Malibu International Marathon – (Nov 11, 2012)
Malibu, California – MIM was my second marathon in my back to back marathon weekend. I was tired and my body was thrashed from the day before at the Catalina Eco Marathon (race report) where the big hills and drops had done a number on my legs. The progress my left knee, which had been recovering from a torn meniscus, took several backwards the day before on the island.
Run It Fast member Lisa Gonzales (RIF #5) picked me up early at my house to make the hourish drive over to Malibu where we parked near the finish line at Zuma Beach. From there you hop a bus for about an hour to where the race starts inland. Before the race I ran into Deo Jaravata, Nadia Ruiz Gonzales, and Yolanda Holder from the day before along with Maniac Rocky Morales and several other running friends.
I hate to complain or knock marathons, and this will be my only complaint about the Malibu Marathon, but the race was supposed to start at 8am and we didn’t end up starting til 8:30am because the RD’s made everyone wait for someone to arrive at the starting line for the race. A delay of that length can throw off many runner’s nutrition, race plan, etc. This race is big enough that it should have started on time.
Everyone shivered and waited hurdled together for the race to finally start and it finally did.
The first 10 miles take you from inland, through several turns around farmland, until you reach the Pacific Ocean at about mile 10. I struggled for those ten miles leading to up to the water. I was slugglish, tired, and my knee and feet were hurting from the day before at Catalina. But getting to where the water started was good mentally as nature’s beautiful scenery started to unfold in front of me with majestic mountains and hillside to my left and the endless ocean and beaches to my right. Somewhere around mile 15 a fellow runner pointed out dolphins jumping in the water to me. It was a truly wonderful site to witness during the middle of a marathon.
I had good and bad stretches over the last 16 miles of this race. I became stronger on the uphills as there were several long uphills as the race got closer to the finish. I was able to keep running up them and past many other runners as they walked and fatigued. I’d then float and speed down the downhills and straightaways as I started to count all the targets I was knocking off. I met a sweet woman over the past 3 miles that pushed me as I pushed her as we were eager to get to the finish and put this one in our race journals.
The medal was great and instead of a finisher’s tech tee like at most races they gave everyone a Malibu International Marathon beach towel which was a nice touch. The finish area had two food trucks and a live band as runners relaxed on the beach, in the water, and at the finish to watch the remaining runners came in.
I waited for Lisa to come in (that’s Deo above not Lisa) and she did with a smile as she had hit her pre-race target. We ate some food from one of the food trucks and then made the trek back home. I’m thankful for Lisa picking me up and dropping me off for this race. It wasn’t necessary on her part, but it made it easier on me having run and traveled to Catalina to race the day before.
- Medal: 8.5/10 (see here)
- Course: 7/10 (last 16 miles 9.5)
- Scenery: 8/10
- Support: 8/10
- Crowds: 5/10
- Price: 7/10
- OVERALL: 7.5/10
A beautiful race in one of the most beautiful places in the United States.
– Joshua Holmes (RIF #1)
You can follow Joshua on Twitter @bayou
