SeniorRunner Rock 'N" Roll ----- @Seattle,WA

This was my first Rock "n" Roll and first race outside California. My adventure in Seattle started on May 24 in good footing. Friends, Fil & Lita Santamaria, picked us from the airport and have lunch at the Space Needle. From the revolving restaurant,
we have a fantastic 360 deg view of Seattle.

After the hotel check- in , I went to Washington State Convention Center to pick up my bib and to attend the health expo. There was no health expo in the center and when I asked around, only then I discovered the big time screw up. My bad. The expo was moved to the Qwest Event center, which was adjacent to the finish line and 2 miles from the hotel. At 6:00 a.m on Friday, I ran from the hotel to the Qwest center to scout the route. Seattle downtown is like San Francisco, built on a mountain. Streets ascent/decent are steep, clean and perfect place to run for legs and cardio exercise. Found the expo place, a good 1.94 miles from the hotel. The route back to the hotel is a long uphill. Have to walk to conserve my energy for the big day.

Under ideal conditions on Saturday morning more than 27,000 runners from all 50 states and 23 countries ran from Tukwila to Seattle for the second annual Rock ‘n’ Roll Seattle Marathon & ½ Marathon benefiting the American Cancer Society.

The big day for me started at 3:00 a.m. After going thru my daily morning exercise and a light breakfast of cereal and home made suman, I walked three blocks to the shuttle bus pick up station. Runners were then bused to the start line at Tukwila. Stations filled with cases of bottled water, bagels, tons of banana and hundreds of port-a-potties dotted the assembly area. No hot coffee though. The assembly area was about half a mile long and my coral #20(finish time estimate of 2:15) took 30:11 minutes to reach the start line. Thirty nine(39) corals been assigned.

Started counting my steps as soon as I crossed the start line to keep my running & breathing in rythm. The race was well organized & supported by the community of Tukwila & Seattle. Hydration stations were located every mile and lots of medical stations and medical aids on bike. Spectators were out in force cheering and shouting encouragement. There were dozens of cheer leaders and rock bands along the course. There were 2 challenging ascents and 1 nasty downhill. Lucky me, I already started training for the San Francisco 1/2 mary. I found my Pacer at mile 6 and ran behind her, dusting off her a$$. She is young, long legged and ran gracefully like a peacock. Unfortunately for me, we have to go separate ways at mile 9. She ran the full mary.

The highlight of the ran, was when the runners entered the 1/2 mile expressway tunnel. The sound of thousand footsteps and heavy breathing made an eerie sound and at end of the tunnel is the beautiful view of downtown Seattle, Puget Sound and Qwest stadium --- the finish line. Although, still 3 miles to the finish line, I heard the PA calling the names of early finishers. I speeded up my pace at mile 11 as it's downhill from here to the the finish line and to make up for lost time during the uphill ran. Spectators line up all the way to the finish line cheering, giving high five and encouraging runners to keep it up.

Shifted to my "old man sprint to the men's room mode" and crossed the finish line @....

Time: 2:08:55
Div Place: 11/56
Overall: 5683/17605

Now, the most challenging part of the event.

I grabbed a bottle of water, banana and with aching knees and body headed back to the hotel on foot. It's uphill all the way to the hotel and after 1 hour of torturous walked, I finally made it to the hotel.

It took me an hour to walk 1.94 miles, almost half

the time it took me to run 13.1 miles.

I was happy though, for I just ran/walked my first 15 miles.

Downtown Anaheim 5K

This morning, I ran my last 5K race for year 2010 at Downtown Anaheim 5K

Event. Anaheim City is the home of Disneyland and the Los Angeles Angels. The event is one of the biggests 5K events in Southern California with the atmosphere of a marathon event, good community support, big crowd of spectators, a rock band playing non-stop and free pancake breakfast for runners.

Running 5K race is part of my workout for my upcoming half marathon run at Seattle. Also, it's my last chance to run 5K under 26 minutes(PR-0:26:06).

At the start line I look around to see the kind of shoes the runners were wearing. The runners choice was ASICS, with Sauconey as the second choice. I also observed that there were some bandits.

I started fast that I was out of rhythm and struggled for about quarter of a mile. Then, I started counting my steps to settle down. I ran more relaxed and faster and at Mile 1, my time was 8:00 minutes. Tried to maintain the pace but my old wheels can't keep up. Had to slow down a little bit. About 75 feet from the finish line, I saw that the time was 25 minutes and counting. Switched on my after burner and ran as fast as I could to the finish line ..... and finally ran the 5K under 26 minutes, unfortunately, I only came 4th place in my division.

June 12, 2010 ------ Time: 0:25:47 - 4th place

June 13, 2009 ------ Time: 0: 27:28 - 3rd place

Las Vegas View From a Runner

Inspired by a friend who always incorporate running to his vacation/business schedules, I planned a run at the Las Vegas Strip when I attended my high school reunion. I knew how the strip look like at night and inside the casinos, but not much at daytime. With a camera and bottled water, I started my running tour of the Strip at 6:20 am in front of LV Hilton. Traffic was light and very few pedestrians. It was a fun ran, enjoyed it & took pictures of hotels/casinos along my route. I counted 11 runners/joggers, saw Elvis Presley on his way to a gig, saw a wasted young lady , 2 pretty women with a pimp for early appoinment and a couple on their way to the wedding chapel. I found my pacer and ran behind her but had to break away when she started looking back.


I turned around at mile 4.18 which was at corner of Las Vegas Blvd & Topicana Blvd. Below are some of the pictures I took during my ran. Click pictures for zoom view.