#TSFM14

Another San Francisco Marathon has come and passed. This was my third year participating in the race as well as my third year serving as an ambassador. A lot of memories were made along the SFM course. A lot of friendships were formed. I truly did leave my heart in San Francisco and am so humbled to have been apart of it all!

I drove out Friday morning where I picked up Corinne and Wes  near our hotels. The weather was quite warm for a day in the city in July. There I was just standing on the sidewalk sweating like a sweat monster. I was hoping for a cool foggy day and feared a bit that come Sunday morning on race day, that it would be the same hotness.

We arrived at the expo in high spirits where we stayed for the afternoon working a shift.

Expo - Non stop laughs with Miriam and Tricia

Trying to find my center

Pavey ran the double marathon. And here I am complaining about running the course once! ;)

Love these guys - 3 years serving as a SFM ambassador together!

Charles and I posing with the talented Ronnie. His masterpiece on the right.

Sea of orange with Chewbacca.

Sorry awesome volunteer, I just couldn't resist. I was exhausted too!

I am madly love with The San Francisco Marathon race as a whole. This year, the race team added some pretty cool features.

No plastic water bottles. Drinking out of a carton was fun, but a bit challenging. Drinking out of a carton is a challenge after all.

And, free race photos! How awesome is that?

After the expo, we went and had Ramen at Genki. The heat wouldn’t stop me from getting my ramen fix. No sir! It was delicious!

Wes arranged an ambassador meetup at Thirsty Bear Brewing Company for that evening. A couple of days before the meetup, I had invited the infamous Bart Yasso to join us. He accepted the invitation even though he is not much of a drinker. The hard part about Bart attending, was keeping my mouth bloody shut. I told Wes since he was the organizer and teased the rest of the team stating that there would be a “surprise mystery guest” joining us. Yes, I have a big mouth so…. I may or may not have let the cat out the bag before Thirsty Bear to a couple of people noone. Regardless, everyone seemed surprised and happy to see Bart and we all had a lot of fun!

At Thirsty Beat getting ready for our tour.

Where the magic all happens.

No picture caption needed, right?

Group photo of all us crazy kids.

Table time!

Ragnar relay reunion with some of the teammates

The next morning, Corinne, Wes and I, woke up super early and arrived super early for the shakeout run with Bart! More Bart! Seriously, it was truly a Bart weekend. I loved hanging out with him and getting to know him better. Bart is such a great guy! Not to mention super fun!

After the shakeout we hung out with fellow ambassadors, ate lunch, and soon we were on our way back to our hotels to rest.

Photo Credit due to Albert taken during the shakeout run!

What a terrible view!

Gotta love Barts famous selfie shots!

Gift Basket for our fearless leader, Lark!

Wes, Corinne, and I!

Expos are exhausting!

The San Francisco Marathon would mark my 5th marathon and if we want to get technical, 4th road race marathon. It’s no secret that I don’t love running the marathon distance. I did put in the training, but I was not able to stick to my training plan to a T. I started a new job and life got in the way of running. Imagine that! But alas, I wanted to be apart of the 52 club and well, I wanted to run the marathon! There I said it! Don’t ever make me say it again!

So just like that, it was marathon morning and a cool and overcast morning at that. Wes, Corinne and I took uber to the start line where we hung out at the ambassador and pacer tent. I had a freak out moment, went to the bathroom a hundred times, chatted with friends, and soon it was go time!

This view also sucks!

Tricia, Heather, Corinne and Wes! 

Cutest just married couple ever! No seriously, they were married just mere hours before this picture was taken!

Wes and I had already discussed running together for the first half where he would head on to his half finish and I would continue on with my marathon journey. We also ran with Miriam and Paulette for the first few miles until we broke off. I felt pretty strong during the 1st half running with Wes. It was pretty awesome. I was also pretty impressed with the way I conquered the hill climbs. Thank you Placerville, as now in my new home, all I run is hills!

My favorite photo! Thanks Scott for snapping it!

I absolutely loved running on the Golden Gate Bridge and not because it was running on the Golden Gate Bridge, but because I got to see so many of my friends on the out and back, fellow ambassadors, and familiar faces. Such a treat!

Soon, Wes and I were parting ways. Honestly, I was dreading running the next half by myself, but it wasn’t so bad really. And, I can totally say that now that I am not in the moment of it all. So yes, I am technically a big fat liar. During, it was hard. I was happy that Cara caught up and ran with me for a mile or so before she left me in her dust. I adored the bubble machine somewhere along Haight/Ashbury. I loved the bicyclist who rode up and down the course with some awesome tunes. I enjoyed snacking on my delicious rice cakes that UMM had so kindly made for me. I appreciated at mile 23 that I had brought my earphones that allowed me to listen to some music that pushed me through that deep dark wall.

Free race photos! Score!

And when I got to the point where I was just over this whole running a marathon thing, I crossed the finish line! Hooray for me! I finished in 4:45. This by far was my slowest marathon time yet, but I’m most certainly okay with that. I wasn’t running with any particular goal in mind. But I got out there and I did it. And, I might even do it again. But only because my favorite number is six and I might just have to run one more marathon just to say I did.

DONE!

Ambassadors Finisher selfie with Scott and Steve.

My fab friends Shannon and Shila. We didn't run together, but we found each other at the finish line at least.

Loved all my race swag and gifts!!!!