Turning 40 is a license to do something a little out of the ordinary -- for me that was taking on a marathon. It's not all that out of the ordinary, but I'm pretty much an ordinary-type guy. I picked the RnR marathon because of the time of year and the location. Late spring fit my work schedule and San Diego is where my brother-in-law and his family lives, and it's at sea level. I figured the low altitude would help offset my low-mileage approach of preparing for this event. We turned this into a family event, and all flew out to San Diego on the Friday prior to the Sunday race. The plane out of Denver was packed with folks headed off to do the RnR marathon. I sat next to a couple from Laramie -- it was to be his 48th marathon and her 9th. He was going to do his 49th marathon the next weekend! Legs of steel...

Over 20,000 people registered for this race and they expected just over 18,000 to toe the starting line. It started pretty early, which was good because it was seriously warm out. They had starting "corrals" and I was in the 4th corral, meaning about 3500 people were in front of me. I understand that insufficient bathroom facilities is the norm at an event of this magnitude, so I joined hundreds of others watering the trees and grass in Balboa Park. The start was a kick, with Bill Rodgers waving to us from the start podium. It took about 1:30 for me to pass the start line, not bad with all the folks squeezed in there. It was pretty much a shuffling walk/run for the first couple of miles and I figure I ultimately ran at least 27 miles with all the weaving to pass slower runners. When the topography of the course changed and you could see ahead, it was an amazing sight to see -- a solid mass of runners.

There's really not much to tell. I mostly spent the first 8 miles trying to contain myself -- I averaged about 8 minutes/mile over that stretch. I drank water and the supplied sports drink at every opportunity. After my debacle with dehydration in Durango the week before, there was no way I was going to make that mistake again. I did four Cliff Shots during the race, at the 6, 12, 18, and 23-mile marks. I stopped to pee twice, at about the 12 and 20-mile marks -- I took in a lot of water. Despite that, my hamstrings tightened up quite severely, and that was my only significant battle. No wall to hit, just tight hamstrings to worry about. I think I saved myself appropriately during the first half of the race, but the tight hamstrings really slowed me down and I ended up averaging 8:30 miles over the whole 26.2 miles. I finished in 3:42:06, just beating the time I predicted back in January. I was 1,117th out of about 16,000 finishers. I had hoped that a good day would see me in at about 3:30, and I think that it is possible without changing too much, but the heat and the tight hamstrings prevented that this time. Someone estimated that there was about a seven-minute "heat" penalty for a 3:45 marathoner. This estimate was based on the fact that the person finishing in position 1200 last year was seven minutes faster than last year. With the numbers of people running this event, that's a pretty good comparison/estimate.

Some observations:

• I would do a smaller race next time. The crowds were fun, but once is enough. Also, the course is not particularly attractive and, at least for this Wyoming boy, pretty urban.

• The Leukemia Team in Training group was very visible and a true inspiration. I imagine there were some heart wrenching stories to be found there. Some of those runners were fast, some slow, but all motivated. The Leukemia Team support staff was great and the crowds cheered extra for them.

• I was amazed by the various body types that were trucking along in my general pace area. Heavy men with a bit of table muscle, heavy men who looked like body builders, heavy-hipped women, and women who looked like they should have been on Bay Watch. They were all working hard and chugging right along with those that I would typically think of as being of the runner phenotype. I'll try and curb my tendency to draw judgement on physical prowess based on body shape and clothing choice.

• Over the last mile I noted a number of casualties, including someone who was passed out and a guy screaming at the top of his lungs as he dragged one leg behind him not 100 yards from the finish. I imagine a faster early pace could have put me in a similar uncomfortable position.

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