Wowwzza…running at night in Jan was a totally different beast!
Pre-race: All the emails, Facebook page and meeting the staff at a few expos I expected a HUGE party in Downtown Los Angeles for that night run. I was pretty pumped. I did book an an early bird and the race course was not yet created. My rate was half off that people paid at the end. Bib pick up was easy. I actually live in the OC and took the metro in that morning parking at one of the stations. The Metro 7th Center Station was about half a mile from expo. It would have took the same amount of time to drive and and I saved money on gas. I actually asked the Metro lady if it was wise to take the train at night she looked at me like I was crazy and said, “Hell, no not being a girl. I won’t ride the Blue line after 11pm.” So, driving and parking it would be. Pick up was fast! I got there at 10:30am and was in and out fast! I lingered around to each booth and listened to the vendors. What the heck I was there already. I do like a little fancier expos, but it served it’s purpose. Waiting at the corrals took forever! Parking for race was easy, but I got there early around 7:30pm. I parked at the Convention Center for $12. I found a clean restroom and I was able to shop at Target before the race. Waiting for it to start was killer. I want to say it was a 30 minute late start til corral 12 crossed the start line. It was a vital 30 mins it got colder and colder. Plus, the speakers stopped working that we didn’t even hear the National Anthem being sung.
COURSE: Kind of liked it but kind of didn’t. There were hills. I kind of expected it. Must train more next time. Running in the night air was hard especially with a cold, but I had my inhaler, cough drops and tissue in hand. The running Dodger parking lot was never ending. We looked like an ant farm running up and down the parking lot, but I think I would have taken a secure parking lot vs dirty streets of downtown. I was very disappointed in the inside of Dodger Stadium with scoreboard gone, all the wooden planks, dug outs disorganized and the grass wasn’t even pretty. SF Giants and Angel’s stadium run blew this one way. Volunteers at stations were BEST I have ever seen and didn’t run out of water, gatorade and I collected a lot of Guu! I did get a drunk person yelling, “hey, snow bunny..you know I’m talking to you” try to get my attention. I know he was talking to me because I had a headband covering my ears, gloves and looked like I was ready to go skiing. I just ran a little faster. I did see homeless people on the sidewalk sleeping and had the “smell” of urine in certain areas. but then I then moved closer to the middle of the street vs running near the sidewalk. There was a lot of police visible. I had a police officer riding his road bike near me for a few mile or two. There were plenty of officers on bikes and cars that rooted us on. If I got bored I would just start talking to whoever was near me.
Post Race: BLING is beautiful it was worth the adventure. It’s the BEST AND HEAVIEST medal I have in my collection. Hoodies are great. I like technical shirts too, but I did like the change. Heat blankets worked WONDERFULLY. I did finish after the last call for alcohol mark at 12:30am, but I did finish given time allowed. They should have factored in the late start to that! By the time I was done finding the bag check, the party was closed.
Would I do it again? MAYBE. They have to start on time, a different course 5 miles of Dodger Stadium was a bit too much. A lot of people got bored. It was a good start for the new year.