "inaugural" medal makes it that much cooler! But that's minor. 

- 15K course slightly short 

Seriously, for an inaugural race(s), I have no major complaints whatsoever. I loved the course, the company, the volunteers that were out (high schoolers) spending their Thanksgiving morning with us! A super job well done to the Riverside Road Runners for a great race and a great Thanksgiving morning!

Did you Turkey Trot this year? How was your race?

Race Recap: Surfers Point Half Marathon

Surfers Point Half Marathon

November 15, 2015 | Ventura, CA

Surfers Point is another small, local race put on by Elite Sports California. I got to run my first ESC race at the West Hills Half last January, and I’d heard good things about Surfers Point, so I was excited when I was given the opportunity to pace and check it out finally. After running Ventura in September, but seeing that this course goes in the opposite direction, I was more excited to see some of the Ventura coastline you don’t get at Ventura.

After Saturday’s Lace Up 10K, Tina and I headed home for pizza, showers, and to get her to the airport. I was in the middle of doing laundry and getting things together when I realized that the expo for Surfers Point ended at 2. It was already 1:30 at this point, so I figured that since I was now really in no rush to get out to Ventura (just under 2 hours away), that I’d stick around for Doug and grab dinner with him after the football game was over.

I made it to Ventura about 8 pm and had grabbed a cheap hotel room with Patty, who I’d paced with at Revel two weeks ago. I rely on naps – I won’t lie – and after being up and going since 4:45 am with no nap, I passed out probably before 8:30. Patty asked me in the morning if the trains had bothered me, to which I replied, “What trains?” I was out cold.

We got spoiled with some beautiful weather – I had one light jacket on but shorts, compression socks, and my Beast Pacing shirt otherwise and it was beautiful. There was rain forecasted to roll in about 11 am, but you wouldn’t have been able to know given how clear it was. Spoiled – thank you, Southern California!

Small races are great because they allow for an easy morning-of packet pick up. There’s no gear check advertised so Patty and I were a little uncertain about that, but more on that in a bit. We were meeting with the pace team at 6:30, so we left our hotel at 6:15 for the quick walk around the corner, to get our bibs and shirts, and get situated before meeting with the team. My check in went something like this:

Megan: stands at the table for 5+ minutes waiting for someone

Staff: I need some folks to help check in!

Girl: jumps over

Staff: Okay, so you’ll start by asking for their last name and then finding them on the list, highlight… carries off, kind of walks away

Megan: I’m Megan _____, bib 713, right there.

Girl: Okay, so then…

Megan: I need my bib.

The bibs were sorted numerically with cardboard dividers labeling each section (700-720, for example).

Girl: grabs cardboard divider

Megan: No, I need the one that says 713

Girl: OH! Laughs awkwardly. And then what?

Megan: I need my chip.

Girl: Reaches into box and grabs any ol’ chip.

Megan: No, I need the chip that reads 713 too.

Girl: Oh!

Hands me chip, then stands there as if she expects me to walk away.

Megan: Can I get my shirt and bag, too?

So that was a hard process. I couldn’t tell if this girl was just a volunteer or part of the race staff, but it seemed really difficult to just get my bib and find out more about gear check (it existed, just not open yet).  We met up with the pace team, got our mandatory pre-race photos and get situated. The marathon started at 7 am, the half at 7:15, and the 5K/10Ks at 7:30. We saw the marathoners off (all 140 of them), got our stuff in gear check, one last porto stop and made our way into the starting chute with the 350 half marathoners. 

So I was scheduled to be the 2:30 pacer but earlier in the week someone dropped, so Vanessa asked if I'd be able to handle the 2:00 group. Mind you, the fastest I've ever paced was 2:10 and that was just last weekend at Revel. But yes, I know I can run a sub-2 on a pancake flat course and maybe this was the mental push I needed to prove that I can do it somewhere besides Fontana. Sold. 

We spent a little while in the chute, as they released "waves" 2 minutes apart - totally unnecessary in my opinion, as the race was tiny and didn't need such far-apart releases. I had a few folks who said they wanted to make sure they stayed ahead of me, or somewhere near me, but only one man, Charles, who started with me. He had run Santa Clarita the weekend before, but wanted to stick as close to me as he could. He dropped off at the second or third water stop. Sad.

So yes, I quite literally almost ran this entire race by myself. I had folks in, around and near but no one actually running with me for 11 miles! Sad times. I met a fun couple from Kansas City at mile 7 or so, and a lady who very loudly said "Oh, shit!" when I passed her because her goal was to make sure to stay ahead of me. A girl caught up to me at mile 11 and was stoked because she had started 2 minutes behind me and had CAUGHT UP TO ME. Girl was killin' it and just wanted to hang tight with me til the finish - at mile 12, I told her to turn on the gears. She gave a big smile and kicked it up a notch! I wish I had caught her name to see her final finish, but she rocked. 

The Course

Save for a few dents and dips in the road, this course is nearly flat as flat gets. There's one good incline just after the turnaround, probably mile 7 or so (turnaround about 5.2), but is gradual enough that it really cannot affect you at all! 

My Garmin indicated lowest elevation was 7 feet, highest was 78 feet. Pancakes. 

Miles 1-5: The race starts at Promenade Park, near the Ventura Pier, and heads north along the bike and walking trail along the beach and the coast. The race is early enough that there were not many folks out yet, so not too much road traffic to dodge, which was nice. The coruse heads up along a side road that parallels Highway 1, so you get to see the water literally for 13.1 miles. 

Miles 6-10: The turnaround for the half (marathon is two loops of the same course) is at 5.2ish, so it's just double-backing the way we just came. No sweat. This is the one "big" incline (re: where those 70 feet in elevation change come from), but also along the point where you're so close to the water, you get misted if the waves crash hard enough. That was pretty delightful. I know I picked it up along here but it was such a beautiful day and I couldn't believe I was so spoiled with two oceanfront courses in the same weekend. 

Miles 11-13.1: Somewhere around mile 10, you pass the start/finish line and head down towards the pier, much like where Ventura starts and finishes. Luckily I knew this area from September and knew it was flat, asphalt, and easy peasy to hang on to. Girl who was trying to crush her sub-2 goal caught up to me about 11 and hung tight until I told her to get moving at mile 12 and she did! I hit mile 13 at 1:58 something, so I stopped and walked the last .1 in as slow as I could muster.

That's ridiculously tiny, sorry! My final time was 1:59:02, though my Garmin read 1:59:39 at my finish, so I'm not sure where I came in short - a little too fast for the pace target (1:59:30 should have been the fastest), but I'm stoked that I was able to pull off this sub-2!

Pretty consistent, and you can tell where I certainly picked it up some! The best part for me, aside from helping a few folks make their goal at the end, is that this 1:59 didn't feel hard. It felt quite comfortable, which means I'm making some really good progress with my training and that maybe there's a PR in sight for me at Surf City (did I just say that aloud?).

Best post race food? I tell ya what, it's not Saturday's salad and mushroom empanadas. It's THESE!

Heck yes, street tacos. I devoured these suckers at the finish line while waiting for the next pacer to come in so I could pass off our pace signs and hit the road back to Rancho to get on the road to Phoenix! More on that tomorrow. :)

What's the BEST post-race food you've gotten? This seems to be a theme this week...

Race Report: Revel Canyon City Half Marathon

Revel Canyon City Half Marathon | November 7, 2015

Azusa, CA

Revel calls Colorado, Utah and California home – the Azusa race is in just its second year and while I heard so much about it last year, I just never got my act in order to sign up. Thankfully, I was given the opportunity to pace again (thank you Beast Pacing!) and got to experience the mountainside course for myself.

Canyon City has a net loss of 900 feet for the half and just over 5000 for the full, which provides some ample opportunity for a PR if you treat the course right. The half has some good rollers in the midst of the course, so if you’re doing the full and fly down the first half, you’re in for some fun times on tired legs on those rollers. Thankfully, there’s a great downhill finish that if you haven’t trashed your legs yet, you can totally handle. This course, because of that, reminded me very much of Fontana and its PR-ability.

Beast Pacing's half marathon pacers!

At any rate, I was signed up to pace the 2:10 half group and got paired up with Patty (super speedy lady!) and Bear (who was pacing for the first time ever). I’ve never paced with TWO other people, but I had a freaking blast with these two and I hope our group did too!

There are some outstandingly gorgeous views along the course, which is something that this race certainly beats Fontana for:

Half marathoners and marathoners park in two separate locations to ensure they catch the correct buses to the top; half marathoners parked at Citrus College. The only issue with this is that it’s a 2-lane road up to Citrus, but with the buses parked up one side, it essentially left one lane open for traffic to get in to the parking lot which left a little congestion. I was scheduled to meet a number of other pacers at 4:55 to get them their bags and our pacing signs in order, so though I was only a few minutes late, it left me a little flustered trying to get myself in order!

It was super chilly – I mean, we’re halfway up a mountain here – but the great folks at Revel (partially) prepare you with including a pair of gloves and a mylar blanket in your race packet. One less thing to remember, so thanks Revel! I went to Walmart the night before and bought a pair of throwaway sweats and a sweatshirt. I stripped the pants before the race start to let my legs adjust to the temps, but kept the sweatshirt on until at least a mile in and the gloves through almost mile 4. Though the sun was up, the canyon is so deep and winding, that there are sections of warm sun followed by near-freezing corners in the shadows.

I need to be honest and say I’ve never had this much FUN running a half – it was like we were counting miles (kind of), but they honestly just FLEW by. Easy run, beautiful scenery, fantastic weather, like it was all coming together for a gloriously beautiful day in Azusa Canyon. Just like that, we were ticking to mile 11! At mile 12, we told our group that we had quite a window open so if they felt good, they needed to go with it and get to the finish on their own terms. 

In fact, we had such a window, that we walked the last block and then SKIPPED our way into the finish line. No lie:

And just like that, we were done!

At the finish line, there were drinks on drinks on drinks (including horchata energy drinks? Ew), bananas, bagels and – my favorite part – PIE! Marie Callendar’s choices of apple, lemon or pumpkin pie. Heck. Yes. This is only the second race I know of that does pie at the finish and I tell you, it’s nothing to scoff at. More pie, please.

I hung out at the finish line for over an hour to cheer in the likes of Jen, Sandy, Carlee and dozens of other folks, including the rest of our pacing team. I watched marathoners cry at the finish for a massive new PR or lots of BQs or New York qualifying times and got goosebumps as each runner fell apart at the finish in sheer elation. There’s nothing like being at the end of a marathon – wow!

I jogged the quarter-mile back to the parking lot and called it a day. A great run, great race, great medal, great PIE, and great fun watching the finish line, but it was time to get home, nap, and call it a day!

Race Pros:

- PR-able course

- Race packets included gloves & mylar blankets as added perks

- Giant, beautiful finishers medal

- Finish line pie & energy!

Race Cons:

- Need to continue figuring out parking logistics

- Apparently some buses got lost going to the top (what?), thankfully not mine

Did you run Revel Canyon this year, or any of the Revel races? Your thoughts? 

Race Recap | Ventura Half Marathon

Ventura Half Marathon | Ventura, CA

September 13, 2015

A couple of months ago, I got asked to be a pacer for Ventura - I've wanted to do this race and have just never made it work into my schedule or budget in time, so you know I jumped on the chance to get it on my schedule by being a pacer! Heck yes! I love pacing for Vanessa and Beast Pacing, so it was just another chance to help someone else out on a race!

Doug had football Saturday morning, so I headed out to run club as normal for our 9 race pace miles (whew!) and headed home to do laundry, get packed, and be ready to head out the door to Ventura as soon as he got home. Packet pick up closed at 6, so I knew we'd just squeak in as we didn't get to leave until nearly 3:45. Thankfully the drive was pretty easy so we got to Ventura just about 5:40 - though all the vendors were gone already! Womp.

Ready or not, here we go!

I made the realization on Saturday that this was my first race since Fontana in June! I always seem to forget about that summer stretch where it's too hot to do anything and any of the destination races (ie San Francisco) I just haven't put into my race budget yet. But that's another story for another day. This was ALSO going to be my last race and last half in my current age group - eeeep!

After pick up, Doug and I headed back to Camarillo, about 15 miles away to get checked into the hotel and find dinner. A quick bite to eat, back to the hotel to unpack and make sure I had everything - after San Diego, I was a little paranoid to say the least, so I'm pretty sure I packed everything I could ever think of. I laid down to watch the end of whatever college game that Doug was watching and I'm pretty sure I passed out before even 9:30 pm.

... for a 4:15 am alarm clock, I'd say that's pretty good. Though we had a drive into Ventura, it was super easy and empty at 4:45 am. We were meeting as a pace team at 5:20, so I wanted to be sure we had enough time to get to the city, get near enough the pier and find a place to park. Doug walked me down to the pier, and eventually made his way back to the car for a sort-of nap while the races started and he had to wait for me.

Beast Pacing, comin' atcha!

The full marathon starts at 6 and the half not until 6:30, so we had quite a bit of time to kill before we lined up. I was pacing Team 2:15 with Helen, who's a total badass runner (qualified for Boston at her third full and took her marathon time from 5 hours to BQ in just six months!) but was pacing for the first time ever. I felt like a pro - and still managed to run too fast. Ha!

We lined up about 6:20, just in time for folks to find us by our signage and get comfortable and set where they wanted to be. The full has only about 1500 runners and the half about 4500, so I was surprised there were no real corrals, just signage to help people guesstimate where they wanted to be.

It was a super gorgeous morning, but there was not a single cloud in the sky so it was bound to be a hot day, let alone a warm morning. Many folks commented on how muggy it had been on Saturday, along with some rain, so Sunday felt better, but I tell ya, it still wasn't super runner-friendly.

Helen and I got about a mile out before we started working with our group to see who was planning on hanging with us, who was a first-timer, and who was looking for a PR. We had a handful of newbies and a few folks looking for PRs, so a fun mix of brand new runners and folks who had some serious goals in mind (one lady was looking for a 7+ minute PR).

My Garmin was spot-on with the mile markers up through mile 6 and I knew the turnaround was near, so to my surprise, the turnaround didn't click on my Garmin until nearly 6.8. Heading back, my Garmin was dead-on .6 miles further along than the mile markers! 9 mile sign? 9.6. 10 miles? 10,6. Seemed weird, considering they were spot on up until halfway-ish, so I didn't get too worried. As we counted down miles, Helen and I got louder and louder to runners around us: "2 miles to go!" "1 mile to go!" ".1 to go!" ... and then I looked up and realized the pier was a LOT further than .1 miles away. Awwww man!

Yeah, that's not even close. I usually slide with .1 or so for variance in the course, mostly because I'm a terrible tangent runner, but a full half mile (or then some?). Nuh uh. I heard one of the timing folks announce at the end that "There's a little variance in distance, so we'll see what we can do!" and that's all that was said. By this morning, however, they'd already adjusted times so our adjusted time is a 2:12:20. I think that's well over-adjusted but I won't complain.

I recognize that an RD certainly doesn't have time to check the entire course on a race morning, but I would hope that race staff would know where a race marker is supposed to be and that it is accurately done. Honestly, it's just a half - I'd be more concerned if the marathon had been that far off. Ventura is a huge BQ race and I'd be devastated if their BQ opportunities were ruined because a marker had been placed incorrectly.

All in all, a super fun Sunday with so many running friends all over the place! New friends on the course, folks that found me on Instagram afterward, and folks just cheering in everyone else! I love race days - such a blast! 

These medals don't hurt either - marathon, half, 5K. 

Another successful pacing gig in the books at least, minus the whole distance snafu! Otherwise a great race, despite being stupid hot, with tons of opportunities for PRs out on the course. Flat, fast and easy, though certainly dead in places with little to no course support. I give major applause for free race photos (!), as that is certainly much appreciated!

Have you ever run a race that was significantly too long (or short!)? Was your time ever adjusted?

The Pacer's Ten Commandments

Not that I've served as a race pacer all that often (all of once, officially) but have observed enough, hung out with a few enough, and have heard from enough what makes a good pacer and what makes a great pacer. And, even worse, what makes a super annoying, not so awesomem pacer. I've paced a few friends to their first half finish line and to PRs. They've all been awesome, and very different.

So with that, I bring you my ten commandments of race pacing (you can take this as an official pacer, and even as not!):

1. Thou shalt not talk about yourself the whole race. 
It's okay to talk about yourself a little, maybe your experience, but use your time to learn about who you're running with - and better yet, who's running with you. Is it their first half? Do they have a few under their belt but are gunning for a big PR? Find out who's counting on you today!

2. Thou shalt be encouraging. 
Kind of a given, no? Especially for those folks struggling, trying to run their entire first 13.1 (or 26.2) or those trying to achieve that dream time, make sure you're encouraging everyone! "Looking good everyone!" and high fives with other pacers, just to show that you're looking out for everyone, regardless if they're in your group or not!

3. Thou shalt share your race strategy. 
Especially in a full marathon, I think this is super important. Are you going to pace to negative splits? Are you going to nail every mile to the exact goal time? Before you even cross the start line, share your race day plan with your group so they know what to expect from you and what to look forward to through the course.

4. Thou shalt say thank you to course marshals and volunteers. 
I try and make this a habit regardless of the race distance and if I'm running with others or by myself, but especially as a pacer, as you're 'officially' part of that race, thank those folks who woke up at o'dark thirty to hand you cups of water and bananas with the risk of having half the water dumped back on them. They deserve our thanks (and more than that) - make sure you show them as such!

5. Thou shalt not take yourself too seriously. 
Running should be fun - whether you're running, racing, pacing or not. You were chosen or picked up as a pacer because you can run the time comfortably. Don't act like you're better than others because the pace is 'slow' for you or it's an 'easy' way to spend your way. One of the best things a runner said to me at West Hills was, "Well, I can tell this is easy for you... so thank you for taking the time to do this for us!" I assured him every half was different and not always easy, but that sometimes, running for ease and for fun was the way to go! But him thanking me surely made my day.

6. Thou shall get to know those in your group. 
This goes with #1 primarily - get to know who's around. Who are the first-timers? Who are the veterans? Anyone coming back from injury? Who's gunning for a big PR? Get to know what people's goals are, and help connect them to each other, too, not just to you! The running community is good at that - be an example for it!

7. Thou shalt not push the limit. 
You're a pacer with a target time for a reason. If it was just about "Get People to the Finish," you could run all crazy paces if you wanted. But no - as a Team 2:30 pacer, my average pace was 11:27 per mile. One mile, thanks to the long, massive downhill, we were at an 11:05 pace at one point, at which I said to the group, "Alright, we picked up quite a bit of time, so we're gonna back off and ease into the next mile." Don't burn people out! Especially those with milestones in mind (BQs, PRs), you don't want to lead them out too fast and lead to a burn-out, resulting in them missing their goals. They're relying on you to pace them.

8. Thou shall communicate with your group. 
If you picked up the pace during a mile, let your group know so they don't freak out when you slow down all of a sudden. If you know there's a massive hill coming up and you plan to slow down a bit so you can cruise the downhill (or vice versa!), let them know. Don't leave your group wondering what you're doing when your pace changes on and off. You will have Garmin-watchers in your group - don't leave them confused!

9. Thou shalt not wear headphones, listen to music, e-books, etc.
There is all kinds of discussion about those wearing headphones during races, but especially as a pacer, don't wear headphones. That way, you can be the example runner in case you need to hear course marshalls, but also so you can talk with your group and be that motivating, encouraging person. It's only so fun when someone can only talk into one of your ears, or worse yet, have to yell over you jammin' to T-Swift while you're pacing.

10. Thou shalt come in not one second over the target time. 
When I signed up to pace the West Hills Half last weekend, one of the key expectations of us was that we would come in no earlier than one minute under time, and not one second over. Especially for those folks pacing for full marathons, you never know if someone is gunning for their BQ and one second makes all the difference. On the flipside, if they're running in group 2:30 with you and are appropriately trained for a 2:30, don't push them to faster and harder than that!

What other commandments would you add for pacers? 

Race Report: Inaugural West Hills Half Marathon

Inaugural West Hills Half Marathon

Canoga, Park, CA | January 25

I always like to preface this with, "If you're running an inugural race, know there's bound to be some kind of issue." I don' mean that as a bad thing, I think it's just the nature of the game and the way the cards are dealt. There is no way a perfect race can happen its first time around. Call it negative, but I find it hard. I've run a number of inaugural races (from 5Ks to relays to quite a few halfs). 

I was really excited about this race - I like small, local races, but also because I had the opportunity to serve as an official pacer for the race. While I've paced friends before, that's all been pretty casual and I haven't been one of those cool kids carrying signs for 13.1 miles... until now! So excited. And so nervous.

Canoga Park is just over an hour away... or, at least at 4:45 in the morning, it's about an hour away. I rolled out of bed at 4:20 on Sunday morning, thankfully had packed almost everything the night before, so I was able to literally roll out of bed, put clothes on, make my breakfast and head out. I got to Canoga Park just about 5:50, in time to fight the road closures and figure out where on earth I was going. After a tour through some neighborhood, I found the back way into the shopping center, where I later learned that if I had just shown the police/parking enforcement my bib, I could have just driven through. Good thing I didn't have my bib yet anyway. 

I found packet pick up pretty easily, and waited for a few minutes to see if I could find any of the marked pacers, either by pacer tees or race signs. No sighting. I asked a Race Crew woman if she had seen any of them and she goes, "Oh, we have pacers? Hm, someone asked me that yesterday at packet pick up and I had no idea. Good to know." Well. That's always an interesting sign. 

Headed back to the car to braid my hair, get my last things together and wait for Vanessa and the pacer team to show up. Finally, I got my hands on that coveted sign... team 2:30 checking in, ready to rock this inaugural half! 

The race also features a 5K and a 10K. The half marathon leaves first (7 am), followed by the 10K and then then 5K, in 15 minute increments afterward. The half marathon is two loops, so obviously the 10K at one loop, and the 5K had a turnaround point somewhere into the course. I've heard that it wasn't really marked and that volunteers didn't even know where the exact turnaround was - which would explain why I breezed by it and hardly noticed. 

At any rate: we started on time, just about exactly 7 am, which I always appreciate. Starting late is worse than just about anything, especially given that it was going to be warm and the Santa Ana winds were in high effect already, so dryness was already abound. The website said that waves would go every 2 minutes, but (assumingly) with such a small field (277 half marathon finishers), they let us all go at once. Not a major issue again, because of how small, but it made it challenging for folks to figure out where to position themselves in the start (pacers included). 

The beginning of the course is confusing and frankly, kind of dumb. The start line is at the front of a parking lot, and you run through the parking lot towards the back of the buildings, through the alley behind it, come out, turn right, make a U-turn not even 100 yards away, and then loop around the front of the parking lot again to head out towards city streets. This is where mass confusion occurred during the start of the second loop, but we'll get there.

I had a few folks hang out with me and stick with me nearly the entire way. My mile 1 was way too fast (splits below), so I made sure to say "Okay, we're backing off some..." just so they know I acknowledged where we picked up speed (which we did a lot!). Stuart was running his first half marathon ever, and Sonia wasn't, but wanted to hang around 2:30. Some other folks came and went, but my favorite was the guy who, upon looking over his shoulder and seeing me, said, "No offense, but I just want to stay in front of you!" None taken sir, none taken. 

Heading into mile 2-3 or so, is a looooong steady hill - the first part is a short incline, and then drops a little, and the second hill is steeper and much, much longer. We dropped off that hill for a bit for the turn-around water stop, then booked the whole way back down, which was pretty awesome. 

We cam back down to the start line for the turnaround poin, where we were told to go through the yellow chute (blue was the finish), make a U-turn, go back through the alley like we did at the start, and then continue on from there. As we left the alley, before heading into the 100-yard U-turn, one single volunteer was saying something like "half marathoners, do two loops through here!" Having no idea if she meant the alley, or if she meant two loops of the course (duh), and that she was the only one saying so, we just continued as how we started.

Beasted through the last hills, felt strong, even though this was at a slower pace than I'm used to for a half, I still felt so, so good. Which is always a nice feeling! As we came to the last stretch and turned the last corner, I looked down at my watch and saw that we had 1.7 miles to go. There's no way that grocery store is 1.7 miles from here, and I tried to rack up numbers and mileage in my head. No sooner than I just gave up and was totally confused, our 2:15 pacer came running back to me and told me that every one had the course about a mile short, and so all the pacers finished super early, but not to worry. Whew. 

I finished, hung out for a bit, and then ran back to find the 2:45 pacer and share the news (and get in a little extra  mileage), then came back around and ran some loops in the parking lot to get to at least an even 13 miles. The course, on my Garmin, was about 12.05 miles.

So much pacer love - what a fun way to run a race! Met some new friends, got Stuart to the finish line, and successfully completed my first pacing duties. I would love to pace again and am definitely looking for the next opportunity as soon as it comes! 

Race Pros

- Small, local race (if that's your thing)

- Awesome race shirt, medal, water bottle

- Great course

Race Cons

- Lack of volunteer communication

- Mass confusion at start line/turn around

- Short!  :(

What really impressed me was that while us pacers were gathered together for a bit, the Race Director came over and asked what we thought, wanted our feedback on how the race went. We all agreed that the course was great, but that it was short - he had clearly had already heard, as he nodded and add, "Yeah, that whole alley... not happening next year." I hope he had a way to add the distance, as I really would want to come back and do this one again!

Some of my finishers!

As for pacing? It's a blast. Finding people who are holding on to you for their support, or goal time, and getting to meet them and hear their stories as you chug along is so cool. It's definitely a reason I've always enjoyed running and getting to talk to other folks - there are so many stories and inspirational moments that come from who we are and what we're about.

Thanks for a great race, Elite Racing! Hope to see you next year for 13.1 miles!

Love the shirt design. Every color of the rainbow, so it matches everything!

Have you ever run an inaugural race?