Last weekend I volunteered at the Twin Peaks Ultramarathon. The race is practically in my backyard, taking place in the Cleveland National Forest around Saddleback Mountain. The course is scenic but brutal. The 50 mile race has 17,000 feet of total elevation gain!
After a thorough soaking Friday and Saturday the clouds parted in Southern California making Sunday a beautiful day. This was good, as I was at the starting line preparing to run my second marathon on Sunday in Huntington Beach as the sun rose.
May 3 was a glorious day for a race but, as it turned out, my first marathon was a race simply to finish, and not a race against the clock.
The first 10 miles of the OC Marathon wound through Corona Del Mar and around Back Bay in Newport Beach. The weather was cool and overcast. That, combined with the rush of the crowd, put me slightly ahead of pace (8:45).