Last weekend I reached what is probably my most exciting milestone so far in my marathon career: I finished my fifth 26.2 mile race. Weeeee! That means 5 states down and only 45 + 1 capital district to go!! Though I am currently living it up and absolutely loving my DC life, I made the trek back out west to run Long Beach, where I have an overwhelming, overflowing collection of memories from the past year. So I was happy with the decision to complete my 5th big one in SoCal………………………TIL I SAW THIS.
Yes, my friends. Nearing mid-October and still 100 degrees in Long Beach. According to my sources, it was a freak heat wave and California is neeeever that bad in the fall, but it’s not like that really made it any better. The race organizers sent out emails advising us about the heat, and then let us know that they were going to be adding extra water stations and misting stations. That didn’t really make it any better either, but I can’t even be in 80 degree weather without whining.
Swag: 3/5
On Saturday we went to the Convention Center to pick up my packet, which was a smooth ordeal. I barely even lingered; just stayed long enough to grab a few Gu packets. The shirt is a pretty standard shirt that you would get from a race, except for this one has palm trees on it so automatically preferable to any other race premium (I have always been unreasonably obsessed with palm trees).
Not much additional swag other than that, which was okay, but I am giving the swag a 3 out of 5 stars.
Course: 4/5
That night before the marathon, I had a big plate of spaghetti and meat sauce with garlic bread, and pounded about 3 gallons of water which left me feeling massive and sphere-shaped for hours. I went to bed around 9:30 so that I could get up at 4:30, hydrate, eat some oatmeal, take ibuprofen, hydrate some more, and get down to the start line before 6. Lucky for me, I was staying with Steven, who works at the Long Beach Convention Center and rides a motorcycle, so he whipped me down there in no time at all and found parking right inside the garage (and then I got to slip inside to pee without having to wait in line at the mass of porta potties hehehe). The start was overwhelming…TONS of people lining up for both races as well as the bike tour. I mean thousands. The half marathon, which was supposed to start at 7:30, had several participants starting at 6 with the marathon to compensate for the heat, which is nice for them. Also it was dark. I didn’t end up starting til probably about 6:10 or 6:15, but then we were off!!
The course starts by running from the Convention Center past The Pike, which is a relatively new addition to Long Beach, up around and then across the bay, by the Queen Mary, and along the waterfront. This section was incredible. Like breathtaking. The sun was rising and there was not a cloud in the sky, and then we were running right on the beach on the bike path and waves were crashing mere feet from us. It was awesome. Once the heat started to get a little more intense, we were running on some random roads that took us by Woodrow Wilson High School (where their cheerleaders were cheering) and then through CSULB’s campus. This part was where it started getting hard. There weren’t bad hills, but there were some, and I had been running at a very decent and consistent pace up until that point. By the time mile 22 rolled around, I was just about tapped. A lot of road running at this point also, so it was hard to find something to distract myself with. In the end, though, I came through and finished with a PR!
I also got 3rd in my age group? Don’t know how that happened. It is nothing to write home about NECESSARILY, but I am going to just congratulate myself a little bit anyway (self love, self love). After crossing the finish line, I laid in the grass, my salty body baking in the 100 degree sun while I attempted to compose myself; overall, I probably spent a good part of the first 30 minutes after the marathon whining, but was able to recover and drink my free Michelob Ultra in three eager gulps!
I give the course a 4 out of 5 because a lot of it was very beautiful, very SoCal, but the miles of running on random roads were less than exciting and all came towards the end, which was not good for the morale in my body.
Medal: 5/5
The medal also had palm trees. UGH, LONG BEACH MARATHON, YOU JUST GET ME (also note my first medal I’ve ever gotten for placing in a marathon!).
Difficulty: 2/5
The race was, with the exception of some VERY short little hills (which, granted, were towards the end and made me want to catapult myself off the roof of the CSULB basketball stadium), completely flat. And there were a lot of nice things to look at along the way, especially for someone who is not from SoCal and finds it to be intriguing in a way a foreign country is intriguing. 26.2 miles, yes, but not the hardest 26.2 miles.
Water Stations: 5/5
As I said, the devilish heat made them put out a few more water stations than they originally planned, and there were so many that I didn’t even use them all (which I usually do in marathons as my fear of getting dehydrated strongly outweighs my fear of pissing myself). My only complaint was that I ran through one station and grabbed a cup, and it turned out it wasn’t an actual water station but actually a COCONUT water company giving out coconut water samples. And I fucking hate coconut water.
Accessibility: 4/5
Being by the Convention Center, there was a good bit of parking, and for the most part spectators could access various parts of the course very easily. I viewpoint of the accessibility may be a little bit skewed however since I didn’t have anyone who was trying to watch me race and I was delivered right to the start via motorcycle.
Food: 1/5
Really my only complaint (that was within the control of the race organizers) with this otherwise fantastic race was that I couldn’t find any free food afterwards anywhere, only food trucks, which was a disappointment. So either I didn’t see it or they didn’t have any free food. Either way, sad.
I DID get my free beer though, so it was somewhat okay. Somewhat.
Affordability: 4/5
This was not particularly pricey as far as marathons go. Because I didn’t get any food or a whole lot of swag, I am knocking a star off, though. But don’t be deterred from registering for financial reasons. It was very affordable, and I think well worth it.
Organization: 5/5
I really did like the marathon (I have yet to run a marathon I did not love…though it’s hard not to like something that makes you feel this good); there were a good number of fans (not necessarily a lot compared to how big the city is, but not a pathetic number, either), but lots of water stations (I mean LOTS in order to make up for these atrocious racing conditions) and several little snacks on the course. Picking up my packet was easy, communication with runners prior to the race was effective, I had no trouble with anything on race morning. Overall, yay!
It was a really good weekend, and a good chance to see some old friends. The Long Beach marathon claims to be the most scenic race in California, and I’m nooot entirely convinced that that’s true (Um, Big Sur?? I am coming for that race at some point, hopefully soon!). Very happy and very sore and very excited for a little hiatus from running for a few weeks. Time to leave beautiful California and head back east for my first DC autumn.
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