Race Recap: Bunny Dash Half Marathon

Last weekend, I ran the half marathon distance of the Bunny Dash, a race put on by the good folks at A Better World Running.  I’ve run with them once before (for the Summer Bliss half marathon last August – read that race recap here) and had a great time, so when I was looking for another half marathon to squeeze in before the O.C. Marathon in early May, I headed directly back to their website.  They seem to make it a point to do races every day of every weekend around the greater LA area, always on open use running/biking paths; this puts runners in safe areas, and it allows them to only charge $40 or so for a race, as they don’t have to pay for street closures, safety officers, and the like.  I picked the Bunny Dash in particular, not just for the timing (which was perfect), but also because it was in Van Nuys, an area of LA to the north of us, just a bit inward from the coast along Santa Monica.  Although we’re greatly expanding our range every change we get, we still haven’t fully explored all of LA (it’s yoooge!), and this race was a good chance to see another part of the city.

Like the Summer Bliss race, the Bunny Dash was held through two local parks, Woodley and Lake Balboa, and the half marathon course was made up of two loops that circled the outside of three different golf courses (Woodley Lakes, Balboa, and Encino); part of it also headed through the Sepulveda Basin Recreation Area, so as you can imagine, most of the scenery was lovely to behold.  All of the running was done, as mentioned above, on paths designated for runners/bikers, and while we crossed streets a few times, we were never really in traffic or on the streets themselves, which was a nice change from a normal course.

I got my standard good luck kiss from the hubs, and I headed through the pedestrian underpass to the start line; for his part, Chris hopped in the wee car and went to a charging station close by to recoup some of the mileage we’d burned heading to the park from our house earlier that morning.


Ready to run!

We had a quick prerace briefing from the race director (delivered via megaphone on the tailgate of a pickup truck, as all great prerace briefs are), and we were off!


Waving to the race photog
around mile 1 or so.
I look like the first float
in a winding parade of sweaty people.

My goal for the day was to try to stay close to an 8:20/mile pace overall, as this would serve as a good 13.1 mile tempo run for my anticipated pace at the O.C. full marathon in a few weeks.  If my day went south (as they sometimes do), I just wanted to ensure I could stay around 8:30 average, as this would allow me to earn a new PR.  Coach advocated starting the race at a decent clip that I felt would be PR pace, but not looking at my watch for awhile, to help me gauge my running on my own; being the type A control freak I am, I knew the watch peeping would happen regardless, but I went with his strategy and headed out at a fast pace that felt good and would hopefully be one I’d be able to keep up for the entire race.

In addition to the half marathon, the race also featured a 5K, 10K, and 15K course, and all of us set off together, with the shorter distances hitting their turnaround point before the 2 mile mark as we turned left to continue on our 13.1 mile path.  At this point, you could see the distinction between the half marathoners and other runners, and I ended up behind two other runners, a woman (named Elli, as I found out later) and man both around my age who were doing 8:15s.  While this was a bit faster than I intended, I figured I’d go for the pace and see what happened.  I saw Chris around mile 1.7, where he took some shots from the sidewalk and texted updates to Coach (the day before the race, Coach asked if the race had automated tracking, and I said no, mentioning that they didn’t even give us t-shirts, which kept the price nice and low.  He asked to sign up for the Chris tracking system instead, and Chris was happy to oblige – it gets boring waiting for folks to run endurance events, so any distraction is a welcome one).


See Elli (in gray) and the guy in orange,
right in front of me?

In looking at the course map, I initially thought we would turn around at mile 3.3ish and cover the same ground back again, but instead, we detoured off the running path and behind one of the golf courses into a wilderness/wetlands area.  The trail changed from concrete to hard pack/decomposed granite, and at times, it got pretty bumpy; I credit my Arizona trail running practice for helping me stay upright and moving forward at a good pace in this section.  My two running buddies were still ahead of me, although they were gaining a bit of distance on me, as my pace fell to around an 8:17 average.

We came out of the wilderness trail and hopped back onto the biking trail at the mile 2ish turnaround point, heading back to the start line to conclude our first lap of the two.  At the aid station near the turnaround, the two runners I’d been shadowing stopped to grab fluids, but since I had my trusty Nathan hydration pack on, I just turned around and kept going, putting them slightly behind me.  Although the gentleman never caught up to me again, Elli eventually got back to my pace, which was around an 8:15 average once more.



Saying hi to the photog again,
this time near the end of the first lap.

We did the loop again, waving hello to the runners doing the longer distances of the 10/15K (they did two and three loops to the mile 2ish turnaround, respectively), and said hi to Chris a bit further along the course this time (he’d been wandering).  Then, it was back into the wilderness area to handle that section again.


Elli and I on lap 2,
around mile 7.5 or so.



Pics from Chris
(my personal race photog)
around mile 9.5ish,
I think.

At this point, I was still at an 8:15 average, and Elli dropped back behind me far enough that I couldn’t hear her footsteps any longer; I did a quick check to make sure she hadn’t fallen (trail runner solidarity is hardwired in by now), and since she was still upright, I faced forward once more and soldiered on.  On the first lap of this section, around mile 4ish, my left knee had started to complain, but it was fine at this point, so I continued to push.

I hit the mile 2ish turnaround point again and knew the end was (relatively) close; although I was hoping to still finish at my current pace, I slowed down a bit further due to fatigue, first to an 8:16 average, and then to 8:17.  I ran through the turnaround aid station and headed through the pedestrian underpass tunnel to the finish, first down the steep embankment, then through the short (but dark!  Especially when you're wearing sunglasses!) flat, and then up the steep incline on the other side.

Chris grabbed some shots of me as I made my climb to the finish line:


Does it look steep?
It's steep.

I crossed the finish line with an official time of 1:47:55, a new PR by about 5 minutes!  I was plenty stoked about that, but I was even more excited when the volunteer at the finish line ran me down to tell me I’d forgotten my medals.  Medals, I thought - plural?  Given the twisty nature of the course, it was really hard to see who was running the race, and so you can imagine my shock to find out that I had finished first of all the women running the half marathon!  Granted, the field was pretty small, but I was still the first lady!


Click to make it bigger.

As you can see from the race times, Elli was not far behind me (4 seconds!), and you can also see the short gap in the finish line shots from the race photographer:


"Thank God, it's the finish line."


"Oh, hi honey!"


"Gotta stop the watch
and get this one in the books."

She and I congratulated each other on the good run, and we stopped to take a few shots with the gentleman who won first place as well (I don’t have a shot of him, but trust me when I say his body fat must be hovering around 4% or so).  The volunteers at the finish line took a few shots of Chris and I as well, and I cleaned up and changed clothes before we headed out.


"Holy crap, I won!"


"Mwah!"

As it turns out, we didn't know it at the time, but I'm also now officially the fastest half marathoner in our house, by a staggering 10 seconds.  I have a feeling that record won't last long, but I'm taking it for now.

On our way to the park for the race earlier that morning, we’d been driving on the 405 and saw this giant gleaming white set of buildings overlooking the freeway, and we pondered what it could be.  As we headed to our brunch destination, Soleil Westwood (French Canadian food – crepes and poutines and all sorts of delicious things) and passed the exit for “Getty Center Drive,” I realized that this was the Getty Center, which I’d visited many years ago on a trip to California to see Dad.  While we ate brunch, Chris and I made plans to head to the Getty, to see what trouble we could get into while the car finished charging to full power (we had enough power to get home, but it would be close, plus the Getty is free, so that’s a win/win all around).


Part of the inner courtyard


Bring your sunglasses!
The sun bouncing off the white stone
is really bright.


The Getty's captive AT-AT

Since my knee was starting to ache by this point, we didn’t see everything in the Getty but instead focused on the photography wing and the French impressionists, as well as seeing the amazing scenery all around.


I call this:
People taking pictures of famous art.
That's Van Gogh's "Irises"
behind all the folks.


Looking south along the 405
toward San Pedro


Hollywood/Studio City (foreground)
in front of downtown LA (further back to the left)


It's not interactive, goober





Since our smaller brunch servings eventually wore off, and I was starting to experience the post-run crazy hunger, we stopped in the Getty restaurant for some appetizers (cheese/meat board and crudo) and a chocolate dessert.


Even the dessert is artsy here!

We headed down to the garden area, but since my knee had given up the ghost by this point, Chris explored it by himself while I rested, keeping me updated on important things like ducklings via text.


Babies!


Looking down toward the main garden


Stripey little succulents

We rode the tram back to the parking area, unhitched the car, and headed home, ready to chill out on the couch for the rest of the day.  Overall, a great Saturday!

Later!

Amy

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