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.
around mile 7.5 or so.
Pics from Chris
(my personal race photog)
around mile 9.5ish,
I think.
(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.
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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