Happy Memorial Day

Val and I arrived at the Laguna Hills Mall at 6:30 AM to overcast skies and 56 degrees-ideal conditions to do a race of this distance especially since it was a hilly and very challenging course. The half marathon portion of the race began promptly at 7:10 AM.

One of the nice things about the race is that the entries are cappedat 2,100 runners, making it an ideal size race from a competitivestandpoint and the course itself made it easy to spot your favoriteathlete. Unfortunately, I have no pictures to post as I broke my camera and forgot to buy at least a disposable camera for the event. Maybe, there will be some good pictures on the site.

Going into the race, Val did not expect a PR due the challenging nature of the course, but she did have a goal in mind and that was to get under 1:46:30 which is what she needed to get to “win” her dinner at Lucille’s in Belmont Shore. (I guess it is not enough that she gets there once a week)!

She won her dinner in a time of 1:44:04, placing 7th among women in her age division. Val averaged a pace of 7:56/mile.

She finished less than a minute behind her Snails’ Pace coach Charlie Pickford, which is impressive as Charlie is an accomplished runner and racer.

This race provided a good training session for Val as she prepares an assault on her PR at the Long Beach race on October 14th, where she is going for a 1:35 time on a fast, flat course with only a 25 foot change in elevation throughout the race.

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There was something that bothered me about this event though. I only saw one guy carrying an American flag on a Memorial Day race. (I did see a woman run with a wind propeller in her head). I also spotted a woman running in a t-shirt that had a flag and  “Remember the Troops” on the back and a guy wearing red, white and blue shorts. That was it and all three were over the age of 40. In my road racing days, there were flags all over the place on Memorial Day and people, runners and spectators alike “wore the colors”. In the skating years, our group skated from Manhattan Beach to Newport Beach on all three flag holidays and we wore the colors of freedom and got cheered on by folks along the way. This race on this day, looked like any other. You never would know that we were honoring the fallen the men and women who made the ultimate sacrifice to ensure our way of life.  It was sad to notice this, but maybe it is just me. Independence Day is the big flag day. Still… 

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4. Val PR’s Again!From what I saw, Val looked like she was having the time of her life as she knocked off several more minutes off her Half Marathon time......
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6. The Hermosa Beach 5KNot since the 2007 Dana Point Turkey Trot 5 months ago, has Val entered and run a road race due an aggravating and persistent groin injury. Today was her “coming out party” and she barely lost a step....
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