Race length: 10.7 miles
Race Location: Bothe-Napa Valley State Park, Saint Helena, CA
Finish time: 1 hour, 33 minutes, 5 seconds
Place: 3rd overall/83 participants
At age 28, this marks the first official race I have ever run. Since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic, about a year and a half ago, I have picked up trail running as a hobby and haven’t looked back since.
My workday as a teacher ends at 3 o’clock and on this Friday afternoon I drive an hour and a half to my friend John’s house in Modesto. From there, we make our way to Santa Rosa in a little under three hours. We head straight for Puerto Rican food when we get into Santa Rosa and then check into our Airbnb a little after 9 PM. I blow-up the air mattress, John takes the bed, and lights are out by 10.
We both wake-up the next morning to the sound of my alarm beeping at 6:50. I’m a little surprised I slept this late and this soundly. John pulls up the forecast and says it looks like rain isn’t supposed to start coming down until 11 am. Start time for the race is 9am, so we say the weather forecast is incentive to finish the run in under two hours.
John suggests a great breakfast spot and I try to go with a breakfast full of protein, fats, and some carbs. This comes out to me ordering and an omelet with sausage, goat cheese, and avocado. I down it with two cups of coffee and a side of fruit. I feel comfortably full as we leave the building.
The event is a trail run race and the setting is Bothe-Napa Valley State Park in Sonoma County. John and I both went to Sonoma State but never have been out to this state park. It’s a windy one lane highway that takes us to our destination and as we park the car, John and I talk a little strategy about the race. The event looks pretty low key so far, with a couple of tents set-up and small groups of people milling about, some doing serious runner stretches and others just talking and laughing.
The runners participating in the full marathon take off at 9am and it’s a small crowd of maybe 20 people. The next event is the one we signed up for, the half marathon beginning at 9:10 am. As we walk to the start line, John tells me I should try to keep up with the front of the pack. I tell myself why not try, and try to position myself towards the front of the pack as we wait to get started. At the word Go!, a group of 8 runners or so emerge out front. I keep pace with them, monitoring my breathing, making sure I’m not exhausting myself in the first mile of the race.
A few runners fall back and I find myself running right behind a strong female runner. “Just let me know if you want to pass,” she tells me, as we make an ascent up the single trek trail.
We reach a bend and there is a group of 12 people stopped and looking around. “Do you know which way to go here?” a man asks. I look around and see why there is confusion- do you go left or right? There are ribbons, which are markers for the course, going both ways. 30 seconds later a runner rounds the corner and confidently says “The course is to the right.” I’m at the front of this small group and I shoot out, marking the beginning of the descent of the course. Honesty, I feel pretty happy to have gotten the 30 seconds of rest.
I finish the first 6.5 miles right behind the female runner I was following at the beginning of the race. She makes a quick stop at the one aid station of the race, but I keep on running, forgoing any snacks or liquids. I know I’m exactly half way done with the race because the half marathon consists of two loops and I have just finished the first. So I know what to expect course wise going into the second half but so does every other runner.
I start my second loop slow and feel slow. It’s almost all ascent the first two miles and on the particularly steep sections, I speed walk them for 10-20 seconds at a time. This allows me to catch my breath a little bit and it feels good to change the format of movement, working what I’m sure are new muscles on my speed walk. Once I get past the ascents though, I see a group of three just ahead of me. Two males and one female. I get a surge of adrenaline and start pushing the pace. I pass one runner and then another. There’s just one ahead of me in sight, a tall male runner with a bright red shirt. I follow right behind him for a few minutes and with maybe a mile and a half left, I make surge passing him on an uphill section.
As I realize I must be close to the finish line, my mind starts to wonder on what place I’ll get. But I tell myself not to worry about that, just keep pushing to the end. And I do, making my way on the pavement past campgrounds, until I’m crossing the finish.
At the finish line, I walk around a little trying to loosen the tightness in my calves and my quads, which feel like they are on fire. I grab some Gatorade and water from the aid station and see a female runner with stud earrings holding a rubber chicken, the prize for the event. I ask her if she won the half and she in fact did.
A little later, John comes in and we grab our shirts and medals. We talk about the race, our times, and placings. The rain held off on us during the race but as we enter the car, drops begin to splatter on the windows. It was a fantastic event- cool weather, great terrain, and a mellow but semi-competitive vibe. I’ll check my final placing later that day online but for now, I’m content to have pushed myself to run harder and faster than I ever would have if running solo.
