Marathon #10, Here I Come

On Sunday May 31st, 2009 I will be running my 10th marathon (omg!) here in beautiful San Diego. This race has special meaning to me because:

1. This race was my first marathon back in 2005
2. This race was my fastest marathon to date back in 2007
3. This race will be my 10th full marathon, something I never would have believed back when it was number one.

There are also two things that make it even more special this year!

First, I'm now a San Diego resident and live across the park from the start line. I can walk to the start from my apartment! Usually getting to the start line of a huge (20K runners) marathon like this is a nightmare. Sitting in traffic for an hour just to get to the start or to a shuttle to a start makes a long morning even longer. Its the difference between getting up at 3:30am versus 4:30am.

Second, I was recently chosen to take part of the Foot Locker County Challenge! Cool right? Wait, what is that? Well its a promotional "race within the race" that Foot Locker Sponsors at the Rock 'n' Roll marathons. Six runners are selected to compete against each other. The group runs together for the first 13.1 miles, and then race each other for the second 13.1 miles. About a month ago I applied to be on the team through their website. A couple weeks ago I received a call and was interviewed by Foot Locker PR, and then last week I was interviewed by Elite Racing (marathon organizers) PR. Earlier in this week I heard the great news, I was chosen!

For being on the team we are giving a lot of nice running freebies including a running outfit, and a pair New Balance shoes. We also will be involved in the PR activities held during the week before the race. We'll get to go on the local NBC morning news and will be part of the press conference held at the opening of the marathon expo. Cool! I'm ready for my close-up!

The winner of the contest will receive a 2-night stay at a local resort, a Tiffany's trophy, and major bragging rights! I cyber-stalked my opponents on athlinks.com and it looks like there is some stiff competition. A couple of the other runners have completed marathons much faster than I have, and a couple have finished marathons pretty close to my finish times. Our team has 2 ladies and 4 gentlemen ranging from 30 to 52 years old. We are all scheduled to do a run together this Saturday. I lucked out and we're running in Balboa Park right across the street from my apartment since its a central location for the group. We're planning on doing 6 miles with hills. I'm nervous and excited to meet the team!

Hopefully we're pretty much on pace with each other. I'm looking forward to sticking together as a group for the first half of the race. I'm trying (once again.. sigh) to break four hours in this race. I'm hoping that the combination of having a group to pace with and the extra motivation to try to beat them for the title will keep me on pace and strong for the whole race. If not, hey, at least I got some free gear.

But... how cool would it be to break my own finish line tape while proudly wearing my vertical black & white striped Foot Locker jersey? Pretty cool thinks this marathoner.