The first mile is a gentle, almost imperceptible, downhill grade which feels fast as the course heads into the quaint downtown area of San Luis Obispo (aka "SLO"): past the historic Fremont theater, Spanish mission (with bells ringing to celebrate the runners) and down the tree lined main street. A few brave souls were on the streets cheering us on with coffee and signs in hand. At the edge of the downtown district the route turned around and the aforementioned grade was now ever so slightly uphill, slowing my pace just a touch.

Next up was the first major hill and the start of the hilly section of the course. While not a huge hill in comparison with other runs, "Johnson hill" is one of the longest and tallest hills within city limits and has a reputation among local runners. I try to run it once a week so I know how to pace it and cruised right up without trouble. We made our way to the city limits and past a crowd of spectators, it's amazing how a bit of cheering helps motivation!

The next couple of miles are rolling hills to a turn around and back. The hills are finishing their transition from wet season green to dry season gold with splashes of yellow and orange from flowers. The picture below was taken two weeks prior during a training run, on race day the road was solid runners going both ways to/from the turn around. On the way back into town the spectators cheered us on and it was a good boost after the hilly section.

The last 3 miles of the route were through a quiet neighborhood with a few more spectators out now that it was a little later in the morning. The last mile of every HM I've ran is when I start to feel it the distance and this was no different. I was feeling good and my pace was only slowed a bit. With just a 1/4 of a mile to the finish there is a small but steep rise that slows a lot of runners to a walk but I kept myself running and crested the hill. The run down to the finish was lined with cheering spectators and I finished as strong as I could.

Good run, happy with results.

Stretched my legs and drank some chocolate milk while icing my foot. Cheered at the finish line while waiting for a friend who was running his first HM.


Nice challenging course in a great location.