Sunday 3/16/08 Blue sky, wind from the north, perfect running weather around 50F

Results: My time was 45:16, which was faster than my expectations. My original goal was to finish under 45 min, but due to lack of training, I changed my goal to finish under 50 min. I did not make the 45 minute cutoff time to qualify for the sub-seeded group at Bay to Breaker, but I am happy with my time.

Miles time

4 24:08

5 6:14

6 6:00

7.5 8:55

Here is the map of the course:

http://www.rhodyco.com/across12k.html#map

Walking to the bus shuttle in front of Ghirardelli Square around 6:50am. The runners had to use bus shuttle to get to the start at Fort Baker on the other side of Golden Gate Bridge. It was windy and cold, around 48F. My teeth wouldn’t stop chattering.

We’re still sleepy. We got on the school bus which carried us across the Golden Gate Bridge to the starting point.

We’ve arrived at Fort Bakers.

The sun came out around 7:30am. It started getting warmer.

And I was ready to strip off my clothes.

Then, I realized we still had an hour before the race, so I put my clothes back on.

Jorge with his co-worker Dan, who is training for Iron Man traiathlon.

Jorge and Dan’s boss, John.

Starting line of the 1st wave. 1st wave started at 8:30am, 2nd at 8:45am, 3rd at 9:00am.

Runners with faster time were in the first wave. Jorge was surprised to see Dan and John in the first wave since he was in the 3rd wave.

It was downhill from the start to the base of the Golden Gate Bridge.

There was a 1/2 mile of winding uphill to the bridge.

It was not very steep, but it was quite a long way to the top and I think that threw some people off.

On the Bridge, you realize the bridge is not flat. The middle section of the bridge is the highest point.

The sidewalk on the bridge becomes narrow and it's not easy to pass people here. But, the tailwind was pushing me and helped me keep up the pace.

After the bridge, we run down to Fort Point located on the base of the bridge under the arch.

It was a downhill to Fort Point. There was a female runner in black shorts with gorgeous legs ahead of me. The guy in the green shirt and I passed her going downhill. We passed the water station and it suddenly struck me that I may know the guy and I took a quick glance at him, but it was a different person. I came down ahead of him, but the guy in the green shirt and the green singlet were on to me again as we reached the 4 mile marker and turned around at Fort Point.

Alcatraz Island along Mile 5-6, where we started to run on the dirt trail. I felt comfortable running on the dirt, since I’ve been running on trails lately. I got an extra surge of energy out of nowhere and I left the two guys in the dust (or may be I was just kicking up some dirt).

We were back on the asphalt from mile 6 to the finish. I regretted going so fast when I reached mile 6, because I didn’t think I could keep up the pace. And right then, I heard someone come up behind me. It was that girl with gorgeous legs. She was on my tail and catching up to me. Before I knew it, she was next to me and ahead of me. I tried to keep up with her, but she was just too fast and running effortlessly with her beautiful legs. I don’t usually get chicked (be overtaken by a female runner) and this was giving me a big dent in my ego, but I kept telling myself at least I’m getting chicked by a hot girl (I’m guessing) with gorgeous legs.

There was a little hill overlooking Fort Mason right before the finish and I caught up to the girl climbing the hill. Good to know I was getting more than shin splints out of running on the trails. And going down the hill to the finish, I came ahead of her with probably the worst running stride in the race, ignoring all the don’ts in downhill running like overstriding and stiff landing. After crossing the finish line, I turned around to congratulate the hot girl, only to find out she looked a bit too old to be called a girl. So, she was one hot lady with gorgeous legs who fooled me into thinking she was a hot girl.

Here are the highlights of my day:

Feeding a huge, goofy-looking dog.

He is probably taller than I am!

Meeting up with Jorge who took all the pictures on this race report for me because I left my digital camera at home.

Chillin’ at Emporio Ruilli Gran Café in Marina district.

There were many hot-looking young and fit people there, and I think we fit right in with my skimpy running shorts.

I had a veggie frittata that hit the spot.

The place looked familiar and I found out this was the same café I took my girlfriend to couple years back when we went on a weekend getaway to a bed & breakfast place nearby.

I was fortunate enough to run in perfect weather with great scenery and PR on the 12K time. I hope to run this race next year and deepen my appreciation of running in San Francisco.