San Diego Rock and Roll Half Marathon 2016 Race Recap

This is actually a bit late.  I posted this recap on my other blog, but didn't cross post here.  The race happened back in June.

For the third time in my running career, I ventured down to San Diego to do their Rock and Roll event.  The first time was in 2008.  It still stands as one of my favorite experiences ever.  This was the year I'd quit my corporate job and was in school full time getting my teaching credential.  I had no stress about anything and happily trained to do the full 26.2 miles.  I cut a half hour off of my previous marathon time that day and had a great weekend with fun people.

A couple of years later, they added an option of a half marathon.  I think that was 2010. It was okay, but it had a long portion on a freeway that was very hard on my feet and back, so I didn't go back again until I heard they'd changed the route and gotten rid of the freeway part.

This time in an attempt to save some money, I opted not to do a hotel.   I've done runs in San Diego before and while it's an early morning, it's manageable.  Unfortunately,  Competitor doesn't offer packet mail-out for their Rock and Roll races, so I had to go to the expo which meant driving down there two days in a row.  My "monthly visitor" was also in town this weekend.  In the old days, it would have been a minor inconvenience, but over the last year there have been some physical issues that make "that time of the month" a time where I'd just as soon stay home.  I keep having date conflicts with it lately.  The timing seems to always coincide with things I've got planned. This time it even showed up four days early just to mess with me!  The bottom line is it takes a lot of effort to push through things that would otherwise not be an issue.  My thought was that I didn't want to completely bail because I didn't know how I'd be feeling on Sunday, so I went and picked up my stuff on Saturday just to give myself an option.

The expo was pretty standard.  Rock and Roll expos tend to be relatively large, and San Diego is a huge event for them, so it was crowded and well set with vendors.  Interestingly, runDinsey had a booth there.  I've noticed lately that there don't seem to be other races at runDisney expos anymore.  Whether that's because the vendor charge is too high to be practical or if it's because Disney wants to control the message and limit competition, I don't know.  They were doing something that's been unheard of in recent years.  Offering a discount.  Yes.  I said the "D" word.  They were offering the Avengers Infinity Gauntlet Challenge for $315 instead of $340.   As an aside, I read this morning that the Star Wars Half will be $15 less than it was last year.  Evidently Disney thinks that $185 will sell better than $200.  There may be some sales science that says people will welcome a price in the $100 range before they'll pay $200.  To me, $185 is still two hundred bucks.  But...I do think it's pretty telling that they're realizing it has become an issue.

At 3am when my alarm went off, I felt like I really didn't have any reason not to go do the run.  I knew it wasn't going to be my best ever, but I'd paid for it, so I might as well get down there.

One of the less appealing things about doing this race and not staying locally is the parking logistical snare.  You buy a parking pass for $20 that gets you a spot at Horton Plaza, a big shopping mall downtown.  The ride down to San Diego was fine.  The 5 Freeway at 4am on Sunday is about the best you'll ever see it.  I foolishly got off at the wrong exit and had to right myself.  Ultimately, I think I may have gotten a better deal because people said they were stuck in awful traffic getting into Horton Plaza.  I ended up bypassing it and coming around from a different corner to park.  Then there was a tremendously long line for the shuttle to the start.  It went all the way to the rear of the shopping center.  After a few moments of not moving at all, it moved pretty well.  The directions said the last shuttle was leaving at 6am.  I think I got on just before that, but there's no way that was the last shuttle.  There were still hundreds of people behind me.

The new route was okay, if sometimes a little dull.  The people out on the course more than made up for it.  There were several people out in the residential areas handing out booze.  One guy had a whole bar set up on his front sidewalk.  Another was handing out tequila shots.  San Diego's a happenin' place!

Mile 5 was the blue mile from Run to Remember.  When I did the Seattle Rock and Roll,  they were out lining the course through a park area.  This time it was along a residential street.  It was incredibly impactful. First there is a long line of placards with photos and names of fallen military personnel.  Then there are people holding out American flags lining both sides of the street.   You can't help but wipe away tears when you're going along this memorial.

It would have been nice to be more in the moment throughout this run, but I wasn't feeling well physically and I just wanted to be done. 

When I finally did finish, they directed everyone a few blocks down the street to the finish festival in a park along the waterfront.  It seemed a bit small for the number of people involved.  I wandered around trying to figure out if there were shuttles back to the parking.  Finally I asked at the volunteer check in tent and the woman there told me we had to walk back to Horton Plaza.  She gave me directions and said it was about nine blocks.  I wasn't horribly thrilled, but at least I didn't have to do that trek after 26.2 miles like others were going to have to do!  As I walked back, there was a group of women behind me, one of whom was loudly going on and complaining about the situation and saying they were going in the wrong direction and on and on.

For the record, the directions I was given were correct.  No issues, but it wasn't the most welcome adventure.

So, another half is done.  Despite a $50 special to sign up for next year, this one is not likely to be on my to do list anytime soon.  Other than a lack of clear instructions on what to do after the race to get back to parking, I can't complain about the organization.  Competitor really has this one down.  It just wasn't one that I loved.  The route isn't enough for me to think it's worth the $200+ for a hotel room, and also not really worth the effort of a long drive two days in a row.  There was terrible traffic on the way home on race day, too.  As far as races in San Diego go, the Hot Chocolate Run or the San Diego Half Marathon in March are much nicer courses and preferable to Rock and Roll.