John and I were very happy with our "SWAG" and the great tech shirts & excited to race the next day. I realized that I shouldn't run the next day though as I was still rehabbing my right shoulder from my Frozen Shoulder surgery and my knee from all of the running I had been doing prior. So unfortunately I didn't run the next morning. John on the other hand, looked all ridiculously handsome in his marathon gear, his Nathan Hydration pack, his street running shoes (as opposed to his Brooks Trail shoes) and his Power Bar Gels. We got to the parking area which was located very close to the start of the race, it was very organized and easy to find and park. I noticed a LOT of new marathoners. Nothing bad, just after running more than a few handfuls of marathons and half marathons in my time I've learned to spot the newbies instantly. I'll get back to the newbies in a little bit :-) John placed himself in an easy 9 minute mile pace corral and filmed the majority of the half marathon with his Go Pro Camera which he wore on his head. Please see the attached video below.
As you can see he finished happy and said that there was a "killer" hill at the end, but when John says "killer" he means "AWESOME". So before I took this video while John was running I made my way over to the finish line and met a great lady named "Lisa Rohletter" who was there to cheer her son on (she said he would be one of the first finishers.....and he was :-) Good call Lisa :-) So Lisa and I walked over to the finish and I told her I would check on her shortly after I found Ken. I found Ken all smiley and happy wearing an AWESOME Hollywood Half Marathon Lettermans Jacket.
(How is it that Ken and I meet up with Superman at the most interesting places.....ha ha...hey Ken, was Superman posing with you the same "manner" as with me?" LOL)
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| Eileen and Superman |
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| Ken and Superman |
Back to Ken, what a guy, he was smiling yet I could tell and sense that the stress was overwhelming (I completely could understand why) and with the thousands of people there, constantly asking him questions, throwing curveball ideas, concerns, etc. at him he still greeted me pleasantly and smiling and offered me his VIP badge so I wouldn't have to wait. He gave me one for John also and I kept it safely in my purse to give John when he finished. I told Ken I'd see him later and "poof" he was off getting more work done. My diabetic alert dog "Doodles" was with me and we waited for John alongside a photographer as I had looked for the sweet lady I met earlier "Lisa" and couldn't find her. Doodles and I watched the first runners come through in an insanely fast time, I laughed when one of the placing finishers came up to Ken and said "Hey sorry man I gotta go to work now, see ya later" wow, I imagined the guy telling his family "Well I'm off to go run an insanely fast 13.1 miles then go to work still before the sun is up" ha ha. John came in not too long after with an impressive time, especially for being mainly a Trail Ultra runner, switching to streets is a tad different. John greeted Doodles and I happily but tired from working all day the day before and then running the half. We really wanted to go to the after party but John needed to rest. As you can see from the pictures below, John finished the race and was smiling big, was extremely happy but super tired. I'm showing you how awesome the medals are. Ken sure did a great job and here's my thoughts on that.
This was the INAUGURAL race and the "newbie" racers seemed to expect something other than what they got. John and I are extreme athletes, John came to this race PREPARED, unlike racers of whom I had read their "comments" on Ken's Facebook page which were obviously from people who came to the race unprepared or just "new" at racing. Another thing that Ultra runners do and people who have more than one or a few races under their name: Again, these are just my thoughts, nobody else input here, so you can agree or not but here they are. Plus I love to stick up for my friends.
1. Come prepared to race in the right clothing, th right shoes (not shoes you just bought and never wore), eat right, not a bunch of Crispy Cremes before the race. Don't expect to be out of shape and not prepared for running up hills. Since the route was shown on the website for the Hollywood Half Marathon, then uh....check it. If you don't know the route, drive it. If you can, run it or walk it even if you have to go on the sidewalks (if they have them in the area). When you find out that there are hills, gee you might want to practice running up hills, the "HILL" for the Hollywood Half Marathon was a long gradual climb, if you see yourself running down past the finish line that's on the opposite side of the street for quite a while in the beggining of a race, guess what, what goes down must come up, you just might have to get to that finish line that's at the top of that hill you ran past.
2. Don't leave comments like you are a pro runner on the race directors page if you are not a pro. If you notice the top finishers didn't have any problems, no complaints. When you come to a race prepared and trained you will find out that it's really not too hard.
3. Bring your own water. Whether or not the route shows aid stations. I noticed people complained at the Super Spartan in Temecula, really, the SUPER Spartan? The race info for the Super Spartan says that the route is not posted, everything is a surprise. The Hollywood Half Marathon spelled everything out too, It amazes me how people expect to be hand holded through a race. It's not the "Tinkerbell" run, it's a Hollywood Half Marathon and a Super Spartan. One is a Half Marathon on the streets of Hollywood and one is an extreme obstacle race approx 10 miles long, totally different but again, come prepared.
4. Get to know the race director like Ken Nwadike. Don't just register, try to walk a half marathon and then complain that there was not enough water or too big of a hill. Perhaps 95% of the runners already got water, finished the race and went home and now the town is waiting for you so they can reopen the streets. Maybe not, but you get the point. Don't blame the race director for your own failure to come to any race prepared.
5, Watching my husband John's Go Pro video, he ran past many runners who were just barely moving that were chatting. I heard two females when he passed them say "Now he won't be able to stay at that pace for very long" Well guess what. He did. He trains and he came to the race prepared. And thats after running 35 miles a couple of days before. So a note to people, be careful what you say, you may be recorded looking like a fool.
6. Before you make comments on a Facebook page, a Blog, on the phone, website or whatever, be sure you know something about what it takes to do the job that the person you plan on lecturing does. Don't tell a Race Director how to do his or her job until you've had the experience and your races were stellar. Don't complain about getting a tech shirt that was $8 more than a regular shirt as most races only sell tech shirts for $30 and up. Registration prices are great, Don't complain. Sheesh. Maybe everybody could try the Spartan Death Race and see how they feel.
I could say more but this blog would go on forever. Ken Nwadike is the ultimate in Race Directors. His wife Sabrina and his children and new daughter are beautiful and he did a fantastic job on the first Hollywood Half Marathon. Ken is a professional and if you go to his website at Superhero Events you'll get what I mean. Great job Ken, you are an awesome friend, a great athlete and super guy.
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