Sitting Out This Year's AFC
The two biggest road races in San Diego are the Rock 'n' Roll Marathon in June and America's Finest City Half Marathon today. I haven't run the AFC in several years, but this morning I found myself maneuvering around traffic jams at 5 a.m. and then surrounding myself with AFC runners the rest of the morning.
I volunteered to host the San Diego Track Club's post-race tent at the expo, which entailed buying select treats, loading up the car with items from the SDTC shed and hauling everything to our site before the first runners came through. That included the frozen grapes and chocolate milks in the photo above.
Everyone was hard at work by 6:30 a.m., setting up displays and sorting fruit like these two young gentleman above.
Our site, pre-setup. I needed three other hands to set up the tent and thank the complete strangers who came to my aid.
After I had set up the regular and soy milk, frozen grapes (green and red), organic baked items, Red Vines and individually packaged chips, Veggie sticks and assorted nuts -- not to mention ice packs and sunscreen (totally NOT needed) -- I decided to catch up on my reading. Within a page, Deborah J. from DailyMile stopped by with her running friends to say hello. Then, my friend Amy paid a visit. They all ran the 5k. Deborah set a PR and Amy placed first in her age group!
This is Kate, our club VP, with Irene, who both volunteered at the first aid station. For once, no one minded that this station isn't until 4 miles into the course. The weather was an ideal 62 degrees at the start, with a thick marine layer. This led to many happy faces and PRs by the time they reached our tent.
My friend Doreen walked off with three medals: one for finishing the half marathon; one for finishing the San Diego Triple Crown (Carlsbad, La Jolla and AFC half marathons); and one for finishing at the top of her age group.
These medals come in handy when you get stuck taking down the tent. Thanks to everyone who stopped by (we had steady traffic once the bulk of folks came through) and to Marison, who brought cupcakes to celebrate her birthday today.
The AFC Half Marathon is a great race, particularly if you are from outside the area. It's scenic and challenges "in reverse." It's a steady downhill for the first third; then flat; then uphill the majority of the last 3-4 miles. When the weather's ideal, as it was today, you can't complain. When you must wake at 4 a.m. and deal with traffic and rude runners, you maybe do complain and not always to yourself. But, some of those same runners dropped their Gu packets (score!) and a lot of those runners were genuinely appreciative of the effort made this morning.
I volunteered to host the San Diego Track Club's post-race tent at the expo, which entailed buying select treats, loading up the car with items from the SDTC shed and hauling everything to our site before the first runners came through. That included the frozen grapes and chocolate milks in the photo above.
Everyone was hard at work by 6:30 a.m., setting up displays and sorting fruit like these two young gentleman above. 
Our site, pre-setup. I needed three other hands to set up the tent and thank the complete strangers who came to my aid.
After I had set up the regular and soy milk, frozen grapes (green and red), organic baked items, Red Vines and individually packaged chips, Veggie sticks and assorted nuts -- not to mention ice packs and sunscreen (totally NOT needed) -- I decided to catch up on my reading. Within a page, Deborah J. from DailyMile stopped by with her running friends to say hello. Then, my friend Amy paid a visit. They all ran the 5k. Deborah set a PR and Amy placed first in her age group!
This is Kate, our club VP, with Irene, who both volunteered at the first aid station. For once, no one minded that this station isn't until 4 miles into the course. The weather was an ideal 62 degrees at the start, with a thick marine layer. This led to many happy faces and PRs by the time they reached our tent. 
My friend Doreen walked off with three medals: one for finishing the half marathon; one for finishing the San Diego Triple Crown (Carlsbad, La Jolla and AFC half marathons); and one for finishing at the top of her age group.
These medals come in handy when you get stuck taking down the tent. Thanks to everyone who stopped by (we had steady traffic once the bulk of folks came through) and to Marison, who brought cupcakes to celebrate her birthday today. 
The AFC Half Marathon is a great race, particularly if you are from outside the area. It's scenic and challenges "in reverse." It's a steady downhill for the first third; then flat; then uphill the majority of the last 3-4 miles. When the weather's ideal, as it was today, you can't complain. When you must wake at 4 a.m. and deal with traffic and rude runners, you maybe do complain and not always to yourself. But, some of those same runners dropped their Gu packets (score!) and a lot of those runners were genuinely appreciative of the effort made this morning.
