La Jolla Half Marathon: spectators!

Last weekend my 5 year old daughter, my pointer dog and myself cheered on our friends as they ran the La Jolla (Calif.) Half Marathon.  I haven't watched many races and had forgotten how much fun they are to watch.  We had intended to watch from three spots along the course but ended up watching the runners from two spots.  The first was about 1.5 miles into the race where the runners come up a hill and make a left onto Pacific Coast Highway/101.  The second was near mile 5 after the runners have run through hilly Del Mar, Calif. and are beginning a nice long descent before the brutal climb up and through Torrey Pines National Park.  I know this route well as my runs often taken me down there and sometimes when I'm feeling particularly crazy, I'll run the Torrey Pines hill.  It's a killer and to hit that at mile 6 of a half marathon is tough.  Usually the weather is warm and many people slow to a walk on that hill.  In the past, runners have had serious health complications on that hill.  This year, however, the marine layer was thick and provided a perfect morning for running.

There were many things I loved about watching this race.  Cheering on friends was definitely #1.  But what I wasn't expecting were all the cheers and comments we received!  Runners are such a friendly, happy group and those running La Jolla were no exception.  High fives, nods of appreciation, nice comments, hoots, laughs, smiles and lots of people telling us how many toenails they've lost.  It was really fun to be out there supporting these runners! 

I taped the course map on the back of our sign, noting approximate times of my friends along the course.  Also on the back was this BINGO card I printed from the Competitor.com website.  My daughter enjoyed waving her pom poms but it also helped to have her look for these runner's descriptions on the Bingo card.  http://running.competitor.com/2011/10/out-there/out-there-marathon-bingo_40298