long beach half marathon

JetBlue Long Beach Marathon Expo and VIP Party! 10/7/16

October 8, 2016 by Tam 1 Comment

The JetBlue Long Beach Marathon Expo on the Friday before the race is my annual tradition as this is my 13th year running an event at Long Beach. This year, I got to go with my good friend, Erica, who was running the 5k.

The Health & Fitness Expo was held at the Long Beach Convention Center.

It was very well organized. I got my bibs easily. I signed up Wayne for the bike tour. His work schedule was uncertain so it was last minute but there weren’t any problems!

I picked up shirts.

Beach Bum Club! I’m honored to be a Beach Bum! If you run the half or full, 3 years consecutively, you’re part of the Beach Bum Club. Beach Bums get a shirt or hoodie (6th year) and entrance into the Shock Top beer garden.

I got my shirt! I missed one year when I ran Chicago, otherwise I would’ve had 14 consecutive years running Long Beach. 13 is pretty good though, right? It means I love this event!

Erica and I checked out all of the booths at the expo. The expo isn’t too big nor too small. We checked our races and running goodies.

I got BICBands and Honey Stinger chews. I needed to stock up on the chews because I go through them fast on the trails. Erica loved the Honey Stinger waffle which she had never tried!

I hope to fly to the finish on Sunday at the half!

After the expo, I changed and cleaned up and headed to the Hyatt Regency for the VIP Reception. I was so lucky to be invited to attend as an ambassador for this race! The reception was held outdoors this year and it was lovely outside. I had wine, cheese and crackers and sushi.

I got to hang out with my fellow ambassadors and the Run Racing crew, Daryl and Scot, who take such good care of us as ambassadors. We learned that the ambassadors brought in just under 2,000 registrations and more than half were runners who had never run Long Beach before. Awesome!

The best part was chatting with Legacy runners. 32 years! Wow. Steve Harvey (the kisser) is a trail race director. I just ran his Saddleback Mountain Goat Half and was excited to see him and his wife, Annie.

I loved representing the JetBlue Long Beach Marathon again. I ran my first marathon here and I love all of the festivities all weekend long. After the VIP Reception, I went to my running club’s annual Membership Appreciation Party. I didn’t get to enjoy the award ceremony but helped clean up and was able to chat with some of the ARECers. It was a busy, busy, busy day but it’s the start of one of my favorite weekends in the year! Good luck to all of the runners this weekend!

Your path, your pace, Tam

Half Marathon #100!

October 17, 2015 by Tam 1 Comment

The JetBlue Long Beach Half Marathon was my lifetime half #100! Sunday, October 11, 2015 was the big day! This was my 12th Long Beach Marathon event! I ran my first full at Long Beach in 2003. I’ve run the full 5 times, the half 5 times and 5k twice. I’ve only missed the event once in 2007, the year I ran Chicago (the meltdown Chicago year!) Long Beach has been an annual tradition and it is one of my favorite weekends!

The highs were going to be in the 90s so we had the option of starting early with the marathoners at 6 am, which was really nice! The bike tour began at 6 am, too.

Race morning is never complete without saying hi to running friends! We had an Orange Mud Am-badass-ador meet up! It’s always great to meet fellow runners in person!

I got to hang out with my AREC peeps, INKnBURN ambassador friends and Team NutriBullet alumni friends! Yeahhhh!!!

We started at about 6:15 am and it was already kind of warm but it was definitely better than starting at 7:30 am.

We ran by The Pike and everything looked pretty at that hour.

I just ran on this bridge the day before for the 5k! (Read about the Aquarium of the Pacific 5k here!) I felt pretty good at the start.

The great thing about starting when it was dark, was seeing the sunrise! Gorgeous!

The view of downtown Long Beach is pretty amazing.

I saw my AREC friend, Clara, on the bridge! She was finished her 2nd marathon! Go Clara!

I ran with a gold mylar balloon attached to my Orange Mud pack and it was great to have fellow runners say, “Wow, this is your 100th half!” or ” Congratulations on your 100th half!” It made the day really celebratory and fun!

My favorite part of the course was running by the lighthouse and the Aquarium of the Pacific.

After that, we ran on my least favorite part of the course…the beach path. The beach path is new and that was nice. I just always have a tough time on this part of the course as it’s all cement, the sun beats down on you and it’s long.

I looked forward to seeing Bernie on the bike path. Bernie is involved in several running groups in Long Beach and has been a good friend since I joined AREC in 2003. Every year, he’s at the same spot on the bike path, cheering us on!

The beach path stretch has always been the toughest section of the half. It’s quite long and the pounding on cement is hard on the body. I looked forward to seeing my running club friends, Tina and Rosie! They were in the same place last year, too! It gave me a boost to see them and Rosie had cold water waiting for us.

After that, I was excited to see fellow ARECer, Christina and a fellow Orange Mud Ambassador, Cindy! I had only seen Cindy online so I was happy to meet her in person. They were pacing for the marathon and I stuck with them as long as I could to just keep my mind off of the bike path and for some company. We ran for about a mile which really helped.

The leader of the half ran by me! It was cool to see the lead runners go past us although I’m sure they didn’t like having to weave around us. Since I started early, there was still the regular 7:30 am start for the half. Anyone who wanted to qualify for age-group wins or overall wins, had to start at the regular time.

We came off the beach path and were greeted with this awesome sign! I also knew something special was coming up at this point…donut holes!!!

Every year, TRIBE, our sister triathlon club, has glazed donut holes for the runners! It’s almost Mile 10 at this point. The donut hole was delicious!

Runners could also get Cool ‘n’ Fit spray just after Mile 10.

The course splits off with the marathoners after Mile 10. Marathoners went to the right and half marathoners, to the left. After this, we ran on Ocean Blvd to the finish.

It was very warm and I was feeling a little tired at this point. It was great to see many friends along the way. I always feel a surge of energy when I see a friend. The Ocean Blvd. stretch is good because it’s the last stretch of the race. When I was on the beach path, I kept thinking, “I just need to get this over with.” But as I was running on Ocean Blvd, I started to reframe my thinking. I didn’t want to have a negative attitude and think, I need to be done. Instead I said to myself, “Soak it all in. This is the last stretch of your 100th half marathon!” I relished in the fact that this was my 100th half marathon and this was Mile 11 of my 100th half, Mile 12 of my 100th half, Mile 13 of my 100th half…

Hooray! I finished my 100th half marathon! I was so excited and happy that my 100th half was at Long Beach! (I was interviewed by the Press Telegram at the finish, too! Read the article here!) It’s where my running started and it was special to have this milestone at a race that is an annual tradition for me.

It was a hot day but we all survived and lived to tell about it! (Read about the post-race fun here!)

Thank you all for sharing this special moment with me!

Your path, your pace, Tam

Long Beach Marathon Weekend Pre-Race Fun!

October 10, 2015 by Tam 1 Comment

This is one of my favorite weekends of the year! This weekend has been part of my routine since 2003! I ran my first marathon in 2003 and have run an event at this race 11 times. (I missed 2007 when I ran Chicago in its meltdown year!)

JetBlue Long Beach Marathon Expo

The JetBlue Long Beach Marathon weekend began on Friday, October 9, 2015 with the Health & Fitness Expo at the Long Beach Convention Center.

I love that orange and blue are now the colors of the JetBlue Long Beach Marathon with JetBlue as the new title sponsor. (I love orange and I’m a Chicago Bears fan!)

The expo was very well organized. Everyone entered the hall through the same doors, where bib pick-up is held.

I liked the new computer bib number look-up system! Type in your last name and there’s your number! You don’t need to look through pages and pages of names to find yours and it’s more green!

The information booth was available to answer any and all questions–course info, parking and all other logistics.

I picked up my 5k bib in one area and my half marathon bib down the way. The volunteers were very good about asking for everyone’s ID.

The shirt pick-up area was also easy to navigate.

After shirt pick-up, we went straight into the shop. There were many great options for gear–hoodies, tech shirts, cotton shirts and hats.

Once we exited the marathon branded shopping area, we went through each aisle to check out the gear, nutrition and races.

We also went to the Beach Bum booth! Participants who have participated for 3 or more consecutive years get to be part of the Beach Bum club, sponsored by Shock Top. Each year, you receive a different gift.

We checked in at the table and received a ticket. The color of the ticket corresponded to which Beach Bum year you are and the gear you get as a gift! This year, I received a grey t-shirt as a 7 year Beach Bum!

Beach Bum photo op! I love being a Beach Bum! You get extra gear and Shock Top beer in the beer garden!

I found race announcer extraordinaire, Rudy Novotny! He’s an icon in the running world and I love hearing his voice at races!

Rudy was hanging out at the JetBlue booth! JetBlue presence was everywhere and I think JetBlue coming on as a title sponsor will really elevate the marathon to another level.

JetBlue Long Beach Marathon VIP Reception

After the expo, my boyfriend and I headed to the VIP Reception at the Hyatt Regency.

I was lucky to be invited as an ambassador for the race.

I didn’t recognize my fellow ambassador, Charlotte! You know how everyone looks differently when they’re not in their running clothes! 🙂

The guests at the reception included the 26.2 volunteer club, legacy runners, sponsors and city council representatives.

Run Racing’s CEO, Bob Seagren, hosted the event.

Bob brought his Olympic torch to ceremoniously pass the torch from the former title sponsor, International City Bank to JetBlue.

Legacy runners! These amazing runners have run the marathon 30 years in a row! Every year,the marathon makes special gear for the legacy runners and they all received a cool-looking zippered long sleeve tech shirt.

Three of the six ambassadors were able to attend the reception. It has really awesome, getting to know Sarah and Charlotte throughout the ambassadorship and seeing them at other races. I love how running brings people together!

We also got to see Scot and Daryl, who ran the ambassador program and made sure we got what we needed to represent the race!

Thank you, Run Racing, for my entries and cool swag!

AREC Annual Membership Appreciation Party

We were very late to my running club’s annual membership appreciation party but we got to hang out for a bit. I haven’t missed this party since 2003, when I first joined AREC in March of that year! I did my part before and after the actual party so that was good. (I didn’t want to be a total slacker!)

I picked up my certificate and said as many hellos as I could. I wrote checks (as the club’s treasurer) and relished in the awesome energy of the party. This night is a special night for the club we celebrate the year and hand out awards.

I was in the Century Club this year, completing 332.6 miles in racing from last September 1, 2014 to August 31, 2015. I worked hard for these miles and treasure my certificate!

It was an awesome start to the Long Beach Marathon weekend! It was busy but I felt lots of runner love and positive energy. Next up, the Aquarium of the Pacific 5k!

Your path, your pace, Tam

JetBlue Long Beach Marathon Expo

JetBlue Long Beach Marathon VIP Reception

AREC Annual Membership Appreciation Party

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