Avenue of the Giants Marathon

Marathon in the California redwoods: May 6. (L) Two half-marathon turn-arounds provided good chances to greet other runners. Here, Sweet Pea meets Runner Dude. (R)My Sweet Pea running partner and I did not make a PR, but felt less beat at the finish line than in past marathons. Here the course follows the Eel River. Running among precious ancient living trees: a memory to cherish... We are already beginning to train for the next marathon.

Avenue of Giants Marathon and California Trip

My heritage traces back to Lofoten and Oslo. Could the call of the water be in my spirit? I'll be glad to run with you in the giant redwoods, I told him, if you just take me to see the ocean...

In plant protection areas on Samoa Dunes near Eureka, blooming succulents showed their pink and yellow finest.

North Shore Co-op in Eureka is large and splendid. We shopped and then ate back in the motel room... or in the car on the way... Milk and cheese from California happy cows!? Juicy blueberries and blackberries and pears.
In the motel room Two Computer People downloaded e-mails and other interesting info.
Pre-race pasta dinner, at the Veterans Hall in Weott, was one of the tastiest ever.


This is what we came for... the beautiful marathon in the Avenue of the Giants... with 2 half marathon portions, out and back, so we saw each other and most of the other runners at least twice. It was about 50 degrees at the start: just right for running. Although we drove in fog from Eureka that morning, the woods was pleasantly dry... and shady.

Runner Partner, in streams of sunlight filtering down through the ancient giant redwoods on the marathon course. How are you doing, Honey, she says, as we encourage each other. It seemed that we finished this marathon feeling stronger than we felt in any other so far.

Marathon Finishers!! With finishers shirts and medals... and we have our offical "time" for the 50 States Club. Our Runner won his age group. I was the only woman over age 64 in the marathon.
One of the best parts is when My Honey, after finishing the marathon, comes back to meet us, with cold drinks, usually when we get to around mile 23, and runs the rest of the way to the finish with us.

Glorious California surf between Rockport and Westport... accessible by switchback narrow road! It was comforting to have an excellent driver for this.
Then a quick side trip for organic wine at a biodynamic vineyard. www.Quivirawine.com near Healdsburg.

San Francisco from Sausalito. We had a great little feast at a sidewalk Italian cafe in Sausalito... clam chowder, pasta, meatballs, quiche ... celebrating the extra Weight Watcher points we each earned running the marathon (yes, 26.2 miles) the day before.

A quick run along the Pacific on Golden Gate Beach.
Beyond me on the beach you can see one of the dogs playing fetch in the waves.

Sunshine, Sweet Pea and Age Group Winner Marathoner rode San Francisco cable cars all morning long... even riding standing on the "running board" on the outside once, holding on tight.

Kitty in the window.. looking out at people going by on the sidewalk in San Francisco. The window was open just a crack, but not enough for her to jump out, and we had a little converstion. She was one of three interesting kitties we met on our trip... each in a different city.

Each of us took some of the pictures above. I actually did some of the picture posting!! I'm in the process of learning how to do it. These 2 sat beside me and coached.