This is really overdue and I hope I can remember well enough to give a good recap. I should explain that the main reason I haven’t been posting as much as I’d like is that I’ve been sick. I didn’t realize what was wrong with me until just this week. I had mentioned I had bronchitis back in July just before the SF (Half) Marathon. Well, not allowing myself to properly rest in addition to having a doctor inaccurately diagnose me with allergies (no sound in lungs) and to just manage with antihistamines sent me into a downward spiral of major complications. That leads me to now…after insisting to the doctor that allergies were ruining my life and something had to be done, she finally agreed I should get a chest x-ray. Sure enough, I have walking pneumonia! So, now that my antibiotic is kicking in and I have plenty of time to catch up, I am going to try to resume my posts! In fact, being sick has given me food for fodder for its own topic. But for now…I will go back to September 11, 2016 when I was feeling just ok enough to run the 10K at The San Francisco Giant Race.
Actually, I need to go back just a few days prior as this explains why I did not attend the Expo at AT&T Park on either of the days before the race. The Thursday before the race I had two of my wisdom teeth pulled. I had done it under anesthesia (Looking back, the last few months were pretty nasty for me) and a friend offered to pick up my race packet on Friday. I was reluctant to take the offer at first because I really love going to the expos. I like the free samples, the guest speakers, the photo ops and just the pure excitement people get just before a big race. On the other hand, I know I wasn’t feeling great (now I know it wasn’t a result of getting over surgery, I was fatigued from pneumonia brewing in my lungs!) and I knew parking would be nuts over there. So, I sadly allowed myself to rest until race day and enviously looked at fellow runners’ expo photos on Facebook.
One of my favorite things about The Giant Race is that they always provide you with a pretty decent shirt and a bobblehead of one of the players. Although, I have to admit, I never think the bobblehead looks anything like the player it’s supposed to represent. This year was no exception. For 2016, The Giant Race Bobblehead was Brandon Crawford. As if the odd skin coloration was bad enough, it was constructed with synthetic hair, something I’d never seen used before. Now, I love me some Brandon Crawford but this bobblehead kinda gave me the creeps.
Creepy Brandon Crawford
The shirt this year was similar to ones from the past where they use the year of the race as a jersey number on the back of the shirt and the SF logo on the front. However, instead of standard orange or black Giants colors, the numbers and SF logo were presented as a pattern of the US Flag in honor of 9/11 and the race landing on its 15th anniversary. I thought that was a fitting tribute.
RACE DAY
Start time was 7am and I was all set for parking. Since I hadn’t prepaid for parking in one of the park’s adjacent lots, I used the suggested reservation service, Spot Hero, provided by race organizers. I could have chanced it with street parking, I realize, but one of the last things I want to worry about on race day is looking for a parking spot. So, this provided me with one less thing to deal and we were provided with 25% off for using the service. In addition to that, Spot Hero donated $1 from every booking to Project Open Hand, the charity benefiting from those who want to fundraise for the race.
Having parked a few blocks from the start, my friend and I briskly walked our way toward AT&T park. The starting line began along King Street adjacent to the northwest facade of the ballpark.
Willie Mays Plaza (Main Entrance to AT&T Park)
Prior to doing anything else, we had promised our running group that we’d meet over by McCovey Cove to take a group shot. Having arrived right on the dot at 6:30am we quickly found our group, took a very quick photo, said “Have fun, good luck” and hightailed it to the porto-potty line which was appallingly long and slow. And of course, the line served just two potties.
Group shot of members from Pacifica Runners
Not ones to waste time in line, my friend and I used it as an opportunity to do dynamic stretches and keep our bodies warm. Since I had to pee really bad, marching in place and doing side-steps pretty much came naturally. At about 6:50am there were still about 6 people in front of us. We figured at worst we’d start a minute or two after the gun. Not a big deal since chip time is what counts anyway. A few minutes later we were first in line and the national anthem started. Ok kind of awkward but not as awkward as going into the porto potty right as the anthem ended and then having to be in there during the “Moment of Silence” to honor 9/11 victims. Ugh. I even waited till it was over to come out so I didn’t draw attention to myself or disrupt the moment.
START
Participants are provided with a corral bracelet that is expected to be worn so that everyone places themselves in the appropriate start location. But, as we rushed from the bathrooms to our corral, we could see various openings in the barricades and no one manning them. So, pretty safe to say one could place themself anywhere at the start.
Gun went off on time (to the best of my recollection) and we were off! So to speak. Here’s where my problem lies with The Giant Race. This was my 2nd year running and just like the last time, there seemed to be a lot of overcrowding particularly during the first half mile and later on close to the 10K turnaround. Don’t expect to PR in this race. There’s just too may people and not enough road to hold them all. In addition, course security, especially at the beginning, discourages participants from running along the sidewalk. However, the whole course isn’t like that so if you can get a chance to get some space there, I highly recommend using it.
Despite the congestion, the rest of the course is pretty straight and flat. By the time, I hit a mile, I started to notice that I was feeling more winded than usual. This had me nervous. I knew my pace was the same or perhaps slower than previous races along this road and I still had over 5 miles to go. I chalked it up to fatigue from the antibiotic I was on from my oral surgery. So, I tried to pull back in order to maintain some stamina.
I did my best to enjoy the scenery of the Embarcadero. Passing giant Palm Trees that line the center divide with the San Francisco Bay to the East. The weather was actually “perfect running weather”. In other words, overcast and cool.
By the time we got to Fisherman’s Wharf, this was where things really seemed to bottleneck. This is the spot where the 10K and Half Marathon racers split off. The 10K turns around and starts heading back the same way to the start while the Half Marathon continues on toward Golden Gate Bridge. But, for about 3 blocks, they’re all contained to one side of the street so that they can make room for the runners who turnaround and come back the other way. It’s just really difficult to add much speed here. You can’t get around people in front of you and you can’t use the space set aside for returning runners.
At the bottleneck, just beofre the 10K turnaround. See the runners in front heading the other way? That’s how close we were.
Once I turned around at Jones Street and separated from the Half runners, that’s when things started to clear up. For a little while anyway. Evenutally though, one starts to feel like a fish heading upstream. There were so many runners coming from the other direction and little attention paid to the dividing markers that at times I had to dodge someone coming toward me. Again, another dislike I have of this race. This lasted up until the last mile and half of the race, I’d say. Once I could see the Ballpark, things started to actually feel a little lonely and I took that as a good sign that I was making pretty good time. But oh my god, I was spent.
However, once I got the front of the Ballpark, I knew I was on the home stretch. This brings me to my favorite part about this race. As an avid Giants fan, I can truly appreciate the awe of being inside the ballpark for a game. Having the opportunity to finish inside and on the field was enough to give me the right amount of adrenaline to end strong.
FINISH
Breathing heavy, I grabbed my medal and bottle of water and headed onto the outfield grass where all finishers gather and hang out for as long as they want. Here is where I really wanted to soak in as much of this event as possible. While I waited for my friends to finish, I took shameless selfies, feeling more relieved that the race was over than accomplished.
Once I met up with my friends, we grabbed some post-race snacks and took more pics around the park. You can walk all over. So, I suggest anyone doing this race, try to take advantage of as many photo ops as you can. You can take a photo with the World Series Trophies, get pics of yourself in the home dugout, stand next to a life-size logo replica of your favorite player…
The race, was overall, fun and knowing I probably wouldn’t PR helped me maintain a pace that I could realistically keep up with. Pretty sure, though, if I had to do it again, I’d race faster, despite the crowds. Shoot, maybe I’d place in my age group. I was 5th overall this year!
Hindsight is always 20/20 and if I had known I might get pneumonia, I probably wouldn’t have run this race. But maybe I would have walked the 5K because after all I really wanted the SF Originals Run Series Medal! One more race to go…will I make it??
Next up Glide Floss Bridge To Bridge Recap!
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