A Bike

If only I were 8 years younger or 5 minutes and 50 seconds faster I could have won that!

Last weekend my family and I ran the Inaurgural Santa Rosa Marathon and Half Marathon.

Roos, Connor, Matt and Sarah did the half and I ran the full marathon. We arrived on Friday evening and stayed at Windsor. What a cute little town. We walked around the main street and had dinner at a cute little diner. It was hot and sticky in the evening. We were all hoping for some cooler weather for the weekend.

Saturday, we went to the expo, got our stuff, and walked around downtown Santa Rosa. I wanted to hit a knitting store in the downtown area. I love to explore new knitting stores and check for "local" spinners and yarns.

We woke up Sunday morning and the weather was cool. Perfect for running. The course consisted of two 13.1 mile loops. Mentally tough to run past the finish line....I know!

536 people towed the line for the inaurgural event, with the majority of those doing the half.

Roos, Connor, Matt and Sarah started in the back because they were walking but I lined up around the 9 minute mile group. We started at 7a. sharp. The course ran along a bike path that paralled the river.

I felt pretty good. The weather was really cooperating. It was overcast and cool. I finished the first loop and headed out for the second loop. As I hit the second aid station, the nice volunteers informed me I was the second female. I was quite surprised.

At mile 23 the wheels fell off - my legs turned to concrete and I slowed down. I came upon Matt and Sarah around this point and Sarah said, "There's only one girl in front of you and she looks young." Wow! I got excited, maybe I could win the women's master catagory. I have really been wishing I had a road bike so I could do some miles with Anita, who is training for a triathalon. I figured it would be a great way to cross train.

This was a pick me up and I tried to put the pedal to the medal (haha). As I rounded the corner to the finish I saw my dad who was cheering for me, which was exciting. I crossed the finish line in 3:34, second female overall.

As I looked at the posted final results, the "young girl" was 42 and won the women's master catagory (and the slick new bike) and the girl who finished 5 minutes behind me won the women's open catagory (and a slick new bike).

This is what I won:

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Connor was disappointed he didn't get to meet Guy Fieri.

He is a native Santa Rosan and he was promised to be there and Connor was promised an autographed shirt and picture with him. So he was just as disappointed as I was.

My dad and Connor after the race.

Overall, we did have a great time. It was a perfect family weekend!!

Run fun...........