Wow! I just ran the Rock and Roll Marathon in San Diego on June 6th, 2010. I have competed in endurance sports my whole life; collegiate swimming, open water swims, lifeguard competitions, triathlons, and a ton of road races. However, nothing compares to the accomplishment of finishing a marathon. I love this race because, it is my hometown marathon and the great support along the course. Overall, great job Competitor!
I'll start of with the positives of the race.
1. It's in San Diego (enough said)
2. It's a great course, you run downtown, through balboa park, by museums, past Petco Park (padres stadium), up the 163 Freeway, and bayfront along Fiesta Island. It was a hot day with high humidity and if it wasn't for the breeze off of Fiesta island, I would have cooked like an egg!
3. Lots of support! Different color cups for sports drinks and water!
4. Plenty of crowd noise on the first half of the course.
5. The finish of the race in 2010 has been changed for the better. The last 2/10's of a mile is like a mountain stage of the Tour De France. It is thin road, lined with crowds and each and every competitor feels like a champion.
6. They had a wave start to ease congestion.
Here are some areas of improvement including some of the changes from last year that I did not approve of.
1. The start was not as electric as years past, but well organized.
2. The biggest issue of the race this year had to do with the half marathon. On the 163, the half marathon meets up with the full. You have 3:20 marathoners running in with 4 hour half marathoners. The volunteers kept on screaming "half left-full right". That was great, but half these people have ipods and weren't listening. I heard reports of marathoners running into walkers from the half talking on their cell phone.
My suggestions:
3. Consider banning ipods for the race. I know people like music, but if they can't hear directions, that really is a hazard and drives down the quality of the race. Almost all those people on the wrong side on the road were ipod'ers.
4. Consider keeping the half with the full for the entire length of the half and have it end in the fashion valley parking lot, thus eliminating the merge of different speeds.
5. The parking lot finish is a drag. Hot blacktop after the race was a serious downgrade from the race.
6. Competitor! Don't get greedy here. The price has been seriously raised for next years race. $130 bucks for early registration? C'mon! For that kind of money, I am thinking about skipping 2011 and heading to Chicago for a change.
Overall I had a great time. I ran a PR of 3:26 in high humidity and heat. No, I didn't run a world record tine of 2:06 with a baby in my arms ;- This was my 4th Rock and Roll marathon and I plan on running it again in the future.
On a personal note, thanks to Micah Cook for being my virtual training partner and pushing me along the way. Micah had a great race and has the best course animation I have ever seen. The cheerleaders don't pump up Micah, he gets them pumped up with high fives and fist pumps! We celebrated at my favorite Mexican restaurant in San Diego. Las Olas in "Cardiff by the Sea". $3.50 margaritas (the best I have had) and the classic combo (taco, enchilada, and rice and beans). Most of all, I would like to thank my wife for being so supportive of my training while we raise 3 kids who are 3 years of age or under. Nice!
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