Big Sur International Marathon
April 29, 2007

Ali and I went to Carmel, California so that I could run in the Big Sur International Marathon. Many say this is the most beautiful Marathon in the USA. It's rated in the top 10 difficult marathons. I finished 4:15 which was OK - not amazing, but about as good as I could expect giving the amount of training I've put into this. The Marathon is 26.2 miles from Big Sur to Carmel. For sure the course is demanding. The opening part is quite easy and the work begins with a big climb from mile 10 to 12 to Hurricane Point. This is followed by a fast downhill to the halfway point on Bixby Bridge - one of the most photographed road bridges in the world. The closing 13 miles are a roller coaster of climbs and descents along cliff tops above the Californian coast. At the expo on Saturday there was a talk given by Jeff Galloway - the most famous running coach in the USA. I naturally had to buy another copy of his book and ask him to sign it. Jeff's a former 10k Olympic Runner and now runs a coaching and seminar business. I took his advice and used a 4 min run, 1 min walk regime for the first 17 miles. This gave me about 9 minute pace. Once we hit the hills, I started to fade. After a walk break of several minutes at mile 17, I decided to run all the way to the end. I was afraid I would be able not be able to start running following another walk break! Anyway, I ran the final 9 miles home without a break, other than to take water at every aid station. Maybe the walk breaks earlier enabled me to run those 9 gruelling miles. 30 seconds after crossing the line, I was on my hands and knees thowing up (very unpleasant for the race officials). I think something I ate on Saturday night didn't agree with me because I had other unmentionable plumbing troubles when we got back to the hotel. However after some fruit and coffee I felt fine and drove home - stopping for steak and eggs on the way. A few years ago I bought a CD of piano music by Johnathon Lee. Johnathon established the tradition of playing a grand piano at Bixby Bridge to entertain the runners as they cross. Sadly Johnathon has passed away, however the tradition of the piano has been continued by Michael Martinez. As I was running over Bixby, Michael played 'Bridge over Troubled Water'. I'll never be able to hear that song again without thinking of that moment. Awesome. Thanks Michael. click here I must mention how well Big Sur International Marathon was organized. It's the biggest small town event I've ever seen. There were about 12,000 athletes in the different events and around 3000 in the Marathon itself. Everybody has to be bussed in the morning from Carmel to Big Sur for the start at 6.45. Highway 1 is closed from 4am until early afternoon. All 12000 participants and 2000 volunteers, race marshalls, bands and orchestras have to have to be bussed into position in the very tight timetable. I've no idea how the 12' Yamaha Concert Grand Piano got to Bixby Bridge! A really great show put on by a small community. Very impressive team work. And lastly, I exported the data from my Garmin Forerunner 305 so you can see my run on Google Earth: click here .
Jeff Galloway on stage	Jeff signing books	Robin and Jeff
The Sign - 26 miles	The finish area	Band on the course
Folks pass the band	Mile 25	Band's sign
1 mile to go	Entertainers at mile 25	Runners head for finish
Walkers about a mile from finish	A little more than 1 mile to go	Robin from behind at the finish