Race Report - 2015 Rock 'n' Roll Arizona 1/2 Marathon

RNRAZcourse

Pre-race

Decided to purchase the Rock 'n' Roll Tour Pass for 2015, which allows be to enter any RnR race in North America for a one time fee of $449. First Rock 'n' Roll is in Arizona. I signed up too late to get a personalized bib, but it was nice to see the 'No Payment Due' when registering. The race weekend happened to have a Monday holiday, so I had an extra day to recover. Planned much like San Jose last year, fly in on Saturday, expo, check-in to hotel, Sunday race, shower, check-out, off to the airport.

Saturday

rocker

While waiting for the early morning flight, I looked around for runners who may be headed to the race. I wore my Rock 'n' Roll San Diego shirt to let everyone know I am a RnR runner. I finally found one guy who recognized my shirt. He was doing the full marathon, and we talked for a while before boarding. Flight was pretty short, just over an hour. Prior research showed that the public transit was good enough to justify not renting a car. First stop the expo, where I changed into Elvis, and enjoyed the Expo. Lots of free food samples, so I was not hungry even past noon. A few people recognized me from prior Rock 'n' Roll races. The expo opened at 9 am, and I arrived at 10. By the time I left at noon, it was getting pretty packed. The crowd almost reminded me of the San Diego race expo. A quick change back to my regular clothes, and off to the Valley Metro Rail to take me to my hotel, which was just over a mile from the start. I had to take a bus for the last mile, since I didn't feel like walking with my heavy backpack. I grabbed a large sandwich for lunch and dinner, and spent the rest of the afternoon monitoring all the posts from my friends at other races, Disney Star Wars and Carlsbad. Sadly, I knew no one in Arizona.

Sunday Half Marathon

start

Cool morning, but not cold. I packed some extra layers to keep warm, but did not need them, as the Elvis costume provided plenty of coverage. The wig also kept me warm. As I headed out to the start, I saw a couple of runners also headed there, so I caught up and we talked the rest of the way there. Most of the runners arrived by the Metro rail. The Marathon started in another location, but the Half and 10K start together. About 14,000 runners for the 10K-Half. I wandered the crowds looking for either costumes or barefoot runners. As normal before races, I was in flip flops, so I didn't have to worry about where I stepped. Ten minutes before race started, I check in my gear (flip flops and change of clothes). I stashed a pair of thin running sandals behind my back in case things get too rough. I was in corral 12 of 20, and I met up with one other Elvis, and one other barefoot runner (not the same person).

costume

Race started a little later than the scheduled 7:50 am. I crossed the start at 8:18 am, and settled into slow steady pace. Lots of Elvis shouts, and me pointing back. About 2.5 mile into the run, the course split, and the 10K headed to the finish. I did not feel the same speed I had last weekend, so just took it easy. At mile 4.5 the asphalt got a little rough, and I ran the white line to conserve energy. At 7 miles, I started to get a little tired, and the road surface did not improve much. I continued to run the line as we headed uphill through Papago Park, one of the tallest of the red sandstone formations in Phoenix. Being a less traveled road, even the painted lines were not in premium condition. Total ascent was only 150 feet but fairly gradual. The view from the top was nice, and I stopped for a panoramic picture.

hill



From mile 10 to the finish is mostly downhill, but surface still rough. At mile 12 the road finally got smoother, but my legs were too sore to pick up the pace again. I had hoped to break 3 hours, but with the costume, wig, and road conditions, I was just glad to finish. Official time 3:07:04, 1 minute and 3 seconds faster than my last half several weeks ago.

After the finish photo, I pick up my gear, and hid behind the UPS truck to change back to me. I walked back to the hotel 1.5 miles in my flip flops, and averaged a 20 minute mile. I had planned to eat lunch at the In-N-Out burger across from my hotel, but I was way behind schedule and needed to get to the airport. Luckily the bus that would take me from my hotel to the rail station had extra routes due to the detours from the still active marathon. I got on the Metro rail prior to the finish area and was able to find a seat, but once we arrived at the next stop a whole bunch of runners boarded and filled to train to capacity. At the airport, I ate all my goodies from the post race and expo at the airport. Actually I had to eat them, I didn't have much room in my backpack.

pfchangs

The flight was scheduled to depart at 4:10 pm, but was delayed so we did not leave until 5:30 pm. With the hour time zone difference, I arrived in San Diego about the same time. Severals hours after exercise is when I get real hungry. When to dinner at our local In-n-Out, and ordered a 3x3.


shirt