EXPO and DINNER

Just got back from the non-pasta dinner at PF Chang's.  Had a great time there!

Yesterday started with a quick trip to the Expo to get my race stuff before starting my volunteer shirt at 2:30pm.  It was hard going to work in the morning knowing that the Expo was open for business.  Somehow I managed to put in 5 hours before heading out.

The Expo is about a mile from where I work, normally I'd walk to it, but my volunteer shift wasn't going to end till after 7pm.  Since Phoenix turns into a ghost town at night - I figured it would be safer to park next to the Expo instead of walking the deserted streets that late.

So a short drive to the parking garage, a much shorter walk across the street, and signs of runner madness is everywhere.  Excitement is in the air!  All sorts of people from all over the country, with one thing in common, running, and getting in that Expo!!

Elite Racing usually puts on some of the best Expos, maybe because they have so many people in their races.  I think 30,000+ are signed up for PF Changs.  Finding the entrance is a piece of cake - just follow the many signs.



Once inside they had plenty of people shouting out instructions on where to go, and plenty of people wondering where to go.  This race is becoming more and more popular for first time runners.  



Packet pickup up was well organized and quick.  In fact, from start to finish it probably took less than 10 minutes before I was dumped into the pricey souvenir section.

Here's the bib pickup area:



T-Shirt pickup:



I bought a few items and kept it under $50.  A couple of magnets and a long sleeve t-shirt.  I wanted to buy my traditional finisher shirt, but all they had this year were tech ones and I think they cost $46.  Yikes!  As if the race registration wasn't expensive enough - they nail you further on merchandise.  They should start calling these Rock N Disney marathons!

My first stop in the huge Expo area was - the free beer booth!  Woo Hoo!  I'll take one or two thank you sir!  



Lots of exhibits, lots of people, ...







I wish I could spend more time, and that there were less people, to check out all the exhibits, but its time to checkin for my shift.

I volunteered last year and worked the bib pickup area.  It was fun chatting with people and finding out where they all came in from.  This year I was hoping for the same.

When you volunteer you get a nice "Race Crew" t-shirt, free Expo parking, water and snacks, and a concert ticket.  The shirts looked the same as last year.



The snacks were pretty weak!



After hanging out in the break room for a few minutes I was quickly grabbed and taken to the goodie bag area.  This was the perfect place to see people that I knew, as everyone had to come to this table eventually.

The goodie bags were not that great this year.  Not just the contents, but the quality of the bags.  A lot of them tore and I felt bad whenever someone came back for a replacement.  These are the same bags that are used for the gear check - I kept thinking about how many runners are going to lose their stuff at gear check because of this.

Goodie bag area most common question asked by newbies:  Are all these bags the same?

After a couple of hours here I was moved over to t-shirts.  I thought this was going to be more fun - but you wouldn't believe how many people wanted to change the size of the shirt that they ordered at registration.  Elite's policy was that you can't change the size, but you could after the race if there were any extra's.  So it was tough telling people that they had to take the size that they ordered.  Try telling a little old lady that she couldn't have a small shirt because it said XL on her bib!  Most people didn't complain, and a few times I might (sssh - don't tell anyone!) have made an exception if asked nice enough.  

T-shirt pick up most common question asked by newbies:  Do I have to wear this shirt during the race?

The 6 hour shift went by quick and I headed home for some sleep, followed by another trip to the Expo for my saturday shift.  Working the Expo is fun but very taxing.  Back, shoulders, feet, etc, all were sore from handing things out.  It's probably not such a good idea to do this before a marathon.  Don't they tell you to stay off your feet and take it easy?

Saturday was a whole lot busier at the Expo than friday.  Everyone must have decided to come saturday instead.  Again I was assigned to the goodie bag area.  This was going to be a long 4 hours because we could barely keep up with all the runners.  We were handing out bags faster than we could get them out of the boxes.  And those boxes were heavy!

30 minutes into my shift I look up and, hey - I know this guy!  CPAK is in the house!!  



Some time later, back aching and dying of thirst, I look up and, hey - The Other Jeff is paying me a visit!  And there's the Lurker too!!



More time passes, dozens more boxes moved, unpacked, bags handed out, and boom - there's Kevin and company from New York!!



Seeing these club members was a nice pick-me-up from all this hard work.  I have new respect once again for all the volunteers that help us do these races.  As much as I wanted to stay and help, I needed to get out of there and to the pre-race dinner.  I felt bad leaving, the boss man didn't seem to appreciate it very much, but I was tired, hungry, thirsty, sore, and frankly, really needed a break.  After mentioning that he was working 7 to 7 - he said I could go whenever I wanted.  So I took off.

The dinner was at PF Chang's in downtown Tempe.  For those that don't know, PF Chang's is a chinese sit down restaurant.  Good food - I never pass up a chance to eat there.  This will be the first time that I don't eat pasta before a marathon.  Hope it doesn't cause bad things to happen tomorrow!  No, I'm not that superstitous, but I will be wearing my lucky 2005 LVM chip for the race.

We were scheduled to meet at 4pm.  Thanx Jerry for making the arrangements for us!  CPAK was the first to show up, then came the Diva's, then Michael.  Little did I know TOJ was already inside boozing it up at the bar!



It took a little while but eventually our table was ready.  Don't know what the deal was, but the staff tonight seemed to be working in slooooow motion.  An hour after sitting at our tables they finally took our dinner order.  But that's ok - gave us more time to visit.

Here's Huichi and Linda:



Michael and Lisa:



My dinner opposites were the Diva's.  If you ever get a chance to sit at a table with the Diva's, do it.  They kept Tammy and I entertained with lots of stories and good conversation.  She lives such an exciting life!  Fires, floods, shoe-castrophes, you name it, the Diva has experienced it.



I think there were about 16 of us sitting in an L shape configuration.  



Jerry and his wife were also there along with Scott.  Hope I didn't forget to mention anyone!



Martha was last to arrive with her friend from New York.  Doesn't she always look so nice!  We should make it a policy though that the last to arrive buys dinner for everyone!  



The Kung Pao chicken was wonderful as usual!  And boy was I stuffed!



After dinner TOJ and his friend LeRoy (?) decided to sample ALL 8 of the mini-deserts, so they lined them up and scarfed them down!  I didn't have any room left, but I did manage to put away a fortune cookie.



Time flew by and before we knew it it was time to leave.    Probably took 30 mins to check us all out. At least they were nice enough to do seperate checks.  And the $10 gift card from the race, along with the coupon for a free appetizer, was put to good use.

A busy day has finally come to an end.  Now I need to get my race stuff together and get to bed for a 4:30am wake up.  It feels different running a marathon in your home city.  When you take a trip to run a marathon you know you are somewhere running a marathon.  This is amost like a regular saturday night for me.  It's going to be hard to wind down, not do laundry, not clean up the kitchen, not surf the net, etc.

Good night all.  For those running tomorrow - have a good time and run strong.  PR's for all!!

The Marathon - First Half

The day began with a 5am wakeup for a 7:40am marathon start.  Should be plenty of time right?  It was close.  PF Chang's involves parking at the finish area and taking a shuttle bus to the start.  I couldn't remember what time we left last year, which worked out perfectly, so this year we left the homestead at 5:40am.  Traffic was horrible!  

Tammy and her son Charles were running the half.  Her other running son Logan was too young for Elite Racing, but he was coming along anyways.  Along the way we had to stop and pick up Tammy's Ex (Charles and Logan's dad).  He wanted to see Charles finish and to watch Logan.   We didn't get to the parking area until just after 6:30am, and the line for the buses was scary long.  You can't really see the buses in this picture, but they were there, in the distance, I was getting worried!



Fortunetly this volunteer lady came down the line to tell full marathoners that they can jump to the front.  I jumped.  Whew!   A 20-30 minute bus ride later got me to the start area just in time to fight thru the crowds to take a picture of the start line.



Then it was another fight thru the crowds to get to my corral.  I don't know how many registered for the full, just over 6,000 finished, it seemed like most of the people were the halfers (20,000+) that wanted to watch the start of the full.  The halfers don't start until 8:30 and on another street.

I made it into my corral with just enough time to take a picture of the crowd and stretch what little I could.  



For whatever reason I decided to break out the Elvis suit for this event, and every time I bent over, the velcro holding the belt to my fanny pack (is that what its called?) would come off.  I would end up having this wardrobe malfunction for the first 5 miles of the race until I found a way to keep it attached.

The weather was perfect today.  Mid 40's at the start, which was 20 degrees warmer than the "big freeze" that we had last year for the race.  Perfect that is, until the sun came out and you were running in an Elvis suit!

While standing around waiting for the race to begin, two friends from work found me.  When they recovered from laughing at me we managed to take this picture.  That's Andrea on the right, and Gail in the middle.  Andrea ran the marathon in Thailand last year, Ireland and PF Chang's the year before.  This was Gail's first full.



The governor made a speech, the traditional song was sung, and off we went!  It only took about 2 minutes to reach the start, and once on the course, I heard what I was going to hear for the next 26.2 miles.  "Elvis!"  "Elvis has left the building!"  "I thought you were dead!"  etc.  :)

There have been Elvi running PF Chang's in the past.  I remember seeing them.  But for some reason I was the only Elvi on the full course this year.  There was another Elvis on the half - so between the two of us we had it covered.  

Within the first mile we came across our first band.  Some group called SUG according to the website, but the stage said Maricopa County.  Maybe SUG works for the county?



And at the first mile mark we had our first water stop.  That's rare, water at mile 1?  Elite does a great job catering to the recreational runner.  There was water pretty much every mile, with Accelerade every 2 to 3 miles.  And they were all well stocked and manned by happy volunteers!  Woo Hoo!



The course takes you thru all sorts of areas from business to residental, Phoenix thru Scottsdale and ending in Tempe.  The residental areas had the most spectators of course, including these 2 guys in bath robes that seemed too happy this early on a sunday morning.  Those are some big cups of coffee they are holding!



Like I said, lots of spectators in the residental area.  There really wasn't that many areas on the course that were void of some sort of cheering or entertainment.  Not only does Elite put bands on the course (26 on the full course) but they also recruit local schools to provide "cheer squads", each competing for a $1,000 "most spirit on the course" first place prize.



Here's the youngest cheer squad that I saw on the course.



At mile 2.7 we came across the Hallelujah Blues Band.  Oddly enough, they were playing blues music.



A mile later, a band called Anarbor doing Alternative music.



With 26 bands on the course, that meant a band every mile!  So another mile later, yep, another band!  This is "Steelin' the Night Away" playing, what else, steel drums.  All sorts of bands were out on this course.



At mile 5 I felt like I was still on pace for my slow run/walk thru this race.  I wanted to take it easy because I have the Miami Marathon in 2 weeks, and more importantly, did practically no running since Vegas.  Yeah I know - training is important - but that hasn't stopped me before!



This family was kind enough to hand out orange slices around mile 6.  I'd hate to be the one that has to clean up this mess afterwards!  I love seeing people come out and do things for the runners.  So cool.  And very much appreciated.  I wish I lived on a marathon course, but then I would probably be running it.



My 10k time was 1:16:14.  Slower than usual, but right on pace.  No need to hurry, this is just a fun run to get the coveted "Desert Star" bonus medal from Elite Racing.  I'm a sucker for bonus medals!



Here's another entertaining cheer squad.



And another band.  One Foot in the Grave.  Playing Rock music.  I made it a point this time to stop at each band and listen for a minute or two, take a picture, and thank them for coming out.



Who is this guy and why did I take his picture?  Well, he was throwing a party in his front lawn and invited me over for a beer.  How could I refuse!  I should have.  But that beer was good!  Until I started running again.  Did I mention that it was good?  Maybe I can blame the Accelerade for the impending stomach cramps that I would feel for the next 5 miles.  Yeah, that's it, the Accelerade.  I've never had Accelerade before, it seemed to taste good, peach flavour throughout the course.  It must have been the Accelerade.



There were a lot more spectators on this course than in Vegas.  Which was great, especially when you are running as Elvis.  So many people cheering for you.  I really had a great time out there.



Elite did a nice job with the first aid stations too.  They had them just about every two miles, and thankfully, appeared to be lacking customers.



Mile 10 and we are cruising down Camelback Rd, and that's Camelback mountain in the distance.  One of the more popular hiking areas in the valley.  I've lived here for 9 years now and I still haven't found the time to hike there.  Could my life be that busy?  Or I'm just lazy.  I'll go with the busy excuse.



Here's the band "Gas" playing Blues music.  Which is kind of funny.  The band before them was "Amps and Cramps" and the band after them was "Desert Winds".   Cramps, gas, wind.  Was this a coincidence?  I was feeling all three, thanks to.....the Accelerade right?



Ok, I already told you who these folks are.  But I'll say it again in case you forgot.  "Desert Winds".  And they played Carribean music.  Didn't sound like Carribean music, but I haven't been to the Carribean yet.  In two weeks I'll find out on my cruise, then I'll know.



There seemed to be an unusual number of "pirate" themed cheer sections out there.  At least 5 that I can remember.  People love them pirates!



No originality from this group, but they came out and cheered so kudos and a big thank you to them!



Hmm, I wonder if I should pay a visit.  $15 special today only.  Oh, can't, only have $10 on me.  Maybe next year.  I wonder if he/she knows if I will next year?



Finally I reach the half way point.   2:49:11.  Hey - I've done worse so get off my back!  :)  



It was really starting to heat up now despite only being 10:30am.  The high was supposed to me mid 60's, but here in Arizona you have to add 10 degrees if the sun is out.  And the sun was out in full force today with little to no breeze and no clouds.

-- to be continued --

The Marathon - Second Half

The first 13.1 miles was a lot of fun, lot's of cheers for Elvis and lots of good bands to enjoy.  How can this get any better?  Well...

Right after crossing the halfway point we come across another band.  These guys are called "Bent Halos" and they play Alternative, Rock and Blues.  I stopped to take a picture and listen for a moment.



And was asked to join them on stage!  Woo Hoo!!  Elvis is rockn the house now!



After jaming with these guys for a few minutes, and many pictures taken by my adoring fans :), it was back to the races.  When I started running again I almost immediately felt a pain on the right side of my hip.  Maybe I should leave the Elvis Hip Shake moves to the original Elvis!  This could be trouble.  Never had this problem before while running.

My first 10k was at a 12:19 pace, the half dropped down to a 12:54.  I didn't really have a goal except to finish and save the legs for Miami, but I did want to keep it under 6 hours.  This hip thing is going to make we do more walking.  Don't want to head to Miami on the disabled list!

It was getting warm out, but not warm enough to run thru this hose.  I'm sure it was appreciated by some of the faster runners.  As you can tell, the runners are thining out and I'm in my usual run/walk group.



Here's the "Burnett Family Blue Grass" band.  That's cool that the whole family is involved.



We're heading up 47th Place now, going thru a side street thru a neighborhood, towards mile 15.  Being a Rock N Roll event there were lots of Team in Training runners out there.  I like how they have their home state on the shirts - gives you something to strike up a converstaion with.



Heading past these firemen I thought "Too bad Teri's not here!".  Teri, you missed a lot, and I mean a lot, of hug opportunities.



At mile 15 I came across these lovely girls.  The Paradise Valley High School Junior Varsity Squad.  They ended up taking 2nd place in the "spirit" contest, which earned them $750 bucks!



Usually I see a quite a few costumed runners on a marathon course.  This lady was the only one I would come across, if wearing a big a$$ cowboy hat is considered a costume.  She was a very nice lady and we chatted for a bit.



Hey look - another band!  These guys call themselves "On the Spot" - playing Alternative Rock.  One of the few bands that was provided with a canopy tent.  I wonder if they have to bring their own - or if Elite provides the stage?



Now we are entering the Arcadia High School "ChaosCorner".  This was one of the biggest chear zones that I came across.  I thought for sure they would win, but they didn't.  I don't even remember coming across the group that did take first place.



More Arcadia kids chearing us on.  As I approached to help them with some dance moves, ...



...I was mobbed!  If only they were 10 years older.  :rolleyes:  I have to admit, running a marathon as Elvis is a lot of fun.  But don't do it if you are trying for a PR.



Once again, its back to the streets.  We are cruising down Indian School Rd now - just past the 16 mile mark.



Rocking the 16.4 mile was "Instant Hobo" with Acoustic Americana.  Huh?  What is that genre of music?  And if its acoustic, what's with the drums and electric guitar?



Have you seen a more beautiful horse?  Maybe Teri has.  He didn't seem to like Elvis like everyone else though.  I think he's giving me the "Evil Eye" !  She wanted a picture with me, but Mr Horsey was not in the mood.



Have you ever noticed that some people seem oblivious to what's going on during a race?  This lady thought she could just ride her bike on our course.  The nerve!  The cop tried yelling at her to get of the course, she ignored him.  So he hopped on his bike, took off after her, and pulled her over.  Not sure if she got a ticket or not, I didn't stick around.  Elvis has places to go and more people to see.



And right down the street is the "Mojo Farmers" doing Original Rock.  These guys were good, but I think they are missing something.  Hmm, what can it be, ...



Yep - that's better.  :)   Thank you, thank you very much.



Now we are heading thru the downtown historic district of Scottsdale.  If you get a chance to visit Phoenix, you got to stop by and hit the shops here.  



Mile 19!  Almost there!!  Have any of you tried running 26.2 miles carrying a guitar in one hand and a camera in the other?  It really takes its toll after a while.  But it was worth it.



Scottsdale is where the people with money live.  And these people need their expensive rides.  So its not unusual to come across this dealership on the course.  Which one would you want to drive?



Uh oh.  These girls are in trouble!



Mile 20 presents us with "Cold Shot and the Hurricane Hornets", playing Blues.  What a name!  



In addition to the "Spirit on the Course" contest, they also had a contest for the water stops.  The "SRP Hydromaniac Contest" to be exact.  This group from Scottsdale Baptist Church won second place with their Pirates and Choppers themed station.  Does that seem odd?  Pirates, choppers, and baptists?  Cool bikes though!



This threesome couldn't resist the chance to take a picture of a running Elvi.  And I couldn't resist taking a picture of three people holding up camera phones!  :)



Finally, something other than Pirates!  I saw more pirates today than in all three of the Johnny Depp movies!



Awe, mile 21, and no cowbell.  :(   Maybe next year.

I tried doing a power walk type pace since the hip pain started, that worked for a little while, but now my calves are paying the price.  Just 5.2 more miles - maybe I should try going back to a run/walk?  Whatever I do, keeping it under 6 hours is going to be tough at this point.



"Ellington Effect" rocked mile 21.3 with Alternative Pop Rock.  Pop Rocks?  I remember that candy!  BTW:  It's not true, you don't explode if you eat Pop Rocks with a soda chaser.



At mile 22.1 is "Genesis Workship Band".  Playing what? Christian music of course!  I could use some spiritual motivation now.  The run/walk is not working either, time to just walk this one out.



This is what I was dreaming of while at mile 16 in Chicago!



We are getting close now.  Finally I can see the finish area, right next to ASU's Sun Devil stadium.  Ok - you can't see it in the picture, but it's there I tell you!  Right across that river, er, lake!  That's right, they call it "Tempe Town Lake".  It's really a river though.



I saw this TNT coach several times on the course.  And in the final miles these coaches were all over the place trying to encourage their people to finish.



At mile 24.2 we were jamming to the tunes of "The Hype".  I don't remember the song they were playing at the time, something by Live! I think.  Whatever it was, good thing I new 99% of the words because the lead singer wanted Elvis to share the mike with him.  In my next life I'm going to be in a band.



Days before the marathon a water main break took out one of the intersections on the course.  Despite the repairs - it was still not safe to use.  So Elite Racing created a "detour" around the intersection, and even had it paved for us!  What a company!!



Mile 25.  1.2 more miles to go!  My sub 6 hour goal was long gone, no point in doing anything but walk it out.  I felt fine just walking.  Whenever I tried running or, oddly enough, walking backwards, the hip would start hurting.  



We are coming up on the final water stop of the course.  And what else could it be but ANOTHER pirate themed stop!  :banghead:  Did these people know that practically everyone else was going to be pirates?



Now this didn't make much sense.  This stop is the people that normally do the Jimmy Buffet Margaritaville stop.  Oh, they were playing Buffet, but what's with this pirate stuff!  They ended up taking 4th place in the waterstop contest.  I think they usually take 1st place.  They should go back to what works.



The final band that I saw, "Flight to London", Alternative type music, mile 25.7, just a hop skip and a jump to go.



...to be continued....

The Marathon - Finish

Mile 26, glorious mile 26!  It's still a little too soon for my big sprint to the finish.  I think I'll walk a little more.



Just over 6 hours and the finish area still has spectators lined up.  Ok, let me just take one more picture and run it out.  But not too fast.  One last chance to soak in the cheers for Elvis!  Why not?  People love Elvis.  :)



Yeah - I finished another one!  6:18:21 was my chip time.  Didn't get another state, but got a little closer to 50 before turning 50.  And I get that cool "Desert Star" bonus medal!



Who should get the privilege of putting a medal on Elvis?  :)  Oh, I'll take the first person I come across.



More of that stomach turning Accelerade.  :(   I don't care what you say, it wasn't the beer!  :)



Being an Elite Racing event, you are pretty much guaranteed food at the finish.  They had bananas, pretzels, oranges, ...



...chips, a variety of granola bars, ...



...and orange/yogurt fruit cups.  They didn't have spoons for the fruit cups though.  What's up with that!



After leaving the finish area I came across a familiar face.  Martha and her friend from New York.  Does Martha ever look like she ran a marathon?  :)



I also found Tammy and her kids.  Tammy ended up finishing the half with a 2:50 something, while her son Charles did a 2:01 half.  I thought for sure he would break 2 hours, and I think he thought so too.  Now he wants to run another one and plans to take on the full in Vegas this year.



The Elite medals are back to their usual big size.  Yippie!  Last year they seem to have shrunk a bit.



Here's the t-shirt that we got.



And the back side of the t-shirt.



After being in the sun for 6 hours I was ready to leave, and so was everyone else.  It would have been nice to hang out for a little bit, have a post race beer, listen to the band, and look for other club members, but it wasn't in the cards today.

I did have a very enjoyable fun awesome memorable time out there though.  This won't be the last time I run as Elvis, but for a while the costume is going to be packed away.  Time to get serious about my running again.  Ok, stop laughing, I really am planning on getting serious.  My schedule has lots of marathons, at least two halfs, and a relay this year - and I AM going to do a sub 5 hour marathon before this year is over!

Well - that's my story and I'm sticking to it.

Epilogue:  

It's been 2 days since the fun run, legs are feeling better, hopefully I'll take them out for a test run in another day or two to see if the hip pain is gone.  I think it was from the lack of stretching before and during the race.  

Miami is less than 2 weeks away. Can't wait! I hope it's not in the 80's though, that would suck. At least I'll be better dressed for the heat, and I've got a cruise to look forward to after the finish. Angie/Hill/Ross/Martha/Kie - be prepared to carry my bags, and me, just in case! :)

Looks like you guys had fun last night!! Have a great run today - I'll be sending you all good vibes. Can't wait to read all about it!

Good luck to you all.......I wish I were with you!

Yeah~ nothing like a "Don" report! Can't wait to see the rest!

Woohoo! Yay! Good to see everyone. I agree, Ang, nothin' like a Don report (award-winning, mind you). ;)

I hope you all did/are doing okay out there today! :)

Sounds like so much fun. I think I am going to Volunteer for the LA Marathon since I am only planning on the 5k and the experience sounds good

After reading many of your reports I have come to the conclusion that I not only need to learn how to run LOL I need to learn how to write more better HA

wow! thanks Donald! Great start!

My report will be challenged...I dropped my camera after the pre-race...it did not survive the fall.