All this for a coaster?

The Brazen Rocky Ridge Half Marathon had nearly beaten me twice already. The last time, I swore I would join the wise runners and stick to the 10K distance.

Fortunately I will never have to figure out how to get one of these to fit in my car.

But Brazen knows marketing, and it knows the appeal of bonus hardware. So it came up with the Brazen Ultra Half Series. You only had to run four of their tougher Half Marathons (out of nine scheduled - I ran all of them but got a DNF at Drag 'n' Fly) and finish the Rocky Ridge Half, and you would get a bonus coaster to commemorate the accomplishment. Faster runners were also in the running for cash prizes, in the form of those huge checks that give banks nightmares.

So both Mrs Notthat and I signed up for the Rocky Ridge Half, but decided to do the early start to give us plenty of time to finish. (One of us ended up needing that extra time; the other is awesome.)

The Rocky Ridge Half course is memorable for a number of reasons: it's beautiful, has lots of great views, and has nearly 4000 feet of climbing. On this day, it had another thing going for it; weird fog/low clouds sticking their noses in random places.

"Tree Over" or "Over Tree"? I know of one rebel runner that actually crawled under the tree. Ytsirhc (not her real name) is not good at playing by the rules. 

At one point, I was faced with this - a vicious man-eating cow standing in the middle of the trail. As I was working up the nerve to try and sneak past her, two much faster sacrificial runners flew past me. They didn't have much meat on their bones though, plus they were fast and would be hard to catch, so the cow kept her steely gaze on me. So I slowly made my way up to her, whispering how much I loved  chicken. Somehow it worked, and I was able to continue on with the race.

DUCK!

The best parts of the course are spent in the trees, with the trees often actually becoming a part of the course. Cool temperatures made even the exposed bits of course quite pleasant (not counting the fact that they were almost always up a steep hill).

Mas (not his real name) is often the course sweeper, so seeing him come up behind you can be a bit alarming. But today he was not Mas the Sweeper. He wasn't even Mas - he ran as Pete the Awesome. Very few people knew that at the time, and it wasn't until well after the race when I was busy memorizing the results that I realized he had run with Pete's bib. Awesome is not a big enough word to describe this.

"Get up! You're killing the asphalt!" Only Occor (not his real name) would choose to take a nap at this point.

At mile 9.45 there was an 11:45 cutoff. Mile 9.45 is also where the last hill starts, with a long climb on pavement. I easily made the cutoff, thanks to my early start, and as it turned out, I would have made it (barely) even with the normal start.
 

Mt Diablo in the distance with the hills that make up the first two-thirds of the course in the foreground.

Up to this point, the weather had been perfect. Even when you were in the sunshine, it was cool enough to not be a bother. As we approached the top of that last hill though, the coolness was taken to an extreme as we entered the clouds.

Photo by Brazen volunteer Michael.

This was Mrs Notthat's first time on this course. All she had heard for weeks was how hard this course was. All she did during the race was fly!

Photo by Brazen volunteer Michael.

This is something you will rarely see - K-Dub and I running neck and neck this close to the end of a race. I must point out though that there are two pretty good reasons for this: I had an hour head start and  K-Dub had ran a 50 mile race a week earlier. Shortly after this picture was taken, she was out of sight and leaving me way behind. Like normal.

Photo by frostbitten volunteer at the fourth aid station.

Photo by frostbitten volunteer at the fourth aid station.

About the only thing Mrs Notthat and I had in common during this race is that we both arrived at the last aid station, mile 11.2, with our glasses in our hands. I've done nearly 90 races, some of which were very rain infested, and this is the first time I had to remove my glasses to be able to see where I was going.

The heroes at the fourth aid station. It was not nearly as pleasant out as this picture makes it look.

All along the ridge at the top of that last hill we had to run through a thick, ridiculously moist and windy fog. I was cold and soaked, but I got to keep moving. The volunteers at this aid station had to stand up there for hours, and then had to hike back out since their were no proper roads around there.

Coach Luap (not his real name) finishing just ahead of me. He was great on this course and had to be restrained from going out for another lap.

Finally, after over five hours (!), I made it to the finish line. Mrs Notthat had beaten me by well over an hour. I actually ended up with the longest finishing time of all the Half runners (several finished after me, but with shorter times since they did the normal start). DLF with an asterisk.

And I'm fine with that. This is a race that you just want to finish - the time is irrelevant (unless you've got your eyes on one of those huge checks).

The medal and shirt for this race were very cool, as normal. (There were also firecat tattoos handed out that many of the runners wore throughout the day.) And of course, there was the coaster. Ten pounds of fierceness that should have come with a warning label.

The back of the shirt shows the elevation charts. Note that their scale is adjusted for each distance, but still - those are some nasty elevation profiles.

I love that the coaster is challenging to use; miss by a tiny bit when setting your beer on it and the can will end up with numerous puncture wounds.

While looking at the coaster's teeth, it occurred to me that they actually matched the course's elevation profiles. I have since confirmed that that was indeed the intention. Way too much fun!

So I have survived my third Rocky Ridge Half Marathon. And posted my worst time ever. The odd thing was that I felt better at the end of this race than I did at either of the previous two (and WAY better than at the end of the two road Half Marathons I did the previous weeks) - I started the race determined to take my time and to enjoy it, and I was quite successful at that.

Last year I said that I was going to do the 10K this year. I now know better; I know that, as mean and torturous as this course is, it needs to be done.

So here's to next year.

That's it - move along…

PS: You can see many more of my general pictures here. Because I ended up getting passed by nearly every Half runner, I was able to get pictures of most of them (yes, I'm the dork that took highly unflattering pictures of you as you climbed those hills). They are posted here.

PPS: Here is a link to the Ballad of Rocky Ridge thing I did before the race. I was FAR too kind to the race in that song. Thanks to Mr and Mrs Brazen for allowing me to do this race in spite of this thing.

Running the Redwood City Oktoberun Half Marathon

Saturday was the second road race in a row for us, although this one had the bonus of only being partly on roads, with some paved and some not-so-paved trails mixed in.

There were several other fun races also going on this day (Coastal Horseshoe Lake and the Golden Hills Marathon to mention two), but we get few chances to run a race that's ten minutes from our house and benefits the local schools like the spelling-challenged Redwood City Oktoberun does (that name frustrates the heck out of my computer's spell check - it is all but calling me a moron for allowing that spelling to live on).

Trail running thugs getting their goofy on.

Mrs Notthat and I ran this race last year, so we pretty much knew what to expect. Namely, a flat, out-and-back course with minimal dodging of traffic.

The one glitch today was the lack of porta-potties at the start. There were a few toilets available in the area, but a lot of the highly caffeinated runners really needed some relief. The race was held up for 12 minutes, and then we were sent on our way.

Some of the 345 runners that finished the Half Marathon, ready to head out.

The first aid station, which also served as the 5K turnaround.

Last year, Mrs Notthat was running the Nike Women's Half Marathon the day after this race, so we decided to walk most of the course, and ended up getting passed by the lead 5K runners just before we made it to this turnaround.

This year we were well past this point and neither of us ever saw a 5K runner (there were 605 of them that finished the 5K - nice!).

My shoes giggled when they came upon this short stretch of dirt trail.

The only change from last year was the stretch of road in front of the dealerships that had to be added  due to construction on the trail that runs behind them. This was also the only stretch where the runners were challenged by cars, some of which were VERY determined to get into the dealerships.

After that bit of road, we were mostly on paved trail for the next few miles. While the trail runs along the freeway, it does have some nice marshland you can look at.

Putting up a stop sign for the aid station seemed to be a bit of overkill.

At the end of that stretch of trail, we had the second aid station and another short stretch of road, this one being fairly calm as it passed by the San Carlos Airport.

I liked that the airport had their fire tuck out just in case one of the lead runners burst into flames.

At about mile 4, the emergency backup porta-potties provided some needed relief.

After that short stretch of road we ended up on the best part of the course - the trail along Steinberger Slough in Redwood Shores.

Even better, the trail turns into gravel a bit before the third aid station.

Mrs Notthat flying back after the turnaround. 

One big thing I like about out-and-back courses is that you end up getting to see all the runners, from the  absurdly fast to the one or two going slower than me. And so that is why I was able to work out that Mrs Notthat was about seven minutes ahead of me.

Having a motorcycle officer at the turnaround to chase any rebels that refuse to turn around seemed a bit extreme.

The three volunteers at the turnaround were awesomely perky and noisy - a great boost to the runners. I was halfway done, hadn't fallen down, and was ready to head back to the finish.

There were an amazing number of volunteers along the course, almost all yelling encouraging things ("Geeze dude, you sure you're all right?") and generally helping make this so much fun.

I felt a bit bad when going through the aid stations since my trail roots require me to carry enough water for half a dozen runners, and I never needed any of their cups.

Finally I made it to the finish line. My goal had been to finish in around 2:45 - my legs were still a bit tired from the previous weekend's San Jose Rock n Roll Half - but I somehow ended up beating last weekend's time and finished in a bit over 2:34. (Mrs Notthat was significantly slower than last weekend, and only beat me by three minutes - I picked up four minutes on her from the half turnaround point!).

Three happy finishers!

The Endorphin Dude wanting someone to hold his medal while he takes advantage of the  fashionably late porta-potties.

For reasons known only to him, The Endorphin Dude ran this race incognito (which is not easy for him).  The cool thing though is that he set a PR with a stunning 2:07 finish.

An accordion-based band playing many AC/DC and Black Sabbath hits.

A fun thing was that the finish line was right next to the Oktoberfest event. I would have loved sampling the many fun looking beers, but my calves were in extreme need of icing.

The race was a lot of fun. Again. The coolest thing though was that 78-year-old Knarf (not his real name) was allowed to finish, even though he was well past the four hour cutoff.

Knarf on the trail steaming along, with the sweeper behind him on the bike.

Knarf is not fast, and his running style is somewhat alarming. But I've done many races with him and I can only hope to be as cool as he is when I'm his age.

I know it's not trivial to support the slower runners, especially on a road race, but since I'm one of them,  they have a warm spot in my heart. And that this race let Knarf finish puts it in my warm spot too. (It's not as bad as it sounds.)

Thanks to everyone that made this race possible, from the organizers to the police and all the volunteers that helped make this safe and fun.

That's it - move along…

PS: You can see more of my pictures here.

Rocking 'n' Rolling in San Jose

I think I may have mentioned that I'm not fond of road races; I don't like huge crowds or the pounding my body takes. But Mrs Notthat really wanted to try out the San Jose Rock 'n' Roll Half Marathon, and it didn't help that they had a pretty cool medal design this year.

So instead of reprising our Sacramento Urban Cow race (another road race, but less overwhelming and with cowbell medals!) or heading up north to do the Coastal Bizz Johnson trail race (which I am determined to do next year), we joined 12,000 runners and headed to San Jose bright and early Sunday morning.

Yes, I know this was only a Half Marathon, so my shirt was reasonably inappropriate, but I got a lot of "GO MANIAC!" yells throughout the course, so there.

This was our first race since one of the brightest trail running lights in the area was prematurely switched off, so we sported these tributes to Pete. (I had one guy catch up to me and say he had never met Pete, but had heard a lot about him and was sorry hear the news. We ran together in silence for a bit before I saw photo opportunity and he took off.)

Weird Haired Mom was on the medical team - basically a group of people with a medical background that roam the course and try to repair any broken runners. She had warned her group to be on the lookout for an old guy with frogs on his hat that will likely be shuffling aimlessly and taking pictures of things that normal people wouldn't waste their time on. She did say that I was mostly harmless though.

Looking ahead of us. We were in corral 13 out of 19. It took us nearly nine minutes to cross the start line once the race began.

New this year was a five mile race (weirdly called a "Mini Marathon") in addition to the Half Marathon. They said they had 14,000 people register, but the results show a little under 12,000 actually finished one of the two races, with only a little over 2,000 running the shorter course.

Looking behind us. That's a lot of runners!

There are two big things about this race: The course has bands scattered along it and there is a finish line concert. Based on the Rock 'n' Roll name I knew it would have been a lot to ask for there to be any country bands (there weren't), but at least there was this brass band.

I would have stopped if they really had bowls of noodles sitting out.

I think there were about a dozen official bands (some you passed twice), and probably about that many unofficial bands, like this one. I liked the unofficial ones more since they were not being paid to be there, and anyone that gets up early on a Sunday morning to play in front of thousands of sweaty runners, each of which is only going to hear you play for about 30 seconds, is awesome in my books.

"OK! I'll stop making fun of your boyfriend; just let me down."

More fun than the bands, to me at least, were the cheerleaders. Their enthusiasm was very contagious and I give them credit for making me at least ten minutes faster than I otherwise would have been.

Also getting credit is The Endorphin Dude and his sister Enaid (not her real name). They started in the second corral and had about a seven minute head start on us. Before the race I had predicted that they would have about a 15 minute head start on us and that I wouldn't catch them until about mile ten.

I caught them just before mile three. Not that I'm gloating. Much.

Yes - running under some overgrown greasy hippy's crotch is exactly what I want to do.

One good thing about this race; for as many people as were running it, there was plenty of room to move around and go at whatever pace you wanted. Even the walkers that marched four or five abreast weren't much of a problem.

"Are we really going so slow that frog boy caught up to us? C'mon dear; we've got to pick up the pace!"

I did something in this race that I've never done before; I ran a little over six miles without taking a walking break. Which is how I caught up to Oel and Ainigriv (not their real names). For the second half of the race though, I did mix in some walking, but still kept moving pretty good. (But never saw these two again until the finish line - I'm taking credit for for them picking up their pace.)

Look at the sign she is holding. That's our California educational system at work! Although, now that I think about it, this might have been on purpose and I'm too slow to get the joke.

There were water stations scattered along the course, with MANY perky young people begging you to take their cup of water. Mrs Notthat and I both were carrying all the water we needed just so we could avoid the bottlenecks that these stations tend to become (although these actually seemed to work much smoother than others I've seen).

Great. Now we get to run under his butt. He actually had butt cheeks. Sheesh. 

Shortly after passing under Butt Cheek Guy I was done! And then I flashed my secret weapon at Mrs Notthat - in addition to Pete on my back, pushing me along, I had Team Tom on my front. Whenever I started dragging, the two of them would gang up on me, tell me to have fun during this race, and to get my butt in gear.

The slightly creepy Wall of Bagel Fingers.

Mrs Notthat set a PR with her first sub-2:30 Half. My time was around 2:34 - much better than I had anticipated since I had started fighting a cold on Friday.

Mrs Notthat and I headed over to the concert area where I grabbed my free beer and listened to a funny and talented Matt Nathanson play for us.

Just Matt and a guy on electric guitar helping him out. They were great! 

Once the concert was over, Alegna and Nerak (not their real names) left the mosh pit and came over to say "hi." (Both had finished their race LONG before either of us did.)

And that's about it. The medal was pretty cool, although it was a little disappointing it wasn't actually full size. (And I'll bet more than one parent had to explain to their kids what it was.)

For a large road race, this wasn't too bad, and seemed reasonably well organized and kind of fun. If your thing is a race with bands along the course though, you REALLY need to do next year's Wharf to Wharf in Santa Cruz. MANY more bands along a six mile course that has much better views and a more fun vibe. (And it's WAY cheaper - about a third of the price of this race.)

In any case, we can now check off the "run a Rock 'n' Roll race" item from our to do list. (If you are big into bling though, these people are marketing geniuses - do multiple of their races and you will need a truck for all the medals you will end up with.)

We've got another road race next weekend (the Redwood City Oktoberun Half Marathon) and then it is back to the trails (YAY!) for Brazen Rocky Ridge (GULP).

That's it - move along…

PS: You can see a lot more of my pictures here.