San Diego Half Cheer Squad

Last year a new half marathon in San Diego was announced - the San Diego Half Marathon! The race was going to be in March and although the full course wasn't revealed, the organizers stated that there would be an "epic stadium finish" at Petco Park. The race was 'only' going to be $60 for the first 500 registrants, and it seemed like every runner I knew immediately signed up. The race was about 9 months out though and I was totally not ready to commit so early. What if that race conflicted with my training for a bigger race? What if I was going to be out of town for work? I held off on registering and the fee went up to $75, then $90, then $99. By the time I was moderately interested in registering there was no way I was going to pay $99 for a race that I could've entered for $60. Oh well, no biggie. Although the course looked cool, I wasn't going to lose sleep over missing out on it.

San Diego Half Marathon Course

Girls on the Run had  a 30 person team of SoleMates running in this race and when I heard this I decided that I would try to organize a cheer station instead. I've only cheered at a race a few other times (I'm usually running myself) and I've been surprised by how fun it is to stand by the sidelines warm and comfortable while watching the runners go by. 

San Diego Half Marathon Expo

Girls on the Run Table at the Expo

My friend Christina was going to be in town for this weekend for a conference and when she asked me where she should do her 13 mile long run while she was here I suggested this race instead. Luckily she was able to buy a friend's race bib for only $50 and before you know it Christina - aka Giselle - was ready to run too! I picked up Christina the day before the race and we headed straight to the race expo where she picked up her bib, we checked out the vendors, and we said hi to my Girl on the Run friends. After leaving the expo we went down to the harbor and had drinks and appetizers at Edgewater Grill.

Enjoying the San Diego Harbor at the Edgewater Grill

There are so many restaurants in San Diego that I want to try and I was so excited to have a dinner date in town. We left Edgewater Grill and headed to South Park to try out Alchemy for dinner. I've had so many people rave about Alchemy to me and it didn't disappoint! After dinner and some wine at Alchemy we headed home .. but stopped at the Turf Supper Club near my house for a nightcap and to chat before going to bed. Geez, good thing I wasn't running in the morning!

Quinoa Salad at Alchemy

Small Plates at Alchemy

The next morning I realized that I hadn't made my signs for the cheer station. D'oh! Thanks to years of making signs in high school, I was able to quickly whip up a number of signs to support our Girls on the Run team. I grabbed the signs, my cowbells, and then we headed downtown where I dropped Christina off at the start. I then went straight to mile 11 where I was meeting the rest of meeting the rest of my cheer squad. The plan was to cheer on the runners at mile 2, 8, and 12. 

You Can Take the Girl out of High School Cheerleading ....

But You Can't Take the High School Cheerleader Out of a Girl!

We were running a bit late (my fault) and there wasn't anywhere to park at mile 2, so we ended up setting up shop around mile 4 1/2. We made it in time to see the elite runners go by, and stuck around for another 40 minutes until everyone we knew had passed. Its amazing to see how few smiles you see in the early crowd. This people are focused and serious! Girls wearing tutus, holding signs, and ringing cowbells didn't even deserve a side glance  much less a smile. Tough crowd! It was exciting to see each of our running friends and I was surprised to see even more people I knew passing by. I had a sign that said "Smile! You Look Great!" and was amused by how many people smiled at me or smiled while pointing to their face to emphasize that they were smiling. 

Smile! You Look Great!

Love These Race Signs!

As the crowd thinned out we moved to our next spot at mile 12 which was 2/3 of the way down a big hill. We got there in time to see the first runners go by (again without smiles), and spent another 40 minutes cheering on all of the runners. By then I was becoming a bit of  an obnoxious cheerleader. Oh, you're going to run by, glance at me, and then look away? I'm going to scream and cheer louder for you until you smile! In many cases this worked, probably because the person was thinking 'who is this crazy nutjob??"  Whatever, I work for smiles.

Smiles and Glam Runner Tutus at the Finish Line

After we had seen our friends run by this second spot, we headed down to the finish line at Petco Park. The runners were routed in through a side entrance where they were finishing the course on the field. Very cool! I've done the Pat Tillman Run in Tempe, AZ a few times and it is really cool to finish on the field and to see yourself on the big screen. After finding Christina and Tara at the expo we decided to go to the Offshore Tavern & Grill for a post-race brunch. Too bad I ate a big brunch like the rest as if I had just run 13 miles. Jumping up and down and cheering burns calories too right?

Tater Tots! Brunch at Offshore Tavern

If you're a runner and you've never cheered at a race I recommend you try it. Its a lot of fun and really interesting to see all of the runners go by. I was also surprised by how many people actually said 'thank you!' or 'thanks for cheering!' as they ran by. Its nice to feel appreciated and I'm hoping that our silly cheer station put a smile on a lot of runners' faces.