I had a good run. I took it easy and ran it in 4:19 (and scheduled to run a 50 miler the next weekend in Sacramento). Debbie
Rios and Columbia Nelson started and finished. Although Debbie had a bad day, (really bad blisters). She finished in 9:30. Columbia did well finishing in 8:50.

A perfect race morning dawned, very cool and overcast with a thin layer of fog just overhead, touching the tops of the hills. Starting my first marathon, I was very thrilled and excited with the whole scene. The field contained 1,834 runners starting; not a large race compared to some, but it seemed really huge to me! Participants from Ridgecrest were Chuck Lewis, Barb and Rick Miller, and me. Along to record the whole event was our wonderful marathon photographer, Linda Sappington.

The gun went off at exactly 7:00 am. Needless to say, Rick and Chuck disappeared into the fog! The beautiful course wound between vineyards and wineries along both sides of the tree lined road. We ran through rural countryside all the way except the last couple of miles, which were residential. We struggled over three good hills in the first six miles; the rest of the course contained smaller rolling hills and slightly downhill the rest of the way.

I ran a little more than I had expected to, but alternated walking and running throughout the whole race. It was a bit hard for Barb who wasn't used to walking so much! She would have been much better off using her running muscles more but, wonderful daughter that she is, she stayed with her mother throughout the race. Helpful and concerned folks greeted us at all the aid stations.

This marathon furnished no entertainment along the route as do some. The most entertainment we saw was the young lad at the mile 18 aid station, standing in the middle of road yelling like a circus barker, "I've got water and a Gatorade with your names on them!"  A real picker-upper.  At about this time we got the giggles! Everything seemed funny, probably because we were beginning to get tired.

By mile 22, I started to lose my sense of humor! I became very serious and determined. From that point on, every mile seemed like three - until about mile 25. That last mile was hard, but knowing it was the last full mile helped a lot. The ".2" sign felt like another whole mile to go!! However, we stayed together and ran across the finish line together.

Completing this race was one of the most rewarding things I have ever done. Doing it with my daughter made it all the more special. We finished with a time of 6:19:37. It was my fastest marathon ever (naturally), and Barb's slowest (of course)!