I did it!
Crossing the Finish Line
The Los Angeles Rock ‘n’ Roll Half Marathon was my 4th half of this year. And though I wasn’t able to have a personal best, this was a special one.
The main reason was Donna Canterna surprised me at mile 6, jumping in front of me in her amazing upbeat style of “Here I am to support you on your run!” And what a support she was. The temperature by mile 8 must have been around 90 degrees on the course as the asphalt was reflecting the heat back to us. From mile 8 to almost mile 11, there was very little shade. Donna’s upbeat attitude took the edge off the heat. As she was jumping around, smiling, talking to everyone, and encouraging me all I could think of was “How does she keep this attitude up?” But then if you knew Donna, you would know that is Donna, through and through.
Donna doing her happy dance
This Rock ‘n’ Roll Half was fun as it was just a handful of days before Halloween. A good portion of the crowd was dressed in various costumes that made you wonder if they would make it through the whole race with their costumes still in tacked. Even the organizers of this Rock ‘n’ Roll made sure the official t-shirt and medal reflected the Halloween theme.
The Rock ‘n’ Roll Los Angeles Half Medal
It was fun to run this course as it passed by parts of the USC campus, the Coliseum where the USC Trojans play, through downtown Los Angeles before turning back to the Staples Center where the Lakers play.
Overall, the course was fairly flat except for the bridge we had to climb and cross before doing a U-turn back to the finish line. At the turn back, the Hollywood sign could be seen in the distant with 3.1 miles left before getting out of the heat.
My goal of running 4 half marathons in one year is now completed. As I think back to all of them, the one I will remember the most will always be this Los Angeles Rock ‘n’ Roll Half. Donna made it special with her presence as did my family!