Quick Recap: Events 11, 12, 13, 14 of 30

The Winter freeze on events has turned into a quickly thawing season of endurance events in March and will continue to heat up for the Spring. Here's a quick recap, before my 15th event, this weekend's inaugural US Half Marathon 2 "The Other Half" takes place:

Event # 11 of 30: The 32nd Annual Couples Relay

Sunday, February 28, 2010
Lake Merritt, Oakland, CA
This was one of the many great running events organized by the Lake Merritt Joggers & Striders running club. Melanie and I were a formidable running team and each of us completed one 5K lap around the lake. Melanie kicked off the relay by pushing Finn in the jogging stroller for the first lap, and then I picked up the rear.

Events 12 and 13 of 30: Regular weekend runs with Darren

March 2010
Lake Merritt, Oakland, CA
Darren and I met while running around Lake Merritt and have been running regularly on weekend mornings. I pick up a lot of training tips from him, and we get into some interesting conversations about all things ranging from real estate development to technology. Darren's first marathon was as an eighth grader when his friend asked him to run the day before the event. He hadn't run more than 7 miles at a time before that, but decided to give it a shot, and has been an avid runner ever since.

While our runs are not supported events with registration fees, t-shirts, posted results, and the like; I think it's fair to include a couple of our longer runs as "events" in my year of 30 events. (It's my year, right?)

With that said, Events 12 and 13 include two 12+ mile runs around Lake Merritt.

Event # 14 of 30: Oakland Running Festival Half-Marathon

March 28th, 2010
Oakland, CA
It was exciting to be a part of this inaugural event, especially since it's on the home field and added a valuable vibrancy to our community. The organizers and fundraisers reported that the event exceeded their expectations. (see this Oakland Tribune article, "City's economic windfall is added benefit to Oakland Running Festival," for more information)

I was recovering from a two-week cold while running the half, but enjoyed the course that wound through a good cross section of Oakland neighborhoods and the crowd support along the way. Melanie and Finn were the best support crew as always, and met me in several places with awesome signage.

Congratulations to my brother-in-law, Gabe on completing the full marathon and finishing faster than he projected!