The Road to Rio - Rock n Roll Arizona 2016

Traveling for races means we're usually going to see friends. I can't even remember what it's like when we used to get to races by ourselves, not knowing anyone when we get there.

Usually our race weekend starts when I take a picture of my suitcase and the hoards of luggage tags from previous races, but as the first travel race of the year, it wasn't so impressive. Sometimes, the race feels real when we get on the plane. This time, the race started at the airport waiting to board.

Rock n Roll Arizona is the last race in the series where people can earn points toward the half marathon Grand Prix. This year it's also one of the tune up races for Olympic qualifiers for the Rio games this August. As we were boarding the plane, a lady asked if we were doing the half or full. ("Half"). Then she asked if we were age-grade leaders. The look of utter amusement on my face must have been very obvious.

The lady I was speaking to was Diane Batchelor, the Women's 50 - 54 age grade Grand Prix leader going into the final event. She saw our Hall of Fame Tour jackets and assumed we earned them through competition. I guess she wasn't aware there were incentives for QUANTITY as well as Quality of races! We saw our first Rock n Roll Gypsy, Don on the plane. A-list boarding for Susan let us save him a seat in #SouthwestFirstClass. 

First stop, the expo at the Phoenix Convention Center.With half of our friends scattered across the country in various races, it was great to see the brand new Heavy Medal Hall of Fame banner as we walked into the expo. There were 84 people in 2015 to finish 15 qualifying races, up from 27 in 2014.

It looks like our friend Jennifer did some extra family volunteering. Not only was her fiance Blair working the course, she had her future daughter Heather working T-Shirt pick up.

Two races into 2016 and our weather luck is holding. High 40's for the start for both the Saturday 5K and the half on Sunday. Not a drop of rain! The redesigned bling keeps on impressing us.

The second year of the Arizona super-medal for the half. The 2015 medal fits into the left side of the start. The 2017 and 2018 medals will complete the outline of the state.

We skipped RNR Arizona in 2015 for the inaugural runDisney Star Wars half so this was our chance to catch up with Susan's cousin, Lyn and her husband Brian. We'd be staying with them for the weekend. Their backyard porch gave us some good interaction with nature. Lyn said that when she stays on the porch reading, the hummingbirds would land on her.

I grabbed a quick dinner at Pizzeria Bianco I went to meet Jody and Jerry for dinner. I highly recommend the Rosa! I'd known Jody met while we were  blogging on MySpace, which gives you some indication of how long we've known each other. Susan grabbed dinner with Lyn and Brian at the Ahi Mahi Fish Grill. 

Saturday January 16th. 5K
The 9 AM start was awfully civilized. Honestly, why races don't start that late more often, I don't know. We found some good parking across from the Corner Bakery on South Mill and bought a cup of coffee to stay inside and stay warm. Quick tip: Pay for 4 hours of parking and you can stay long enough for the Kids Rock wave starts. On the way to the starting line we ran into a lot the usual characters including Amy and her mother, Ainsley, Hyalker, Mitch, Sherry, Monique, Chuck, Holly and George. It sounded like Dan was going to run the year in the penguin suit. The group here did probably 200 races last year.

The 5K started last year when when we were in Disney. The course went along the new river path. The weather was pretty much perfect. 

Bigelow had a very popular truck at the end of the race giving out hot tea to ward off the chill. 

TeamUp Captain Virginia and her friend Maria joined us. Virginia is working her way up to double races, doing the 5K and 10K in Arizona.

I'm going to make a point of staying for a few of the Kids Rock races this year. Ann describes it as watching Saturday morning cartoons for an hour. The first wave of 12 year olds started at 10 and the waves went all the way down to the 2 year old Diaper Dash.

Jennifer on bike duty. Ann rallies the volunteers to the start line.

Race 1 in the books. We took our traditional picture in front of the white wall at Lyn and Brian's.

We spent the day driving around Scottsdale for good pictures. We found quite a few. Pre-race dinner was at Michelina's, one of our old haunts and Susan and I arrived early to decorate the table with wedding favors (Michelle and Ted got married over Christmas break). The salmon special hit the spot. Michelina was celebrating her 30th year in business. We also got some complimentary after dinner shots to toast the newlyweds.

Left to right: Brad, Julie, Ted, Michelle, Sherry, Don, Amy, Susan, Kamika, Gary, Ron

Sunday, January 17th. Half Marathon
With the 7:50 start time, we got to VIP parking at the US Airways lot a little before 7. VIP feels a lot better when there's a full marathon to maximize the time at the end. The seats for the headliner concerts are always good.  I did finally get a picture with Diana and her teammates, most of whom were going after age grade leader awards as well.

I had this as a push race, just to see if my fitness level dropped too much to try to PR in New Orleans at the end of February. We only took a few pictures at the start line.

I finished just under 2:30, a personal best on the course, beating the 60% age grade. In the past, this hasn't been my best race, going through calf strains, odd chest pains and too much broccoli the night before.  Leah Reid reported some stomach flu issues and still PRed at the half. This looks to be a good start for the year.

Amusement at Gear Check pick up. The UPS guys got the joke immediately, and apparently a lot of people did too.

We had a front row seat for the awards presentation. Best of luck to our Olympic hopefuls!

This was our sixth time at RNR AZ. Two years ago, we celebrated Al's 250th half marathon. We've done them with Team in Training, but mostly on our own. 

I'm just glad 'on your own' isn't as common as it has been in years past.

~//~

Rock n Roll Arizona was run for the 13th year in 2016. There were 18,855 finishers (2,349 in the full, 11,224 in the half, 3,076 in the 10K and 2,206 in the Saturday 5K). Diana ended up finishing second in her age group. Shiela Natho edged her out in the tiebreaker of age grade ranking. Final results for the Half Marathon Grand Prix are posted.

News from the Road
The past weekend was eventful for friends. Al and Tawni were at the second runDisney Star Wars. With the recent release of Episode 7: The Force Awakens, costumes and characters make the Rebel Challenge one to remember. This April, the Inaugural runDisney Star Wars - Dark Side races in April offer a dual coast Kessel Run bonus medal.

Jim Diego kicked off the Key West Half Marathon by singing the national anthem. Joining him fresh off the Kenda Cruise were Carl and Ilona Marino. The race was punctuated with gale force winds and Portuguese Man-o-Wars being blown onto the course. Ilona ran her first half marathon without her scooter.

This weekend, Melinda is off to Chile for the White Continent/Punta Arenas Marathon with Marathon Adventures. I look forward to reliving that trip through her pictures.

What Goes Through Your Mind During a 50K. Looking Back. Letting Go. Forging Ahead.

I walked 50K last Saturday.

Most of the people who read that unconsciously read it as "I walked a 50K". That would imply there was an event, a medal, a course and pictures. There was none of that, except for a couple pictures. The rest? I did it on my own.

Why?  Good question. I was asking myself that several times during the day.

I turned 49 this December. Like several times before I blurted out a goal based on that milestone. I finished my first marathon at age 38 and decided I wanted to finish 50 races by age 50 (we passed that three years ago) and then 100 races by 50 (we did that mid 2015). Some time last year I decided to do a 50K before I turned 50. That's what led to Saturday. 

Let's ignore the fact that I hadn't put in any mileage in three weeks and hadn't done long distance since our double half in mid-November. Add that the day before was Christmas. I had a decent breakfast but then loaded up on cookies, fudge and junk food - not an ideal fueling routine. But this was the first weekend day after my birthday that wasn't pouring rain. I figure if I'm going to be out there for 7 hours depending on speed, I'd rather do it when it's nice. We learned to race with Team in Training, meaning we don't wear headphones. That's a really long time to be alone with your thoughts and the scenery, but it was a great time to reflect on 2015.

I started at 8:15 AM when the outside temps read 29 degrees and a forecast for light winds. Say what you will about wimpy Californians, but it was reportedly warmer in DC, Connecticut and Vancouver that morning.    

The first leg went west on the Alameda Creek trail toward the Bay. The trail is paved and with a few exceptions in Coyote Hills, pretty flat and very exposed to winds. I packed a few Bonk Breakers, a tube of Gu Brew and my RNR Raleigh rain jacket to keep the wind off. 10.4K (6.5 miles) later, I was at the furthest point west on the trail looking out at a beautiful sunrise over the bay.

No one else out here except for bikers and a few vultures. I should have taken that as a hint.

It was a little over 20% of the way through and I was thinking about the first few months of the race year. We skipped RNR Arizona for the inaugural runDisney Star Wars half, finally getting the Darth Vader pictures I missed at Dumbo. We went back to RNR New Orleans for the first time since 2010 and I added a Brazen race on Valentine's Day to pull even with Susan on half marathons so we could finish the year at 100 apiece.

I was keeping a comfortable pace as I turned into Coyote Hills to refill my water bottle before 17K (10.5 miles). A third of the way through the year would be the end of April and by then we had seen Joe become the first to reach 100 Rock n Roll races in DC. Our thoughts turned to Beth after we raced at RNR Dallas, her last race before undergoing abdominal surgery. After hearing a positive report during RNR San Francisco, we wore bibs in her honor at RNR Raleigh.

What mile 13 looks like after getting a decent amount of rain.

Between the 17K and 27K (Miles 10.5 to 17.2) it was rough going. I hit gusting headwinds of 15-20 mph and it wasn't getting much warmer. It took a lot to stay focused. I thought about the stretch between late April and mid July when I was working on Al's speed program. I had good races at RNR Nashville, TBL Crown Point and RNR Portland before setting a 5K and Half PR at RNR San Diego. I felt pretty good about my race walk form at Tim Seaman's clinic in Chicago and we cheered Beth finishing her first full marathon after surgery at RNR Seattle. We celebrated our 20th anniversary by going back to the site of our first race in Alaska and raced a toasty remix at RNR Chicago. We finished July at the San Francisco 1st half.

I broke off the trail to head back to the house at 27K (17.2 mi) to get more food. Honestly, I was hurting from lack of fuel and was seriously considering stopping. Susan came home as I was heating up leftover eggs and pretzel bread and reminded me that I knew the trail like the back of my hand. And she reminded me that 14 more miles "is just a half."

Sorry guys. I know I'm not supposed to make light of the distance, but for us, that's motivation.  

I spent 20 minutes refueling, unfueling, packing extra Bonk Breakers and refocusing. 60% through the year is about where we usually a long break between RNR Chicago and our next race in early September and I spent that break working harder to get faster before RNR San Jose.  I got back to the creek trail for the second leg. Getting started after the break was a big deal, physically and mentally.

Our first race back after the break was the Run for CHUM, checking off a half in Michigan. Next was TBL Las Vegas in 80 degree heat where I walked a solid sub-2:25 on a shortened course. RNR San Jose was supposed to be the PR race, but the wheels came off at mile 9. The next week at RNR Brooklyn, I came within 30 seconds of the San Diego PR on a more challenging course. Two weeks later were were back at RNR St. Louis to meet Hyalker's honoree, Katy and Amy's family who were running for her uncle Bill.  Back on the trail, I made the turn at Niles at the 32K mark. It's starting to look like I'll make the full distance if I just stay focused. It's time to go into the fun cool down for the rest of the year.

It's hard to complain when you can train pretty much all year round in good conditions.

The end of October was the group Pac Man costume race at RNR Los Angeles. Three weeks later we had a beautiful morning race at the runDisney Avengers half and a cold, windy night race at RNR Las Vegas. Susan and I and Beth and Jim renewed our vows on the flight between Anaheim and Vegas. On the trail, I'm passing the 42K (26.1 mile) mark. Just 8K (5.1 miles) more. Less than a 10K. I did some mental calculations and concluded I need to pass my start point by 3K to get the distance right. I'm surprised my brain is still able to process that.

Our last race of the year was RNR San Antonio. I set a PR at on the 10K by 3 minutes and raced with Susan step for step the next day in the half. It was our 100th. It seemed right. At the finish line, I drop to one knee and ask her if she'd spend the next 100 half marathons with me. For some reason, she agrees.

I'm less than 2K from the 50K mark. I text Susan to let her know I'm nearly done. She offers to meet me at the end and drive me to In n Out for a burger and fries. Clearly she was serious about spending the next 100 halfs with me. I came down the short hill from the creek trail to find her waiting for me, with the dogs in the back seat. My total time was about 7.5 hours including 40 minutes of stop time to refuel and stretch. Fifteen minutes later I had a double double and extra crispy fries. The food didn't survive the drive home.

It's four days later as I write this. The knots in my quads and hamstrings are close to normal, I still have a tightness in my right arch that needs attention and I have a pair of matching blood blisters on my heels that show up when I'm using good race walk form. Garmin Connect tells me that the blue Brooks Pure Cadence shoes are officially past their mileage limit so it's time to retire them. I used those shoes for PR's at the 5K, 10K, half marathon and now 50K distance, but it feels good to let things go when they've outlived their usefulness. I have better pairs on the shelf.

Looking ahead to 2016, we're gearing up to check of our 6th continent at the Victoria Falls marathon in Zimbabwe in July. We're signed up for 14 Rock n Roll races and have to add a couple more to get to Hall of Fame for a third straight year. If the schedule works out, we want to get back to American River Parkway and see if our race walk form is any closer to legal.

It doesn't feel like I'm turning 50 next year. It feels like I'm just starting and the road ahead is open to all kinds of possibilities.

Postscript: Although I planned to do this 50K just to say I did it, two days later, I got an email from Rock n Roll for the Bonus Track Medal. This is a virtual race with no set distance, so I guess I get a medal for it after all!

~//~

All told we finished 24 half marathons, two 10Ks and three 5Ks for 338.5 race miles. We crossed off 4 new states for half marathons bringing our total to 25, won two age grade awards each, had two overall first place finishes a 2nd and 3rd place and got the highest medal awarded at Rock n Roll for the fifth year in a row. We got closer with a lot of our gypsy friends and I think we have found a group of friends that we'll want to race with for years to come.

If you're looking for a way to start off an active New Year tomorrow, a few of my friends run social media supported programs that I'd love to plug.

John Bingham kicks off his 100 Days Challenge tomorrow. Be intentionally active for a total of 30 minutes a day and check off your progress. He says this is not a Training program, but more a Lifestyle program. It's a great way to come off the couch.

David DeNeire has transformed the FREE! 365 days of Cardio Challenge to pair up buddies and hold each other accountable for 25 minutes of cardio every day. No cost to join. The group posts some pretty diverse pictures, so it's like doing your workouts all over the world. You can sign up on a monthly basis and keep going for all of 2016 and beyond.

Jenny Hadfield kicks of Challenge 2016. Each month there's a different focus on different aspects of running/walking (strength, speed, endurance) and also tips on creating healthy habits. Coming with the $45 membership is private sessions with Coach Jenny. For $55, you can also get the Challenge 2016 medal!

If you know that you're going to race a lot anyway, don't forget to pick up the Rock n Roll TourPass that allows you to race in 3 events for $219 or an unlimited number for $479. It pays for itself pretty fast. Also remember to enroll as a Heavy Medalist so you get the enormous bonus medals for completing multiple races.

Serial racers can also find some great discounts and race tips at The 100 Half Marathons Club. Today is the LAST day for $25 lifetime membership ($75 after the deadline). You need at least 10 lifetime half marathons to join.

All Good Things - 2015 Rock n Roll Marathon Hall of Fame Presentation

At the end of the expo at Rock n Roll San Antonio, we finally found out the results of the race for the Rock n Roll Marathon Hall of Fame. While the Pannell report tracked the weekly totals pretty accurately, it was pretty amazing all those people converge into one spot for a half hour of some of the most-tagged pictures I've ever seen.

278 people finished 10 or more races in 2015. Depending on whose numbers you use, somewhere between 83 and 87 finished 15 races to earn as spot in the 2015 Hall of Fame. The numbers from the Pannell Report, to close out 2015, are listed below.

Races     
10 121
11 31 12 19 13 7 14 13 15 30 16 21 17 13 18 7 19 1 20 6 21 5 22 3 23 1

Disclaimer, John runs these manually. There may be some miscounts as some of the international races have a more difficult time being imported due to formatting. We also have first hand reports of people having fewer races than the Pannell report shows. I can't thank him enough for the work he does.

The top story was the award for the most Heavy Medal qualifying races - the Rock Superstar - going to Leah Reid. The 23 races above doesn't include the side trip she made to St. Louis to do the 5K on Saturday and then to Denver the next day to the the half. A story run by Competitor Magazine started with Leah selling her car to fund the race schedule. She said she was going to sell it anyway, but I kinda like the legend. One thing everyone I talked to agrees on, the award couldn't have gone to a nicer person.

Tracy Sundlun presents the Rock Superstar plaque. Leah deserves a crown with the gold record.
I can't seem to find an appropriate crown to photoshop into this picture.

Though Leah visited the most cities this year, the most miles in RNR races was completed by Sherry. With 20 races (4 fulls, 16 halfs, a 10k, seven 5ks and two 1-milers), her total of 344.3 miles should be worth some kind of side award. Let's call it the "Roadie of the Year" title. Early during the Saturday 10K, Leah started feeling dizzy early in the race. Sherry decided to walk with Leah for the last 5 miles. Somehow what these two women accomplished this year just made this moment seem right. By the next day, Leah had recovered enough to have her best half marathon time of 2015, missing PR by less than a minute. Sherry helped a first timer finish the full marathon.

Correction: Bradley Carpenter actually finished over 400 Rock n Roll Race miles in 2015. Of the 21 cities, he finished 10 fulls, 11 halfs, 7 5K's a 10K and a 1 miler for a whopping 435 miles. I'm still looking to see if any of the Hall of Famers got higher mileage totals, but this one is worth mentioning. The highest total ever was likely the year David Deniere finished all 27 events including at least a half dozen fulls. Remix 5K and 10K's were not available that year.

Unofficially, 15 people finished at 20 or more races in 2015. I may need to tap some of our RNR history buffs, but I would venture to guess this is the most ever in a year.

23: Leah
22: Carl, Ilona, Timothy
21: Amy, Bradley, Diana, Fred, Maria, and Sylvia
20: Ainsley, Andrea, Greg, Mitchell and Sherry

A special shout out to Diana who had absolutely no intention of having a bum knee keep her from getting through her last race of the year. It was easy to spot the 21 bib as she was rolling down the first underpass. Her dad finished the year with 18 RNR's.

Since this was the second year for the Hall of Fame, the next thing I was looking for was repeats from 2014. In order of location where they finished the 15th race. 

Carl and Ilona (San Jose)
Mitchell (Denver)
Joe (Philadelphia)
Martin (Savannah)
Susan and Ron, Jessica, Rodney, Wesley, Juan (Las Vegas)
Ronald (San Antonio)

We plan to give the Hall of Fame another run in 2016 and hope to see these folks a lot next year. I'd also like to somehow track down Rodney and Ronald at some point to see if they've been racing long enough to pick up a few Rock Idols from 2011- 2013. 

Run for your life?

Prior to San Antonio, we did some informal polling from the Rock n Roll Gypsies and the Black Sheep Run group since it looked like that included a good percentage of the folks we see at most of the races in the last two years (many thanks to Amy for collecting most of the data). Tracy Sundlun asked me for the statistics just before the presentation, but unfortunately, I wasn't able to pull up the larger spreadsheet. I DID have a post bookmarked where I collected most of the numbers for people who have 70 or more lifetime races as of RNR San Antonio. 

I think this list is the all-time top 10, but I'd be happy to edit if someone can send me their information! Note that this includes Heavy Medal qualifying races (no Remixes), but also gives people the option to add the RNR Brooklyn 10Ks when it was the only distance available. European races - not counted toward the annual Heavy Medal count prior to 2014 are also included.

Joe          116
Kevin        93
Al             88
Sherry      72
Kamika     74
Jim          77
Beth         76
Susan       73 
Ron          72

Juan         70

Anyone with over 40 races life time appears to be in the Top 25. These are also self-reported and most certainly not a complete list. Please let me know where you stand and I can add you to a growing spreadsheet!

David          67 
Mitchell      63
Michelle      57
Shirley        57
Tim            51
Hyalker      48
Kelvin         48

Sylvia         48

Jessica       46
Justin         46
Ilona           42
Carl            41
Leny           41
Martin        40
Tricia         40

The reason I wanted to track this is because I've asked Josh and Cassidy if there's any chance we could formalize a lifetime achievement milestone awards as Joe received for his 100th RNR race in DC this year. We'll see what materializes. 

While San Antonio was a huge milestone for Susan and me, I thought the Hall of Fame presentation deserved a separate blog entry. There was something special about the year that made so many people cram a ton of races into their calendars. If you have a Global Tour Pass, you'll want to fit in 5 or so races to break even. 7 races is usually possible without leaving your timezone. At 10 races, you have to start crossing the country a few times and at 15, it becomes a significant commitment of time and money. 

A lot of us made that commitment. And people who were complete strangers at the start of the year are looking back realizing that the gold microphone at the 15th race was the reason they started, but the reason they kept coming back was because of the friends they made in cities across the country.  

We are no longer just individual runners and walkers.

We are Party Rockers.

Photo Credit Bill (Chinoloco) Kwok

We are Black Sheep who belong.

Photo Credit Adrian Mauricio

We are Rock n Roll Gypsies who have found a home.

But above all this year, we are one big Heavy Medal Family.

To the staff at Competitor Group, the countless volunteers and contractors who made this year a truly memorable journey, we thank you. We continue to make lifelong friends, hit personal milestones and see places and things we probably wouldn't have dreamed about if not for the Rock n Roll Marathon Series.

And while all good things must come to an end, I know that a lot of us have the 2016 TourPass. And we can't wait to start this craziness all over again.

Thanks to Jim for the video 

(and to the designer of the medal for making it a decent shot glass)

Take 3 - Disney Avengers and Rock n Roll Las Vegas Half Marathons 2015

This is a long blog. I didn't have the focus to split it into two parts so I did what I could to hit the highlights. In retrospect, the length is actually pretty reflective of how it feels to go through the day we did.

When people at work find out how much we travel for races, they eventually stop asking IF we have a race coming up, but instead ask where we're going next. Even the folks who are used to it pause when we tell them 'we're doing the Disney Avengers Half on Sunday morning, then flying to Vegas that night to the the Rock n Roll Half.' At this point, they usually don't know what to say, so I spare them and say, 'There are people who are crazier than us'. Crazy, it seems, is relative. 

It's amusing that I have to put a year in the title, implying that this isn't the first (or the last) time we'll do this combo.

Friday November 13th: Travel Day 1.

This year was a little different. Unlike SA2LV and last year's Avengers/Vegas, we actually flew to Vegas on Friday. Susan's company has a quarterly meeting in Chicago that week and it's quicker and cheaper than flying all the way home and back to Vegas. We ended up booking our timeshare at the Desert Rose from Friday to Monday which turned out to work pretty well. I checked in to the Vegas to Anaheim Saturday flight from the plane out of Oakland. Thank you Southwest for the wifi!

First stop after dropping our stuff off was bib pick up. I caught the monorail with VIP Joe Harris and Lisa Short, the RNR San Antonio Ambassador of Rock. With a crazy weekend ahead, it was good to start things off seeing friendly faces.

We got the pink sheets in the bib pick up bins, indicating we needed to head to Solutions. This time it was to pick up our Hall of Fame backpacks and merchandise vouchers before heading back to the bibs to get our 15-race vanity bibs. It's been a long year and it was neat to finally hold them for the first time.

That's not my medal. At least not yet. And I still love this shirt.

I spent some time in Merch doing some shopping at the expo. I realized because we started the last two Vegas weekends in another state, we never get a chance to pick up things ourselves. I have to admit that I like the new colors and material for the half-zips RNR is selling this year. I think I have a half dozen of them from this year alone. Along with the Hall of Fame backpack comes a gift card for expo merchandise good until the end of the year. It didn't last long!

We also found that one of our good friends on the CGI staff would be retiring after RNR San Antonio. Darlene, we'll miss you. Thanks for everything and hopefully we'll see you on weekends of your choosing in the next year!

I had no commitments other than lunch/dinner so with the year winding down, it was nice to get some time to chat with Amy, Ryan and Mindy who helped make this another amazing year of races, shirts, laughs and Heavy Medals.

An unusual lull at the Rock n Roll registration area with Amy, Kevin, Joe, Ryan, Andrew and Mindy.

Several of our gypsy friends were already in Vegas including Sherry, Andrew, Kamika, Jim and Beth. I was able to catch lunch with Joe and Kevin at Gordon Ramsey's BurGR in the Planet Hollywood and talk about some ideas we had about the long term for Rock n Roll. The burgers were good.

Given the potential for excess on the Vegas strip, I headed back to the hotel to make sure I had all of my gear for the Disney race AND the plane ride back in a single backpack before heading out to the tables. This year we booked the Desert Rose from Friday to Monday and left the room empty Saturday night. Turns out it worked well. Joe did decently at the nickel slots. The blackjack tables were kind to me as well. Susan and I grabbed a quick dinner and triple checked the gear.

I left the bibs in Vegas. We were pretty sure we'd have enough time to get back to the room to change.

Saturday, November 14th: Travel Day 2.
We met up with Beth and Jim at the airport to catch a mid-morning flight to Orange County. It turns out Vegas is good for Beth too. She loves the video poker slots.

The 45 minute flight was barely enough time to catch up on things. The tray tables had to up before we finished our drinks and we had to check in for our Sunday flight just after we landed. Jim got us to Downtown Disney with a few hours to spare before the expo closed to pick up bibs and we grabbed lunch at Tortilla Joe's. Two years after the original double at SA2LV, we were ready to do it again! Kamika, Caryn and Al had all done the 10K before we arrived to complete the first leg of the Infinity Gauntlet. 

Sunday, November 15th. Race Day, Travel Day 3.

Early mornings at Disneyland can be a little chilly. Most of us had old space blankets handy and the low light was good enough for some group selfies. Al had the experience to know that the corral split was a good place to meet. Texting and FB messages just weren't going through very quickly.

Bag check closed 20 minutes before the start, so with Beth checking her jacket, we did some improvising.

Marathoners who've never done a Disney race should know that they're extremely well run, certainly worthy of a company that specializes in entertainment. The customer service at bag check, the decor and the characters are first rate. Even the starting line is a production.

Last year, Al and I were able to make the photo lines for Hawkeye and Thor, but missed Black Widow and Captain America. This year, Al got them both at the 10K. I was lucky enough get catch the short lines for both in the half.

"You want to do two half marathons in two states on the same day?"
"Yeah. It'll be fun."

"On your left"

Classic. Only at a Disney race!

Beth and Jim didn't submit proof of finish times before getting to the race, so they ended up in corral D. Disney enforces the corrals and sends waves every 10 minutes, so we knew they'd be coming up behind us. They passed Caryn at mile 7, me at mile 7.5 and passed Susan just before she got to Angels stadium at mile 9. This is the third time we've done a Disney race that went through the stadium and since I usually wait for character pics, I never get to see Susan. This time we somehow timed it just perfectly so we met in the 150 yard stretch inside the stadium. She said she heard the announcer call my name.

Of course, Susan couldn't go the whole race without a picture with the Avengers. Waiting for us at the finish were Hawkeye and Thor. I actually got all 4 this time!

We even got a really nice shout out from Rudy Novotny, the voice of runDisney. He was calling out a lot of people who were ready to hop a flight to Vegas for one of three races that night.

Race 1 done. Since we were all finishing at different times, we agreed to meet at 10:45 after a shower, quick change and check out. Refuel and hydrate, but not too much.

The flight to Vegas was scheduled to take off at 12:35 and land by 1:30. Caryn was doing the 10K starting at 4:00 so it looked like we had a lot of time. SA2LV and Disney2LV alum Martin and Wes were on the same flight. We met a few more Half Fanatics doing the double too. It reminded me a lot of 2013 when making it to the airport was the stressful part.

Think we were the only ones excited about the weekend? Not hardly. Even Southwest was getting in on the action.

This is where the universe tested us a bit. We had forecasts of strong winds in Vegas and when the pilot announced a delay at the gate. It ended up being a lot of traffic coming into Vegas and since we were still on the ground, they pushed us down in priority. We had a 90 minute delay, putting our arrival time at about 3:00. We'd be cutting it close for Caryn.

In 2010, Susan and I renewed our vows at the Run Through Wedding at Rock n Roll Vegas in a daytime ceremony at mile 3.8. In 2013, we did it again at the starting line, that time with Beth and Jim. This year, we had something else in mind.  Al has a minister's license and he renewed our vows some 30,000 feet over the California-Nevada border. The video was too large to upload to blogspot, but its on my Facebook wall for all to see. I should have asked Wes and Martin if they wanted to join in, but their real first wedding is scheduled for some time next October.

We landed at just before 3:00 PM. We scattered to our respective hotels to get ready for the second race. Caryn did make it to the SLS to the starting line of the 10K just as the first corrals were getting released. The rest of us at the half got there around 4:00 - pretty leisurely as these things go.

Race 2: Rock n Roll Las Vegas Half Marathon

The 4:30 start time had low enough light so that it got harder to take pictures. We found Lisa Marie and Ken in corral 10 and waited for the the Run Through Wedding parties in corral 11. A few pictures turned out OK. Ish.

Lisa Marie had been at two races where the weather was so bad they canceled all or part of the race. We were ready to blame her if we didn't make Vegas. Fortunately, we did make it, so we'll just blame her for the 30 mph winds.

Ann Wessling, as usual, lighting up the start line. 

A seriously blurry picture of Carl and Ilona with their entourage on the way to the Run Through Wedding at mile 3. The scooter now has sound effects. I was thinking maybe in San Antonio, she'll add a cooler with beverages.

The Welcome to Vegas sign. You can already see the winds through Susan's hair.

Sherry caught up to us at mile 2. It was tough to focus the camera knowing the road had some potholes and a few million people in front of me.

I pretty much shut down the pictures between mile with the rain starting at mile 7 and the winds coming at our face at the turn. It went from challenging to miserable for a while. Al and I had talked about stopping at the Stratosphere and doing the free fall during the race, but it was closed due to the conditions. Probably a good thing. The GPS trace would show you going down, out, back, up, and splatting against the building as your heart rate flat lined.

Right about this point, things slowed down. Literally.  Al was on his last few treatments of an allergy shot regimen and just receive the highest dose on Thursday. His doctor told him that if his heart rate shot up too high, he could go into anaphylactic shock. He didn't feel at all bad, but that's not something you ignore. He took it easy in Disney, but his corral started a full 10 minutes before us so we never saw the effects. We took it easy. I mean 15 minute/mile easy.

One highlight was being able to meet Jennifer's fiancee, Blair. They were stationed at the full/half split at mile 11.5. The rain had stopped, but she mentioned the wind got even stronger after we left. Major props to the staff and volunteers staying out there past 3.5 hours and the folks doing the full.

The wind didn't let up at all for the last mile and a half and with the slow pace, the moisture activated thermal reflective gear didn't quite do the job is should have. We gave Ann a hug and Chris a high five at the finish line and made our way to see Ryan and Mindy at the Heavy Medal tent. The Hall of Fame microphone medals went right into a box with our post race snacks and we headed to the Westin to warm up a bit. Kamika drove Susan back to the hotel to rest and I went over to Johnny Rocket's with Al and Caryn for some massive burgers.  I would have taken pictures, but the food was inhaled before I remembers to pull out my phone.

Our total elapsed time for both races was somewhere in the 6 - 6.5 hour range. Back when we started racing, that would have easily been a full marathon PR walking and I consider that good perspective. Days like this go on our calendar to push ourselves a little and to further cement some friendships that we hope last another few decades.

Oh. And the calorie deficit isn't bad either. We hit the Spice Market Buffet at Planet Hollywood the next morning with fellow race walker, Gary. We chose that because Susan has this thing for cotton candy.

I swear, I only sampled each. Honest.

Part of the 11 AM lunch buffet menu, made fresh before your eyes!

It didn't occur to us that we hadn't even put the medals around our necks until we got home. I guess we were waiting for the right background. I still have about 10 medals to put on the 2015 rack from SportHooks and a special bib holder for our latest one.

Dozens of pictures and hundreds of memories. Four days, two states, two halfs for the third year in a row. 

And we're signed up for Vegas 2016 and are just waiting for Avengers 2016 registration to open.

~//~

The runDisney Avengers Half Marathon is in its second year. Given that the Infinity Gauntlet (10K and Half) sold out in a few hours, it's likely the race will continue for some time to come. The bonus medal for doing both races has six slots for Infinity Stones, so it makes even more sense to continue (though I'd heard reports of some of the stones falling out of the medals and littering the park that afternoon). This year, the weather was just about perfect with none of the high winds from 2014. There were 10,765 finishers in the half, 6,778 finishers in the Captain America 10K. Over 6,000 finished both races for the Infinity Gauntlet challenge. Military results are totaled separately adding about 500 more finishes.  The 2015 course was slightly different than last year, but like most Disneyland races, had the first 3 - 4 miles and the last mile inside the park grounds. We got a shout out at Angels Stadium which is always a hoot and a half. Support on the course was top notch as always with ChEAR Squads and costumed characters all along the course.

Rock n Roll Las Vegas also had a slight course change to increase the amount of lighting on the north end of the course between miles 7 and 9. Unlike last year when the temperature was just chilly, we had a good soaking of rain at mile 7 and sustained 20 mph winds out of the southwest with gusts that blew over many of the course barriers. Many thanks to the hundreds of volunteers who braved the conditions and thanks to the amazing staff at CGI. There were 23,093 finishers in the half, 3,107 in the full, 5,124 in the 10K (formerly the "Half of the Half") and 6,785 in the 5K race on Saturday. 

The races are on the same weekend again in 2016 (November 12/13th). If you're looking for a challenge and one half marathon isn't enough for you, this is a great one to take on!

Susan and I took advantage of the down time for the weekend before Thanksgiving to plan the 2016 Rock n Roll schedule and signed up for 12 more halfs and 4 5K's with Philadelphia and Denver not currently open for registration. We're waiting on any word for Portland, Los Angeles and a rumored new race in Texas before committing to the last few races.  Thanks to CGI for the Global TourPass for saving us the trouble of registering at the expo for the next year's race. Not like we weren't going to anyway, but it's nice to have that flexibility. 

Marathoning For Life