I haven’t put as many running (or cycling) miles in this year compared to last, but I was still excited to check out the runners at this year’s Oakland Marathon. My girlfriend and I got up early to head over to College Avenue in Rockridge and see the runners between miles 5 and 6.
The weather forecasts were calling for rain, but as we parked our bikes the sun was starting to shine through the clouds over the Oakland hills. The pavement was wet from last night but it was starting to dry.
We had a few minutes to spare and stood around watching volunteers direct traffic and the TranSports crew set up their water station. A lot of drivers were confused by the road closures and some tried to get onto the course to get to where they were going. Perhaps there should be more signage next year for drivers?
The marathon started with the police motorcycle
The results aren’t yet available off of active.com as of 1:16pm (“We are experiencing higher than normal volume and are therefore unable to process your request at this time.” ) today but this was the 1st place runner and eventual winner Chris Mocko from San Francisco at the mile 5 mark. He finished with a time of 2:28:09, setting an event record.
1st place winner Chris was decked out in New Balance gear – as part of the New Balance Silicon Valley team.
Here’s the 2nd place runner, Oaklander Phillip Shaw at mile 5. Most of the runners had serious looks on their faces. I know it’s hard for me to smile when I’m devoting all of my energy to placing one foot in front of the other. This guy broke a smile as we cheered him on. He was dressed in Brooks gear. He finished 2nd with a time of 2:37:13. (I hope he wore some Glide or some Vaseline or something. Or maybe it’s a non chafey-shirt?)
Tony Torres of Cedar Glen finished 4th last year and was in 3rd place at this point. Nike representing here. He went on to finish the race in 3rd place with a time of 2:38:05.
This pair was in 4th and 5th place at this point. Steven Moreno (#773) eventually pulled away to capture 4th place with a time of 2:41:18. Christopher Gurney finished 5th with a time of 2:43:29. Both of the guys are also from Oakland.
The 6th place male runner at mile 5 for this year’s 2012 Oakland Full Marathon. Andrew Willis, of San Jose, finished in 14th place at 3:02:48.
This guy was the first place relay member at mile 5. Their team, “Wild Dogs”, went on to win the relay with a finishing time of 2:29:57.
The 2nd place relay team at mile 5. Their team, “Three Men and a Kid”, finished 2nd with a time of 2:46:17.
A guy on a hand powered bike with the GoPro hero in front.
This is Anna Bretan, who won the 2011 Oakland Marathon in her first ever marathon. It looks like she won again with a time of 2:57:33. The Oakland Raiders (@RAIDERS) posted a picture of her crossing the finish line here, and as appropriately stated by twitter user @elcush, Anna gave birth 6 weeks ago. Insane. According to SFGate: “She ran 40-mile weeks right until she gave birth, and did an easy five-mile job on the same day her baby, Tatum, was born. Within a week, she was back to heavy training.”
1st place female finisher Anna Bretan and other runner in front of Miam Miam
This is a photo of the 2nd and 3rd place female runners at mile 5. Runner #694, Penny MacPhail of San Anselmo, finished 3rd with a time of 3:12:18. Claudette Augert (#139) of Edmonton, Alberta, finished 6th with a time of 3:20:47.
And the 4th place female runner at mile 5. Monica Zhuang caught up a bit and finished the race in 2nd place with a time of 3:06:17.
Once the super-speedy runners had passed, the race pack thickened up. Here is a group of slightly-less speedy-but-still-fast runners heading up the 3:10 pace group.
I dislike GEICO but I do like the Oakland Marathon Pacers!
Here’s the 3:20 pace group.
And here’s a guy running in his Hawaiian shirt. I think he did the same last year.
The Oakland Marathon was definitely no Bay to Breakers, but there were some people who had interesting outfits. This guy wins for the most color-coordinated. Pink shirt, pink gloves, pink fanny pack, pink socks and pink shoes. And check out all of those Gu/Clif Shot/Powergel packets.
This guy wins for best beard. (This is Sam, co-owner of Brazen Racing. Thanks, Pete!)
This was the first barefoot runner that we saw. Good job, guy!
This woman was rocking her I hella heart Oakland shirt.
This woman was running with a birthday sash and hat and accompanying runner with a sign. Happy 30th, Monica!
“I’m running 30 miles for my 30th birthday” – that is awesome. I wonder if she tacked on the extra 4 before or after the race.
Runner in a tutu.
Relay runner with butterfly wings.
A course high-five. What is especially cool is that this guy ran the marathon in a disposable lab coat.
This guy ran in a feathered hat and bolo tie.
This looks like a father and daughter team.
The 5:00 pace group. Yay pacers!
The Praying Runner. He handed out a rose at each of the 26 miles and was running to support women with breast cancer.
The sign at the College Avenue Presbyterian Church. “WELCOME TO MILE 5.6 OF THE OAKLAND MARATHON”
March 25th, 2012
Category: Uncategorized • Author: phil • Comments: 4 Comments
I ran the North Face Endurance Challenge san francisco half marathon a few weeks ago, and brought my iPhone with me to take some photos. The race was staged in the gorgeous Marin Headlands.
This was around mile 1 or less. The sun was still low in the sky, it was still chilly, and I felt fresh.
Around mile 1.5?
Tennesee Valley trail
The turn up the coastal trail for the 2nd major climb
First glimpse of the Pacific Ocean
Pretty steep pitch. Pretty even mix of runners and walkers up the hill.
A few people had stopped here to enjoy the view. This wasn’t quite the summit.
It was somewhere up there..
Another view of the ocean
The descent down Fox trail was just as steep. Definitely hard to run down in a controlled manner. I didn’t.
The Marincello climb was the start of the 3rd and final major climb.
I was predictably exhausted at the end of the race but I’m happy with how I paced myself. I went out a little less conservatively than I had planned but I was probably being a little overconservative. And the race-day excitement gives you a little boost of energy.
December 18th, 2011
Category: Uncategorized • Author: phil • Comments: 2 Comments
Nike free 3.0 photo by flickr user edtrigger
I found myself looking for running shoes and found myself a little overwhelmed by all of the choices out there. My goal was to find a semi-minimalist shoe – basically a cross between a flat, minimal shoe with no heel-toe drop (difference in height between the heel and the toe) and a traditional running shoe that typically has a bunch of heel cushioning. I realize that the minimal shoes are already a cross between shoes and barefoot running, but my legs and calves aren’t quite ready for that yet.
I focused solely on Nike shoes. Nike’s website, while pretty, sucks for obtaining any technical information. Luckily, Running Warehouse has a lot of good information. They have a neat shoe fit predictor (“shoefitr”) and good information about the amount of support running shoes provide as well as measurements of heel to toe drop.
Nike Free series:
I like the Nike Free series because they allow your foot to flex naturally, which allows you to build up strength in your foot muscles when training. There are a ton of different variations out there and it’s hard to tell what the differences are.
Nike Free Run+ by flickr user Yoshihuang
Anything with “TR” in the model name is for cross training. This isn’t always obvious. There’s also a Nike Free Walk walking shoe. The Nike Free Xilla is a cross training shoe. I don’t know what the Nike Free Waffle AC is exactly other than it uses the Nike Free sole with an old school upper. I think it’d function as more of a cross training shoe.
Nike Lunar series:
I did a lot of research on the Nike Lunar series (I purposely focused mostly on these to make my decision easier) and here’s what I’ve found for heel-toe drop. Once again, Running Warehouse was a great resource:
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Nike Lunar Spider – 22mm/16mm: 6mm
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Nike Free Run (or Nike Free Run+) – 25mm/18mm: 7mm
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Nike Free 3.0 – 21mm/14mm: 7mm
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Nike Lunar Fly (or Nike Lunarfly) – 29mm/19mm: 10mm
Nike Lunarfly by flickr user Tomat3
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Nike Lunar Swift – 26mm/16mm: 10mm – has more pronation support (which I did not want)
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Nike Lunar Elite – 31mm/20mm: 11mm
Nike Lunar Elite by flickr user edtrigger
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Nike Lunar Eclipse – 30mm/18mm: 12mm
Nike Lunar Eclipse by flickr user makoworks
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Nike Lunar Glide – 30mm/18mm: 12mm – has more pronation support
Nike Lunar Glide by flickr user adamjackson1984
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Nike Pegasus (traditional running shoe, for reference) – 33mm/21mm: 10mm
Nike Air Pegasus by flickr user movimentobase
I looked up some New Balance shoes for reference:
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NB 1400 – 21mm/11mm: 10mm
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NB 101 – 26mm/16mm: 10mm
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NB minimus 10 – 19mm/15mm: 4mm
November 30th, 2011
Category: Uncategorized • Author: phil • Comments: No Comments
I got out early this morning to check out the 2011 Oakland Marathon. I didn’t have it in me to try to try to run it again this year (especially with all of the cycling training) but it was really exciting to see the runners. I got out to around the 4.5 mile mark on College ave in front of Crossroads Trading and across from Toast and near miam miam (expensive, but probably the best frozen yogurt I’ve had)
This is Tegenu Beru from San Jose. He won the race wish a finishing time of 2:30:08. Damn.
He had a small entourage of cyclists surrounding him and preceding that were some police motorcycles and an official pickup truck.
Ivan Medina from Hayward finished 5th with a time of 2:44:33, but was in 2nd place at this point.
These guys were running together at this point in the race, but eventually Jesus Campos (#1003) pulled off to capture 2nd place with a time of 2:37:31. Tony Torres (#1000) still finished strongly at 4th place with a time of 2:38:45.
Anna Bretan took 1st place for women and 11th place overall with a strong finishing time of 2:53:19. According to the San Francisco Chronicle, this was her first marathon ever and the longest distance she’s run in her life.
Lori Buratto from Washington finished 2nd among women with a finishing time of 3:02:53.
They look happy!
Suet-Fei Li finished 3rd among women with a time of 3:03:25.
This guy was awesome.
By the way, she is ripped
Hawaiian shirt
This guy ran the marathon with a hemp shoulder bag.
Hard to see from the photo since I had switched out to a wide-angle lens, but this guy is “Endorphin Dude” and ran with a cape. Pretty sweet. Check out his website.
March 27th, 2011
Category: Uncategorized • Author: phil • Comments: 5 Comments
A while back, I decided to try to teach myself R. I thought that running races would have some interesting data to look through. Here’s what I’ve come up with so far:
This is a scatter plot of finishing times versus runner ages with different colors for male and female runners:
Males generally finished the race faster. There were more female runners (I wonder why?). The fastest age group looks to be runners in their mid 20s. There are a few data points where I’m guessing no age was given and therefore the runner was assigned the age of “1″. I’m impressed at the people who are still completing half marathons in their 60s and 70s!
More charts to come, maybe!
February 19th, 2011
Category: Uncategorized • Author: phil • Comments: 2 Comments
Nike Lunar Racer by flickr user edtrigger
