Short version: Ran well (1:52:15) on a tough course. It was great to meet up with slojim & lleneforward at the race. This is my sixth half marathon, and in each previous race, I had managed to PR. I was pretty sure that I wasn’t going to do it here, what with the temperature (mid to upper 60’s) and the hills. But I had a good shot until the last mile. Here are the all important splits: 7:54 8:34 9:08 7:55 7:55 7:56 8:00 8:33 9:13 8:51 8:51 7:46 11:39 (last 1.1 miles, supposedly) For the last segment, it was the longest “mile” I had ever experienced. People weren’t passing me, so I don’t think I was slowing down quite that much. The race takes place at Camp Pendleton, a marine base 2/3rd’s of the way to San Diego from LA. It is an out and back with a large hill and quite a bit of rolling hills. It is part of the camp Pendleton Hard Corps Race series. Here is a link to an elevation map of the course: http://www.everytrail.com/view_trip.php?trip_id=4344 It was great to see and talk to slojim & lleneforward again. It has been awhile. I have to admit I didn’t notice slojim as we crossed out on the course, he had dropped quite a few pounds, so I didn’t even recognize him! I also met three new friends from the Runners World California message board. The shirt was very nice, and the amenities modest (no medal), but the cost is low ($40). The focus here is on the marines and supporting the MCCS organization with the race proceeds. The race is exceedingly well organized with many marines marking the course and handing out water and Gatorade. I also liked very much that they sent me my bib before the race and they had the most porta potties per capita that I had ever seen (there were 879 finishers and 45 porta potties). I would certainly recommend the race if you are in the area. I ran well, definitely enjoying the many downhills, and managing to tolerate the uphills. I am looking forward to the Southern California Half Marathon (Irvine) in Jan ’09 to see what I can do on a level course. Thanks for reading. huskydon

Don... I was wondering if you were going to do your porta potty survey...... I was quite pleased with the ratio.... no lines 5 minutes before the start of the race Congratulations on another speedy HM! very nice splits... and yes that last 1.1 mile was very long.... I think Joe said it was more like 1.3 or 1.4 according to his Garmin.

nice work don!! sounds like an awesome race!!

Way to go huskydon and nice PR. It sounds like it was a good race and even better that you got to see ileneforward ad SloJim. I remember running in San Diego while on a business trip and a large group of Marines came striding by me chanting: "Inspiration, Perspiration Concentration, Determination ....over and over. It's beautiful there and I too would love to run a race there. Congratulations and at this rate, I think this PR will be falling soon! Thanks for the report. Karin

Fantastic race and you met some boomers. I am always so jealous when you guys get to do this!! Keep up the great form right now and keep racing. Tall

Nice race, Don. It sounds like a nice course. Meeting up with SLOjim and Ilene is a definite bonus. Congrats. TomS

hey huskydon! Congrats on your PR! That's great you met up with your friends from Runners World and also with SLOJim and Ileneforward. Hope to meet you again at a local race in 2009.... cheers, dromedary

Nice race; well done! Nice that you got to meet up with fellow boomers. Gotta love that porta-john-to-runner ratio! We've got a similar Marine Corps series here at nearby Quantico but they charge an arm and a leg for non-military participants so I never get to do them (and it's supposed to be part of their "community outreach" program; go figure).