I have declared this the year of half-marathons and so Pasadena was the second of at least four this year. Last November, a week before I did the Ironman Arizona, I decided at the very last minute to do the Pasadena Marathon (actually the half-marathon) as my last long run before the big event. I went online to sign up and found to my disappointment that the half-marathon had sold out. As it turns out, that was lucky as the event was cancelled at the last minute because of too much smoke because of massive wild fires. There are many reasons I wanted to run Pasadena. This being the inaugural event, I could be a legacy runner. Even though I have never lived in Pasadena, I do have strong family ties there. Both my father and grandfather were born there. My great-grand father was the mayor. I have always liked the city and The Great Magnetic Wife and I spent many early dates there. For all of these reasons I was excited to run the Pasadena Half-Marathon.
On Saturday I went to the expo to pick up my stuff and who did I see there talking on the microphone and keeping us all informed, but Tim Bomba, my Ironman Arizona sometime training partner and roommate for Ironman week. He is embarking on a new career as a race announcer and got the gig for the Pasadena Marathon.
I keep telling The Great Magnetic Wife that she is under no obligation to go to my various events and I think that finally the thought of getting up at 4:00 am to go to Pasadena in what was predicted to be a rainy morning didn't sound that appealing. She decided to sleep in. It was probably a good thing she did because the rain did come. The rain was coming down fairly lightly on the way there, but just before the start, while we were lining up it came down hard. Well, at least it wouldn't be to hot.
We took off and got a pretty good tour of Pasadena. We started in front of Pasadena City College and were soon going through some very scenic neighborhoods full of craftsmen houses and lush gardens. The houses were getting bigger and bigger in the first few miles until we were going down Orange Grove and past the old-time stately Pasadena Mansions. This included the Tournament of Roses Mansion. We went by Cal Tech and the Fuller Theological Seminary and a lot of very pretty churches.
Soon we were running down Colorado Boulevard in Old Town Pasadena, the sight of so many of those early dates with The Great Magnetic Wife.
Eventually we went by city hall which is a grand old California building. Probably my favorite city hall anywhere. Approaching city hall is something I have never seen before, although it has been a number of years since I have been in that area. There are two very large busts, at least seven feet high. One is of Jackie Robinson, a native of Pasadena and the other isn't. I didn't really want to stop to read the plaque to see who the other guy is, so I guess I'll have to go back.
We went back into a very nice neighborhood on the edge of the Arroyo. The skies again opened up and it started raining very hard. It was getting colder and I think I was running a little slower to make sure my footing was good. There were a couple barefoot runners in this race. If people want to run a marathon barefoot, well God bless 'em. But in the cold and rain on asphalt and concrete. Man those guys are nuts.
Overall, this is a well organized event. The route is clearly marked. The water stations were well manned. The only complaint I have is that they did not have enough port-o-potties on the route. Every water station had one or two port-o-potties, but there was always a line of fifteen to twenty people. It would take a long time to wait that out. I started feeling that I had to use the restroom about three miles into the run, but kept running by the facilities because of the lines. I knew that once we got into the vicinity of the Rose Bowl there were be more rest rooms at the park. I could see the Colorado Street Bridge and knew we were close to the Rose Bowl. There is a decent down there and gravity helped me run faster. As we approached I went off course about 500 feet to go to the rest room. There was one other guy in there that I had to wait for, but that is a lot better than waiting for fifteen or twenty others. The whole thing took about five minutes.
We went part of the way around the road that circles the Rose Bowl. I ran this same road last week at the Pasadena Triathlon. This was the first split for the Marathon and Half Marathon runners. Those of us doing the Half turned around and the ran to a street that took us into north Pasadena. This was the start of a sustained uphill part of the course. It wasn't a steep hill, but it kept going for a couple of miles. When we finally got to the top we were in the 'hood. When I think of Pasadena, I think mostly of craftsmen style houses and stately mansions, but there is a wrong side of the track in this town too. Not that it is an awful, fear-for-your-life kind of a 'hood, but it is decidedly down scale compared to the rest of the town.
The L.A. Leggers had a support tent along the route and so I stopped in to get some Clif Shot Bloks. I hadn't finished the ones I brought with me and we getting within a couple miles of the end, but I could always use them later.
At this point the rest of the route was down-hill. It started raining again, which slowed me down a little, but I was anxious to finish and get out of the rain. I passed the 12 mile sign. One more mile to go. I could hear the commotion at the finish line. I could see the finishing chute. I was running down the chute when I heard Tim Bomba say, "here comes John Thum, a first time Ironman Triathlon finisher last November! If you need a place to stay in Tempe, go see John, he has a great place for you!" It was nice to be brought home that way. I finished, got my medal and some water and then I saw what I really wanted. Nesquik was handing out chocolate milk. That was the best post-race drink ever!
I finished in 2:38:44. Not a very good time, in fact my slowest half-marathon ever. 37 minutes slower than my personal best. I didn't expect a great time, this was a pretty hilly course and the rain definitely slowed me down. Plus, I have run more than six miles since my last half-marathon at the beginning of February. Oh well, it was fun.
About a minute after I finished, it started raining hard again. I went over to the L.A. Leggers tent to try and stay dry, but it was pretty crowed with others doing the same thing. I listened to Tim for a little while. He does have the gift of gab and is quite good at being a race announcer. I hope he gets a lot more gigs doing it.
I didn't want to just hang out in the rain, so I headed for my car. The plan was to go to my gym in Glendale, take a shower, change clothes and go to church. I must admit, with getting up at 4:00 and running a half-marathon I was pretty tired and nodded off a few times during the sermon.
