Jason decided to start with me from corral 9. They were sending us in 30sec waves so we had a few minutes leading up to actually running. Gave him a kiss and said, "See ya in 40 minutes or so." Start was super packed. I think I ran an extra 1/2 mile zig-zagging around people up to the first water stop. As we got to the bottom of the bridge and rounded the corner to go up Curry, people started really dropping to walking. I heard a guy ask his buddy, "I thought you said this was a flat course?" hehehe Water stop 2 was crowded after the hill, so stayed left again. Lots of police out at the corners and people waving and telling them THANKS! In the residential section, a man in a wheelchair was cheering us on and giving 5s. And any kids I saw with their hands out I had to get to... Love how they get so excited! Heading back south and over bridge #2, people were getting excited because they could see the stadium, and we were "almost there!"...ummm, 4.2 miles and we just passed water station at mile 3. Not almost there. I was getting hot and my congestion made my throat clogged, so I grabbed some water to sip/rinse. Would've gargled if I had time ;). A minute later I heard, "Did she just spit???" Yes, yes I did. Sorry, Ladies. Ran down the bridge and heard people groaning when they realized we weren't turning back to finish yet. About 1/2 mile later we turned right...and I started getting a stitch in my left side. I hadn't walked when I got water...grrr. So I took 30 seconds to slow down. At the next turn into the stadium lot, the course stayed on the road while a sidewalk curved across from road to lot entrance. About 8-10 people were cutting through on the sidewalk, and a man next to me yelled, "Hey! Stop cheating!" Made me chuckle. While it was obvious they knew what they were doing, who was being "cheated"? Going into the lot there were chutes leading to the stadium. This became more dodging/zigging time, and, as now I had kept up a good pace (for me) and was tired, it wasn't very fun. The last few hundred yards uphill into and under the stadium was pretty stop and go getting through people. Coming out of the tunnel onto the field to the finish line at yard 42 felt REALLY good!

I might carry a small water bottle when I have breathing/congestion issues. I wouldn't have had to wait for a less crowded water station.

Found Jason in the finishing crowd. We headed for water and fruit. Then we waited for a friend to work his way through everyone. We found his family and then walked around expo for awhile.


Having crazy allergies this week. Being well-watered and needing throat/nose clear.


They didn't give out finisher's medals, but the race shirt (see pic) is the nicest I've gotten so far. Soft, comfy, v-neck and feminine cut...it's really just for women! Men's is a different style.
For having almost 24,000 participants, I don't know what else they can do to make it "easier". Just a lot of crowd control.