Race Reports

I ran the second annual Oakland Marathon in Oakland, CA on Sunday, March 27, 2011. This was a well-organized race with plenty of volunteers and some fairly good spectator support. A couple of the suburban towns were particularly good at welcoming runners to their neighborhoods. The weatherman was pretty cooperative, as we had no rain. Despite an occasional gust or two the wind wasn't much of a problem, and temperatures were right around 50 degrees. The first 10 miles were pretty hilly, and these took a toll on me late in the race as I faded in the final 7 miles to finish in 4:14:56. One of only two major drawbacks was the arrangement of the half marathon. This race started an hour and a half after the marathon, used a different course for about 3.5 miles, then rejoined the marathon course for the final 9.5 or so miles. So when the main body of marathoners were between miles 16 and 17 they suddenly encountered a large group of slow half-marathoners. (That race had a large field with a LOT of walkers/slow runners.) Trust me, it can be frustrating trying to make your away around 4 or 5 people walking abreast. The post-race party was very good, featuring a good local band. Unfortunately it was marred by the second major drawback, the free beer (and I use the term loosely) was MGD 64.