Our trip to Big Sur began with a long traveling day (including a delayed flight and a canceled flight) but finally arriving in Santa Barbara, CA the Thursday before the Marathon. There we had a chance to visit with Nicole, Lauren and Nicole's friends, as well as travel to Oxnard, CA and have dinner with my cousins and uncle (which was fabulous!).
Saturday AM we hit the road in two cars and headed north for 4 hours, arriving in Carmel about 1:30pm. Our group of 5 was the first to stop at the house we rented for the weekend in Carmel Valley. It was fantastic. 3,300 square feet of quirky house, but it had amazing views and lots of space to spread out and enjoy nature. To the right is a picture of the edge of the house and one of the many beautiful views.
After dropping off our stuff and checking out the house, we headed into Monterey to pick up our race packets and meet up with Megan, Megan's mom Jean, Laura, Laura's boyfriend Mike, and Nicole's friend Sam. When Megan informed me of my race number, I just knew the days ahead in Carmel would be spectacular, as my marathon number was the last four digits of my home phone (3011). Too cool. So, after the packet pickup we grabbed some late lunch and headed back to the house. That night we (when I say we, I really mean Jean) made a big pasta dinner and had a great time discussing plans and strategies for Sunday's events.
2:55 AM Sunday, I awoke to my alarm, and began Marathon Day. Megan, Laura, our new friend Sam and I were all doing the full marathon and needed to be at the Big Sur Marathon Bus by 3:45 AM in order to get bussed down to the start before the road was closed off for the runners. All in all it was a great pre-marathon gathering at the start line, with the exception of the near heart attack Megan and I both experienced when we were separated for about 20 minutes before the marathon started, after I took one last potty break. With only 5 minutes before the

The start was beautiful, huge redwoods lining the road, perfect weather, and plenty of white doves. The four of us ran together up until about 5.5 miles, where Megan and I

As promised, the scenery was spectacular. I really can't describe it in words. It is a place where everything that is beautiful in nature comes together, mountains, ocean, green pastures, all untouched and perfectly natural. I am extremely grateful that there was one development in this natural place, the Pacific Coast Highway, so that we could experience all of it.
The first 9 miles were pretty mild, elevation change wise. We did get some downhill, which started the quad workout from the beginning. Then the very much talked about Hurricane Point


After Hurricane Point it was a downhill descent to Bixby Bridge around mile 13. We rounded the corner and came upon the Bridge as we heard 'Music of the Night' being played by a pianist on a Grand Piano. Now, as I did in that moment, tearing up, it was something that would be a scene straight out of a great movie. It was magical. Crossing that bridge I was in a wonderful state of gratitude, for my life, my body, and my friend.

As anticipated, the finish was pretty emotional, as soon as we heard our fans (Bill, Nicole, Laura, Jean, Lauren, and Kat) cheering I started kicking my legs up in joy. Probably wasn't too smart to be attempting strange dance moves after running 26 miles, but luckily I didn't fall flat on my face! After crossing the finish we hung out with our friends and fellow runners, Jean ran in the 5K, Lauren and Nicole ran in the 10.6 mile race (which was the furthest distance they had ever run) and Kat ran in the 9 mile race (the farthest she had ever run).

That evening we ate leftovers, drank some adult beverages and went to bed. Monday morning Lauren, Nicole, Megan, Jean, Bill and I went into Carmel by the Sea and ate in a super cute very yummy little restaurant
Tuesday AM came and we left Carmel and headed north to Palo Alto. Megan and Jean were flying out of San Francisco and dropped us off at Laura's house on their way. We were then able to spend the day in San Francisco, had lunch in Chinatown, pastries and coffee in North Beach, and headed to Alameda for dinner with my cousin Brian, his wife Becky and their 1o month son Brody. Afterwards we headed back to Palo Alto, stayed with Laura, and Bill left for Gainesville the following morning. I was able to spend the day relaxing in Palo Alto on Wednesday, my initial plan was to travel around San Fransisco, but I was completely exhausted and opted to lay low. I made the wise decision to get a massage that day in preparation for the upcoming weekend relay in Black Mountain, NC.
Wednesday evening, before my red eye flight to NC, I was able to have dinner with Laura. It was the perfect way to end my 6 days in California, with a great girl over a good beer. Our dinner and time together was one of the highlights of the trip.
I think I'll leave it at that... I had an amazing time with amazing people. My friends and family donated over $2,200 to Hope Runs, I am so proud of that. 6 days following the Big Sur Marathon I was able to be part of another amazing event called Blue Planet 24 - Black Mountain (formerly known as Run for Africa). That will be my next blog.
Thank you for helping me experience the most perfect marathon weekend imaginable, almost makes me want to retire from marathoning because I don't think I'll ever duplicate the excellence of last week's marathon. Thanks.
1 comment:
You're amazing and thank you for running for us!!
From all of us at Hope Runs (and we put you on our blog: http://trippingonwords.blogspot.com/2008/05/day-717-thank-you-for-running-for-hope.html
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