SF Marathon .... Senior Runner Perspective

The SF marathon was not on my calendar. Having driven its streets, I was intimidated by it's hilly roads, aggressive drivers and one-way street.
But, with SFM being the only event missing for me to complete the California Dreamin' Series and my success at the Seattle Rock 'n' Roll 21k , I decided to do it. I also dedicated this run to Remus Fuentes.

Last Saturday, I attended the health expo to pick-up our bibs(it's a father & son run), goodies and importantly, my California Dreamin' jacket. The medal shaped like the California map, will be given after I finish the run. The expo was crowded and if SFM continues to grow, the venue will have to be changed.

California Dreamin' Series --- San Francisco+ Long Beach + Huntington Beach

On race day, my son & I arrived at the start line late in the cold city weather. My wave#4 was already out and running, so we joined wave#6. At mile 1, a Filipino runner approached me and asked if I knew Remus. He is from Manila and we talked about the running events in Manila but I forgot to ask his name(I wouldn't remember it anyway). Judging from his build & running form, he was a good runner. We saw & acknowledged each other several times, until I lost him for good at the Golden Gate Bridge. He was getting stronger while I started tiring.

The bridge was packed with runners going both ways. The condition was made worse by slow runners, walkers and team runners who ran abreast. At this point, the challenging inclines leading to bridge started affecting the runners(especially the 21k runners). I almost collided head on with a runner trying to pass others by running on the opposite lane. I crossed the bridge tired and breathing heavily but was still running (no walking, no stopping). At mile 10 and 3 miles to the finish line, the picture of Remus flew off the back of my shirt. Could not helped but said "its an honor running with you and rest in peace".

With Golden Gate Bridge behind, I thought it was a breeze to the finish line. My bad. There were more short inclines/declines ..... hilly streets that makes San Francisco special.

With head bobbing and arms flailing, I sprinted(in slow motion) to the finish line. I survived the SF 1st half marathon with a time of ........ 2:10:53

**Arthur picture taken at Embarcadero

After I got my finisher medal and food, I picked up my California Dreamin' Series medal and took the shuttle bus for a ride back to Embarcadero(start line) and waited for my son to finish his full marathon race which he finished in ...... 4:11:00

**Arturo Laforteza near the finish line.

Tomorrow, my wife & I are driving back to Long Beach, CA where I will just kick back and take it easy for 2 -weeks. Training for the Long Beach Full Marathon starts on August 12. After 3 years of running, I believe it's time for me to take it to the next level!

Recovery Run ...... July 3rd 10K fun Run

It's been a week now since I ran the Rock "n" Roll Seattle. Been icing my knees and working out on the stationary bike for my recovery. Today, to test if I was already fully recovered, I ran a 10K sponsored by the City of La Palma, CA.

The course is flat and was a perfect venue to start running again. After a mile of fun ran I felt good and the knees were pain free, so I decided to run all out to the finish line.

Crossed the finish line in 55 minutes flat ........ a PR.

Time: .............. 0:55:00

Div Place: ....... First Place

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.

OC Marathon/Half Marathon Photos

Start Line

Newport Beach

My Pacer

Running behind her made me feel young.

Mile 6

Looking Good!!

Course Highest Elevation

Looking Good Arthur! Almost there Arthur!

Words of encouragement from spectators.

Finish Chute

Few more steps.

Finish Line - Costa Mesa

Net Time - 2:06:32

Pace - 9:40 min/mile
Division/Place - 65-69/5th

OC Marathon - Newport Beach to Costa Mesa

May 2, 2010



Woke up this morning at 2:30 am to get ready for a half marathon race. After 45 minutes of stretching and breakfast of egg and banana, I drove to the event Finish line parking area. From there at 5:15 am, I took the shuttle bus and was driven to the start line about 10 miles away. This was the most organized event I have been to. In spite of the huge number of runners, the shuttle buses departed the staging area like clock work. No cutting line, no pushing, no delay. I think, the dispatchers and drivers conducted business as usual - - driving school kids for the OC unified school district.

It was still dark when the shuttle bus arrived at the start line. I immediately went to my coral (for all runners expected to finish the run in 2:00 hrs to 2:30 hrs). Did more stretching and also took my energy gel and puffs from my asthma inhaler. Went I arrived at the start line, runners were milling around, stretching, drinking their favorite energy drink/coffee and talking with friends. By 6:16 AM, the area was packed, runners were anxious and ready to go. Lines on the portable restrooms were still long as runners relieved themselves. Going to the portable restrooms; along the course mean ,losing 5 to 10 minutes. I was lucky enough that I haven't been to the pit stop along the course, thus saving valuables minutes. I even learned to drink from a cup while running without drowning, thus saving another valuable seconds.

The race started at 6:30 am. I immediately started looking for my pacer to get behind her and draft off her arse. Unfortunately, maybe, they were all ahead of me. The runners passed through some scenic places like the Newport Harbor, the Pacific Coast and Newport Wildlife Refuge. If only those protected species can talk, they will be shaking their heads and quote" you mammals supposed to be smart, why are you running around early in the morning like turkeys".

I trained hard for this race, both on flat and hilly courses. Also, 5 days before the race, I take it easy. No running (light treadmill and bicycle workout only) and no racquetball. Because of these, I ran the race confident and strong, in spite of the pain on my right knee, and focus to set a personal record. At mile 6, I glanced at my garmin watch , I was within my average 10K pace and my legs and breathing were good. I did a grade school math on my head and concluded that I can finished the race with a new Personal Record.

I started and finished the race strong like a real "mataraken masiken" and came in 5th place in my age division- 65 to 69 (iyong mga nasa 1-4 places mas bata sa akin kasi. Siyemre may dahilan). Also, I just set a new PR of 2:06:32, a good 3 minutes faster than my previous PR.



What is next?

1. Seattle, Washington - half marathon - June 2010

2. San Diego, CA - half marathon - August 2010

3. Long Beach, CA - full marathon - October 2010

4. Manila, Phil - half marathon - Feb 2011