A Long Road Behind. An Open Road Ahead.

Deal with the past. Practice forgiveness and gratitude.

Be optimistic about the future. Let go of worry and fear.

When you can do that, you can truly celebrate the present. 

I'm a bit of a statistics geek. When I get a bucket of numbers or lists and I have free time (like I do during a slow Thanksgiving week), I like to look at the past to see what I can learn.  With our 100th half marathon coming up next week in San Antonio, it was nice to take a trip through the first 99.

We started in 2005. When we were racing with Team in Training, the idea of doing more than a half marathon every 12 weeks or a full more than twice a year was not within the realm of possibility. We didn't even speak about it. I think the idea was that our participants, many first time marathoners, should concentrate on their event so it's the highlight of the season. Pre-event tune up races detracted from the big one. I get that. And that's how we trained for the first four years. Most of the races we did for the first 5 years were with TNT.

That changed in 2009. Our tenure as TNT mentors and coaches went to an every other year basis and the teams in the Bay Area got smaller, probably due to competition from other training organizations. We added a few of the short hop destination races like Rock n Roll Vegas (with a day-time Run Through Wedding) and a local race featuring a Walk Division (Eye-Q Twin Cities Fresno).

Rock n Roll Las Vegas 2009. Our first vow renewal, photobombed by Elvis.

In 2010, we also found out about the bonus Heavy Medals offered by Rock n Roll. That year, we had 3 halfs and a full to get the Grand Slam. We also met a Marathon Maniac, Kamika Smith. That meeting on the Seattle causeway led us to join the Half Fanatics and eventually the Marathon Maniacs.

This was one instance where Susan and I did different races. Susan did the full in Seattle because I had done one extra full in Anchorage. I did the half 5 months after reconstructive knee surgery (and PRed).
Kamika finished his 100th full on the day we met. I never thought we'd come anywhere close to that total for races.

2011 was a step change. We were on a Southwest flight for RNR Arizona and somehow we had an unscheduled layover in San Diego. We were sitting in the aisle/window in row 2 when a perky blonde lady from the C group asked if she could sit with us. She ended up chatting with Susan for the hour long flight to Phoenix and it turns out she knew all about Rock n Roll. She even mentioned that they were adding a few inaugural races in Providence, Rhode Island; Savannah, Georgia and Miami Beach. By the time we got off the plane we were so excited we registered for another 5 races that year.  Turns out that young lady was Ann Wessling, the striped-socked, high-fiving announcer for the Rock n Roll races. We ended the year with 10 races (9 half marathons) and our first (inaugural) Rock Idol Heavy Medal. Garret Schmidt saved us a second medal for our picture on the shores of Rock n Roll Miami Beach (ours was in the mail).

We hit another inaugural in RNR Pasadena in 2012. I'm not sure where it got into our heads that we would do another 10 races, but the schedule filled up quickly. We met Dan and Jackie Evans, contestants from The Biggest Loser season 5.  They were in the early stages of setting up The Biggest Loser RunWalk race series. We signed up to raise money for Team Future, the Chicago area charity they were supporting, and they were gracious enough to treat us with VIP passes for Rock n Roll Chicago. That was the race we met Beth Deloria and Jim Austin. Beth is the director of social outreach for Allard and the GetBackUp Today movement. She runs with a special brace on her left foot because her ankle was paralyzed from a spinal surgery, but it hasn't slowed her down. She's a Boston qualifier and she and Jim are among our closest friends. By the end of the year, we bought memberships to the Half Fanatics group (#1731 and #1732) as Christmas presents to each other.

In 2013, things took a turn for the ridiculous. We had become good friends with Al and had dinners and post race celebrations with him and Caryn since RNR San Jose 2012, but when Competitor Group had a scheduling overlap putting Rock n Roll San Antonio and Rock n Roll Las Vegas on the same day, Al called me saying 'you know, it might be possible to do both'. We'd done full marathons before that, obviously, but even this was a step up. That was the year Double Live / SA2LV happened. We also added the inaugural Berkeley Half Marathon the following weekend to moon up to Earth level as Half Fanatics with 3 halfs in 3 states in 10 days. That split double gave us a good start for the Brazen New Years Eve/New Years Day double, just a month before we did full marathons 4 days apart on Antarctica and South America.

A second vow renewal, this time with a larger party on an emotional weekend.

The finish line at Vegas with a warm welcome from Ann.

2014 was our busiest year with 47 half marathons between us. Susan had the extra race that year at the Zooma Women's marathon in Napa, California. I didn't race in it, but was there in full support in an electric blue tutu. We also added the 50th Anniversary Mustang Half, a once in a lifetime chance to race on the Las Vegas Motor Speedway. We were able to walk in The Biggest Loser RunWalk races in Casper, Wyoming and Panama City Beach, Florida. It was also the year we did our first Disney races, starting with the Dumbo Double Dare in September and Disney Avengers in November (as the first half of the Avengers/RNR Vegas Double Live 2). We were even part of George Melichar's moving art museum at Rock n Roll Chicago. At Rock n Roll San Antonio, we hit our 15th RNR race, putting us on the first ever Heavy Medal Hall of Fame for CGI.

2015 saw another pair of Disney races and two The Biggest Loser RunWalk races.  We went back to where we did our first full marathon in Anchorage, Alaska to mark 10 years since our first race. The celebration was also our 20 year wedding anniversary.  With the inaugural Rock n Roll Brooklyn Half, we checked off the 25th state for half marathons. After this year's Disney Avengers/Rock n Roll Las Vegas double, we also finished our 15th RNR for another entry into the Hall of Fame. 

Messing with Darth

Dan and Jackie. The Biggest Winners in our book.

More than anything, we'll remember our first 99 races with our friends. We cheered for Joe for his 100th finishing his Rock n Roll race in DC. 

In the rain at DC for Joe's 100th Rock n Roll

We prayed for Beth as she underwent major surgery in March and recovered quickly enough to race again in May.

Pre-race at Rock n Roll Raleigh. Beth was just a few weeks out of abdominal surgery and came out to cheer us on. We all wore bibs in her honor.

We came together for Erin Zeman. Joe, Kevin and I wore her husband, Jake's bib from the day he passed away at Rock n Roll Savannah 2013.

Rock n Roll San Antonio will be our 16th RNR each for this year and our 45th half for 2015 combined. And it'll be a race where a lot of our best friends are hitting the 15 race Hall of Fame for the year as well. I want to see how many people I can fit into a group selfie of all the friends we've made over the years and the ones we hope to see for years to come.

I am grateful for every time I post a picture of my suitcase and the dozen or so luggage tags from the races we've done that year.

I'm glad that our bodies have forgiven us for the miles that we put on them.

I'm looking forward to the finishing in San Antonio on Sunday. It'll be the last of our first 100 half marathons.

At that time, and always, we'll celebrate the present.

~//~

I found this way of displaying our race history a little surprising. It didn't really dawn on me that we have been racing nearly every other weekend for almost three years now, most of them out of state. It does make me wonder if we've found a sweet spot or we're just taking a quick pause before going to the next level.

By the numbers, the 100 Half Marathon breakdown and stats.

Top Race Companies: 
- Rock n Roll Marathon (67 and 68 halfs, 5 and 4 fulls)
- runDisney (4) 
- The Biggest Loser RunWalk (4)

Most Frequented Races: 
RNR San Diego (6)
RNR Chicago (6)
RNR Seattle (5)
RNR Arizona (5)
RNR Las Vegas (5)
We've also done Nike San Francisco 10 times, but 8 of those were in support and we did the full marathon as pacers.

States with completed Halfs: 25
In order of completion: California, Alaska, Hawaii, Arizona, Nevada, Washington, Illinois, Texas, Tennessee, Rhode Island, Virginia, Florida, District of Colombia (yes we'll count it), Oregon, Colorado, Ohio, Missouri, North Carolina, Wyoming, Pennsylvania, Georgia, Louisiana, Indiana, Michigan, New York.

Canadian Provinces: 2
Quebec, British Columbia

Legacy Races: 
RNR Portland (4 years). We haven't seen this on the 2016 RNR schedule yet.
RNR San Francisco (3)
If you count these: Disney Avengers (2) and RNR Raleigh (2). 

Fastest halfs: 
Walking: Ron 2:22:28 RNR San Diego 2015, Susan 2:29:23 RNR San Diego 2014
Run/Walking: Ron 2:55:54 (yeah, go figure) RNR Chicago 2014, Susan 2:30:03 RNR Cleveland 2013

Best Age graded performances:  
Ron 63.27%, Susan 65.63%

Best Overall Finishes:
Ron: 1st place - TBL Casper 2014, TBL Las Vegas 2015, 3rd Place - TBL Panama City Beach 2014, American River Parkway 2014
Susan: 2nd place - TBL Casper 2014, 3rd place - TBL Las Vegas 2015.

Age grade awards:
Ron:  1st Place - Eye Q Fresno, 3rd Place - Eye Q Fresno
Susan: 1st Place - Eye Q Fresno, 1st Place American River Parkway (twice)

Favorites - random categories, because people always ask the question:
Ron: 
Favorite overall - Kauai. Tunnel of Trees and the most beautiful finish chute starting at mile 11.
Favorite Urban - RNR Chicago. I can do without the bridges, but the city is awesome.
Favorite For Speed - RNR San Diego. 4 PRs in 4 years (one in the 5K)
Most memorable: RNR San Antonio/RNR Las Vegas 2013. For many reasons.

Susan: 
Favorite Rock n Roll race - Vancouver. The last 3 miles smell like fresh cut Christmas trees.
Race with the most to look forward to at the finish: Diva San Francisco (Tiaras, Feather Boas, Champagne)
Most Scenic: Maui, Monterey

When 13.1 Miles YOU Reach, Look as Good YOU Will Not - The Inaugural runDisney Star Wars Rebel Challenge 2015

When Disney bought the rights to the Star Wars franchise, fans everywhere were elated. One of the biggest companies in the world was going to take the classic series and apply their special brand of magic. When runDisney announced there would be a Star Wars themed race weekend, the race world went insane. The Rebel Challenge (10K/Half combo) sold out in just 58 minutes. Pre-sale for annual pass holders was closed in less than 10 minutes. We were lucky enough to get into this Inaugural event to add to our experiences.

We arrived early afternoon on Friday, met Al and Caryn at the Sheraton and headed off to the expo early enough to scoop up a bunch of race souvenirs and take pictures. There were some posts on Facebook saying that the lines for merchandise and bib pick up were long, but we had no trouble at all. Just like Avengers, there was no shortage of good backdrops to go along with the theme.  

World traveler and future Triple 7 Quest runner Kamika had done the 5K that morning, adding to his string of 5 Disney races in a week after completing the Dopey Challenge in Orlando. Before the weekend was over, he'd have 11 medals - 7 for races, 3 more for the Goofy, Dopey and Rebel Challenges and one for the Coast-to-Coast challenge. Those of you who think we're crazy need to understand that crazy is all a matter of degree.

Our friends Marcey and Pete at Sport Hooks debuted their new Star Wars medal hangers, ready just in time for the Rebel Challenge Weekend.  They also had their brand new Marathon Maniacs and Half Fanatics racks first released at Dopey Week.

Al, Kamika and Caryn all had park passes so Susan and I caught a really nice dinner at Labrea Bakery just outside of the park. We stayed until the nightly fireworks display and headed to bed for the usual 4 AM wake up call. (Note for future Disney racers. The course this year started in the same general area, but since the direction of the start line had changed, we needed to walk another 10 - 15 minutes to get to the mid and back of the corrals. Be sure to check your start line maps!)

Rudy and Carissa were having a blast on the announcer stage. Disney took full advantage of the jumbotrons to show off the parade of characters visiting the start line including C-3PO, R2-D2, several storm troopers and a few miscellaneous characters. The big screen was useful for those of us starting in the Corral Far, Far Away.

The 10K course was different than Dopey and Avengers, passing through 'a bugs land' later in the race. This was great because in the low light, I may have even completely missed that section of the park last time.

Al was on a mission to find specific characters for photo ops - Yoda, C-3PO and R2-D2, Chewbacca - mainly because they wouldn't normally appear outside of film events and they're a bit harder to copy well with a store bought costumer. I was on the lookout for Darth Vader who took a bathroom break when I was at the head of the line at the Dopey 10K. 

Mile 2-ish: Score one with the Wookie.

Mile 2.5:  Susan skipped Chewy but went ahead to wait in line for Darth. I'll seriously consider buying the MarathonFoto for this one later.   

Main Street:  Kamika catches up to us in time to pose with characters from the New Rebels series. Something else to add to the DVR list.

On the Boardwalk:  We meet Jennifer Walker in the Boba Fett line. Jennifer was another Coast to Coast Disney runner who claimed 10 medals in the last week. Three weeks into January, she has already logged over 80 race miles.

Epic selfie fail as I cut off Al's head. The cast member photobomb is only slight redemption.

Somewhere on the back lots, I found my favorite costume.  When we signed up for the race, I joked with Susan that she should come dressed in Princess Leia's gold bikini (*look of horror*). This woman topped that - Lego style. Her partner rocked the Lego Jabba the Hutt as well.

The finish area had a Jedi DJ and some bigger than life Wars decor. Race 1 was a great day for pictures. I had a PW 1:56 for the 10K and didn't mind a bit.

Interestingly enough, I didn't hardly took any pictures at dinner. Susan was working and had dinner at the hotel. We met "Rhode Hazard" Andrea for the first time at the ESPN Zone. The only picture I had was of Al's "That's No Moon" drink. 

There may also have been some badly undercooked hot wings. We will not elaborate. Rather, let's ooh and ahh at the 10K medal.

It turns out the fireworks were better viewed from the parking lot of our hotel. 

I had some regrets about not taking the selfie-stick that Caryn gave me on the 10K. It came in handy on the half the next day. We gave ourselves an extra 15 minutes to get to the starting corrals, so we had some extra time. We met at the elevator 4:45 as planned. Al texted ahead to see if we had any cough drops. Fortunately, Susan gave me a whole bag when we were in San Antonio.

Gypsies Assemble!

It took me a while to get comfortable with the fact that my phone was on the far end of a stick and we were surrounded with people. It got better as we got going. Turns out there were a lot of us 'stick people' on the course.

Rudy was fighting a cold. As the corral in front of us went off, I think Carissa asked him if he wanted anything for his birthday the next day. "Cough drops". I don't think this could have been better if we planned it.

For future reference, Rudy likes Lemon flavored cough drops.

The early darkness made for tough picture taking, but there were a lot of good moments. Back lot spot lights:

The shot in front of the Castle.

The brightly lit mile markers. This time, no wind issues.

We skipped Darth and Chewie this time and looked for new characters. Mace Windu and a few younger Jedi had a short line. They really stayed in character, even asking what the strange weapon was that I was wielding.

The selfie-stick came in handy more than I thought it would.

There was a beautiful sunrise over Cars Land that I just could not get the right lighting. We turn the corner in the back lots and saw this though. Nothing like a California sunrise!

The sunrise over Cars Land was pretty spectacular.

The highlight of the race was in the southern loop of the course where the 501st Legion came out in force. The 501 performs charitable events in full Star Wars garb. I bet most people lost 10 - 20 minutes on their race time here alone. Al was up ahead sending intel back on the characters so we knew where to stop.

I really need to keep my comments to myself around these guys.

One of many bounty hunters

Just hanging with Darth and the boys.

 Let the Wookie win. Seriously.

 Given the hat, I just had to do this one with C-3PO.

After realizing that the lighting was good enough to take a moving picture, I had to go back and take this picture in mid-jump. I didn't think this would ever happen at a regular Disney race since Darth is usually inside the park with a 20 minute line. The guy behind me took the burst pictures perfectly.

Susan was waiting for me just before the turn back into downtown Disney. The time on the mile marker was pretty consistent with our last Disney race. Speed is not an issue. Go for the PR for character pictures!

We met Jeff, Jen and Connor in the finish area. Jen had done the 10K the day before and Jeff had a solid time at the half. Connor got to wear the medals. Connor probably had more pictures taken of him than all of the characters holding his sign cheering on mom and dad.

First race weekend of 2015 done! While we're lagging behind quite a few of our friends on medals per week, this wasn't a bad start.

For the record, some signs just won't have the same effect anywhere else.

~//~

The Inaugural runDisney Star Wars Half Marathon Weekend was an unqualified success. There were about 20,000 finishers overall (9,194 in the 10K, 10,374 in the Half Marathon). There was a good turnout for the 5K which was untimed (so no count available).  While I didn't see or hear a number, I bet that a good portion of the participants completed the 10K and Half as part of the Rebel Challenge.  

The half marathon course was typical Disney, starting in Downtown Disney and winding through Disneyland for the first 4.5 miles. After leaving the park, we headed south on Harbor Boulvevard turning west on Garden Grove, north on Euclid, east on Chapman, then back up Harbor to make our way back to the finish. The overhead view of the course looks a lot like a bath tub and shower head. While we didn't get the chance to go through Angels Stadium like we did at Dumbo and Avengers, we also didn't have to brave the high winds off the flood control channel.  Several runDisney veterans were saying this was the best Disney World course they've run.

Weather this year was cool to comfy, starting in the low 50's at 5:30 AM and warming to the mid 70's by 8:30. This was a welcome break to a bunch of our friends who came from the Dopey and Goofy Challenges in Walt Disney World the previous week where temperatures were in the low 40's.

This particular weekend in January was busy for our usual race companies. runDisney used to have the Tinkerbell Half Marathon Weekend until this year (moving it to Mother's Day weekend). The Biggest Loser RunWalk had a race in Las Cruces New Mexico which is still our list of half marathon states. Competitor Group always holds Rock n Roll Arizona this weekend. This is a bummer since, RNR started a four-year medal series with RNR Arizona where the medals from 2015 - 2018 all fit together to form a super-medal. It should be noted that if we knew about that before Star Wars was announced, we may have chosen a different path since it was already included in the cost of the TourPass 2015.

We had a blast at Star Wars weekend. Depending on how our run for RNR Hall of Fame goes, we may do it again in 2017.