The 2022 Big Sur Marathon Relay

Disclaimer: I received a Marathon Relay entry as part of being a BibRave Pro. Learn more about becoming a BibRave Pro (ambassador), and check out BibRave.com to review find and write race reviews!

If you’ve ever read a “top ten marathon destination” list, you’ve probably heard of the Big Sur marathon - at least that was what first introduced me to this race, which runs along the west coast, up pacific highway 1. It’s full of scenic views, and rolling hills, and when bibrave offered up an opportunity to run the race, Mike and I decided to team up and take on the marathon relay together. 

My planned trip was short - fly to CA Friday night after work, and then a red eye going home on Sunday. I packed my suitcase, including all my race supplies on Thursday, and on Friday after work Dennis gave me a ride to the airport. I had just enough time to grab some dinner before I hopped on the plane, and when I landed in San Francisco Mike and Jude picked me up from the airport - they had headed out earlier in the week, so they would have more time to explore California. It was late when I landed, so we just headed to the hotel and went to bed. 

The plan for Saturday was to grab breakfast and then take a two hour drive down the coast to Monterey, where the Big Sur Marathon ends. We left the hotel around 9 am, and picked a restaurant in Palo Alto called “sweet maple,” where they had a yummy looking brunch menu. We each got a different brunch entree, and split an order of “millionaire’s bacon,” which was the restaurants signature dish. 

Once we were all fueled up we got on the road, and it was an easy ride to Monterey. Once we got there we checked into our hotel, and then headed over to the expo to pick up our race bibs. We had good timing with our expo arrival - a bunch of our bibrave team mates were out front, and we were able  to grab a photo with them before heading inside. 

It was an easy pickup process at the expo - there was a dedicated table for relay runners, and a volunteer pulled our race bibs out. Usually a relay team consists of 4 runners, but Mike and I opted to take on the race as a team of two. The volunteer let us know that only one person needed to be there to pick up the teams bibs, so keep that in mind if you’re ever running the relay. 

Once we had our bibs we could go get our shirts. The shirts ran small, but they had limited sizes available for exchange. Overall the expo was pretty big, with 4 aisles of vendors. Mike and I both opted to buy some swag from the official race store - I went for a hot pink Big Sur hat. 

The last stop before leaving the expo was picking up the tickets for the pasta party - we attended the 4:30 seating. 

We had decided to buy tickets for the pasta party so that we didn’t have to worry about finding a place to eat the night before, and the event did not disappoint! We waited in a short queue at the hotel across the street from where we picked up our bibs to get into the banquet hall, and there were tables all over the room. On each side of the room there were buffets with pasta, salad, vegetables, sauces, and even desert. Mike, Jude and I loaded up our plates, and found a mostly empty table. As we ate we chatted with other runners, and it was neat to connect with other runners. There was even a beverage table in the middle of the room, that had wine and beer - including athletic brewing’s non-alcoholic beer. I thought it was a great touch for all of the runners!

After dinner we headed back to our hotel, and got ready for an early bedtime. Mike and I laid out our outfits and packed all the fuel we would need for the next day - we had an early wakeup the next morning - even though the race didn’t start until 6 am, I had to board the bus at 3:45 a.m. - Since the race is a one way course, all of the runners had to be bussed 26.2 miles to the start.

On race morning Mike and I rolled out of out beds and into the car, leaving Jude behind at the hotel. We were half asleep, but it was a short drive to the race busses. Mike and I had to get on at different times, since I was starting at leg 1 with the marathon runners, and he was starting at leg 2. As I was about to get on to the bus i ran into Sylvia, a fellow BibRave pro, and we wound up sitting together on the bus and chatting as we made our way to the start area.

It took a long time for the bus to get to the start, and when we arrived it was crowded, and a little chilly. From the time that we left the start, I lost cell service, and would not wind up getting any connection until around mile 7 of the race - where a blip of service allowed some texts from Mike to come through. I milled around the start, stopped at the porter potties, checked my bag, and ate a pb&j sandwich, and waited for the sun to come up.

As it got closer to start time, I made my way over to the start line. I though about visiting the porter potties one more time, but the lines were insane. I made my way into my corral, and watched the sun come up over the mountains as I waited for the race to start. 

The race wound up beginning a few minutes late, but as soon as the start horn went off the corrals started to collapse, and everyone moved forward. I was so excited to take in the scenery for the next 8 miles as I got moving, and happily clicked on my Garmin as I crossed the start line of the race. Since Mike and I were running the relay in legs, I was doing leg one, then he would meet me at leg 2 and finish the rest of the race. 

From the start line we headed onto the highway, where both sides of the road were surrounded by trees - it was beautiful. I got swept up with the start of the race and took off a little too fast, but found by pace and settled in. The course started with a downhill. While the Big Sur marathon is known for its hills, the leg I was running was mostly downhill, ending with an uphill right as the forest opened up and we got our first views of the ocean.

We ran by campgrounds and roadside hotels, many of which had patrons out and cheering as the runners went by. The aid stations were well stocked, with volunteers handing out water and Gatorade. The miles went by quickly, as I was surrounded by runners who had so much energy - with most of them in the beginning miles of a full marathon! 

As I approached mile 7 the scenery transitioned from wooded to beachy - the highway opened up and revealed mountains and beach views - it was beautiful, and made up for the gradual uphill that I was climbing, and the wind that had started gusting as soon as the road opened up.

Before I knew it, I was approaching mile 8, and saw the school busses lined up for relay runners, and spotted Mike, who looked just as excited as I was! We took a selfie and ran together for a second, before he took off on his leg of the race. 

There were some snacks out for runners that were finishing the first leg of the relay - there had been bagels, but by the time I got there only oranges were left, so I happily filled a cup with orange slices as I boarded the bus. 

One regret that I had - a lot of relay runners had given their leg 2 runners a bag of clothes, so that they could change out of sweaty running clothes before climbing onto the bus. Mike and I had not thought of this, and it was a long ride to the finish - so if you ever run this relay, I definitely recommend giving your partner a change of clothes to pass off to you when you finish your leg of the race.

It was a bit of a wait before the bus took off - we did not leave until all of the runners had past by, to ensure that no relay runners would be left behind without a ride to the finish. One side of the highway was still open, so as we made our way to the finish, we caught up to the runners and watched them go - I even spotted Mike on the course as we went! While I was bummed that I did not get to run the more scenic sections of the course, I was glad that I got to watch the views roll by the bus window.

When I got to the finish area, I decided to wait for Mike at the finish line. There was a Starbucks near by, so after grabbing my checked bag I went and got a snack, plus a tea for me and a coffee for Mike, and then found a seat on the stands at the finish line. My only complaint about the finish area is that there was no easy way for relay runners to get post race food (like the boxes that the other finishers got at the finish line) - because I was hungry after the run plus long bus ride. But at least there was something available for me to purchase. 

Eventually I spotted Mike nearing the finish line, and cheered my lungs out for him as he finished the race - then I made my way to the exit point for the finishers chute, and found Mike - where he slung a medal around my neck - Marathon relay complete!

From there we headed back to the hotel and packed up, then stopped for food on the way to the airport. Our quick California trip had come to a close, and we had a great time taking on the Big Sur Marathon Relay!

Make sure to check out Mike's blog post about his leg of the relay by clicking here!

If you have any questions, drop them in the comments below!

Wineglass Marathon 2018: Week 11

Wineglass marathon week 11

Total Mileage: 41.2

Come Monday morning, I was a bundle of nerves. Was I going to be cleared to run? Was this podiatrist going to tell me I needed to take a month off? Of course, my appointment wasn’t until after work, so it was naturally the longest work day ever. When I finally got to the doctors office, I was full on stress sweating as I filled out the intake forms.

They put me in a patient room, and when the doctor came in she checked out my foot, which was clearly swollen. I was lead to the x-ray machine, and half held my breath as they ran it. The results popped up on the screen instantaneously -

“Yes, that is definitely broken,” the doctor said with a smile on her face.

“But, it’s not a bad break. You can run on that.”

YES! Instantly rejoicing in my head began, as she set up to take one more x-ray from a slightly different angle. From the second angle, you couldn’t even see the break - it was that minor.

She lead me back to the exam room and showed my how to buddy tape it, and I felt the need to clarify the running thing with her, so she would understand just how much I wanted to run on it - stating that I would be doing a 22-mile run in the coming weeks - and she gave me the full go ahead, and just made sure that I had all the supplied I needed to tape it for the next few weeks. She said running on it was probably going to hurt, but I wasn’t going to do any more damage, and it would heal in about the same amount of time either way.

I was so relieved that I was still in the game for this marathon, and headed right to the pool after the appointment to get in a swim, which I had planned beforehand in case I wasn’t allowed to run, that way I would have something to take my mind off things…. And then right to a yoga class with Mike and Emily. It was a busy Monday night, and I had a big week ahead of me.

This week was a lot of “running by effort” and trying to just let go of my paces, because between my foot sometimes screaming at me and thick, humid, summer air I wasn’t keeping up with my usual paces. And you know what? That was okay, because I was still out there, and I was just so happy to be able to be running.

Tuesday morning I dragged myself out of bed earlier than usual, intending to make up for some of the miles that I missed over the weekend. I managed to get outside before Dad made it to my apartment on his bike, and we met along the road. Soon after we found Kasey as well, and the three of us fell into our regular groove. It was a particularly humid summer morning in NY, and boy was i feeling it. I employed every bit of positive thinking I could, and recited mantras to myself as I pushed to move forward. My pace slowed a little as the miles ticked on, but I managed to get through 8.4 miles that morning, which is a solid morning for me. But I was miserable at the end of that run, and made sure to immediately re-hydrate. I rounded out my day with an hour of strength training after work, despite really just wanting to go home and crash - I knew that in the coming weeks like was going to get crazy, and I needed to make the time while I could.

Since I was feeling defeated after Tuesday’s run, I promised myself I would take my run super easy on Wednesday, and just focus on getting the miles under foot. Dad and I chatted throughout the run/ride, and I made sure that my pace was conversational that way. We got to see a really pretty sunrise, one of the first of the season, and even though the miles were hard, and i melted a little, I felt great when I was through them. A quality run in terms of feel, even if it was slow as molasses. Seven miles closer to the race. I also may have totally made my fastpasses for my October disney trip during this run. And by may have I mean I totally did. But at least I moved onto a scarcely populated track instead of running in the road while doing so - and it was worth it because I got TWO coveted slinky dog dash fast passes!

Thursday morning the humidity calmed down marginally, and Dad and I got in another 8 morning miles. We looped through the neighborhood, and stopped at a track again. This time so that he could get some walking in, rather than time on the bike, and I even threw in a few pushes on the straights. Overall it was still a slower paced run, but with a few faster miles sprinkled in. After my successful morning run, I followed up with a successful night at the gym, focusing largely on core strength this time.

The sweet relief of Friday rolled in at last, and I got up to run to make up for some missed mileage the previous weekend, and Dad joined me once again. We kept it a little shorter this time, logging just over 5 miles that morning, as I had to do some last minute packing before work - Den and I were heading right from work to the airport, as we were traveling to San Francisco to visit his sister that weekend.

Despite traveling across the country, you better believe that I packed my running shoes! This would only be my second trip ever to California, and as Greg is always bragging about their superior running weather, I knew that I needed to experience it first hand.

The trip started off smoothly, with Den’s best friend, Alfred, giving us a ride to the airport. I was nervous leaving as late as we did, as everyone had panicked for me when I told them that I was flying out on the Friday night of labor day weekend, to the point where I was half expecting to miss my flight. But despite a little traffic, we got to JFK without a hitch, and even had time to have a sit down dinner at the airport. I even had a glass of wine with dinner, as we would be visiting Napa on our trip, and I figured that was an appropriate start to the weekend.

When it was about time to board the plane we headed over to our terminal, and were able to get our seats changed so that we would be able to sit next to each other on the flight, score! We usually fly southwest, but this time were on American Airlines, and hadn’t wanted to dole out the extra cash for adjacent seats when we were booking, and our gamble paid off. We even would up in a row with an empty third seat, so I was able to stretch out a little during the flight. I watched a movie, and then promptly passed out, and managed to be somewhat asleep for the rest of the flight. When we landed it was almost midnight California time, and Rachel and Greg picked us up from the airport and drove us to their apartment, where we were staying for the weekend. I promptly passed out, happy as a clam on the pull out couch.

Greg and I agreed on a Saturday morning run, and when my alarm went off at 6 am, it was lovely that it felt like 9 am to me. Now technically, I was supposed to be running 20-22 miles this weekend, but had booked this trip to CA before signing up for the wineglass marathon. Since we were only in town for the weekend, and the plan was to spend the day walking around the city, it would have been unwise of me to commit 4 hours to a run, especially when so much of the days plan was walking around and exploring. So, Greg and I decided to head out for 10 miles at a comfortable pace. They have a running path right by their apartment, and we headed out with the sunrise.

I warned Greg as we began that this was not going to be the speediest of runs, as Greg is a speedy person. Like, super tall with long legs, former high school cross country team member fast. So, I was a little worried I would spend the whole time trying to catch up to him. But we managed to settle into a pace around 9:30, and the weather was perfect for running, with no nagging humidity bearing down on my being. The first few miles were a little tough, but then I just settled in, and it turned into one of those blissful runs, where everything just kind of clicks. When we hit five miles we turned around, and the magic continued. The pace dropped, and it just worked. The pace kept dropping, and by the time we were in that last mile, we were just under an 8 min/mi. When we got back to the apartment, we had managed 10 miles, at an average pace of 8:53, and I was really pleased with that.

Dennis and Rachel were up and getting ready for the day, and once we were all fed and clean, we walked to the BART (local train system) station. We had the rotten luck of juuust missing a train, as it pulled out of the station while we waited to buy our tickets, but at least we got to check out some mountain top views while we waited for out ride. BART eventually trucked us from Walnut Creek To San Francisco, and began our day of adventure, that included ramen, walking the golden gate bridge, exploring the bay area, seeing the sea lions on pier 39, and making so many memories. We were all utterly exhausted by the time the day was through, and we had walked 14 miles! So that was a total of 24 miles on our feet for Greg and I, and I think we well deserved the In-and-out that we all scarfed down for dinner! It was my first time ever trying the fast food chain, as it does not exist in NY, and it was just about as good as the hype that everyone attaches to it.

Despite our super long day on Saturday, Greg and I dragged our feet out the door on Sunday morning, as I was so close to my goal of 40 miles for the week, so we just needed to get a few miles in. We headed in the opposite direction than we had the day before, and ran a total of 2.6 miles, the highlight of which was a bridge that we got to run over. We both felt the effect of the high mileage the day before, but were glad to sneak a few more miles in. The plans for our second day in Cali? Rachel and Greg were bringing us to Napa, where we went to Mumm and Miner to do some tastings and to take in some views of the valley. After plenty of tastings, we went to a pizza place for lunch, and while it was nothing like NY pizza, I am happy to report that it was still delicious, as carbs usually are. Our final stop in Napa, before heading back to walnut creek, was at Greg’s family vineyard, where his parents gave us a tour, and showed us how they check the sugar levels in the grapes. All in all it was an adventure filled weekend, and I was ready for many naps, which was exactly what I did once we were back in the car. We kept the rest of the night easy, having pasta for dinner and watching a little TV before calling it a night.

All in all, it was a successful week of running, and an amazing weekend trip to California.