Monday, April 26, 2010

Rocky Road Run Marathon & Marin County Marathon

Marathon # 35 & 36


What a great marathon weekend! This was a double inaugural weekend. Marathon # 35 was Rocky Road Run 100 miler, 50 miler, Marathon & Half Marathon endurance run in Coto de Caza, CA. Rocky Road Marathon did test your endurance. I did the marathon and started the marathon with my good friend Roxana.

At the start of the race Roxana and I took the wrong trail which was a 2 mile loop on the horse trail. The mountains were rocky, single track, steep climbs, hilly, and lots of climbing. I said to Roxana "I'm not mentally prepared for this; I didn't know this trail marathon was so hard". Roxana said "just suck it up, keep going and stop complaining". As we arrived at the aid station the volunteer ask if we were doing the 100 or 50 miler. We both were happy to hear we were on the wrong trail but not happy that we did an extra 2 miles. I finished the marathon in 6:11



This is my friend Amazing Joe and his first 50 miler! Last year Joe did his first double, Palos Verdes Marathon & OC Marathon. Joe was very concerned that he wouldn't be able to finish OC marathon. I said don't worry, you will be amazed at what the body can do and you will even be faster on the second day. Joe finished Palos Verdes in 5:56 and OC in 5:34. He took off 22 minutes!!! That's amazing!!! Now you know why I call him Amazing Joe. Rocky Road Run 50 miler was Joe's 19th marathon/ultra this year! Happy running Joe. Running


This is Rudy from Fresno, CA who's a fast road runner and enjoys doing ultras. Rudy's running the 100 miler and I finished the marathon. Rudy and I last seen each other at Bank Trust First Light Marathon in Mobile, AL back in January. Rudy is going to run the Lake Tahoe Double Dare. The Double Dare is two laps around the lake in opposite directions. (144 miles) I'll be there walking the Lake Tahoe Triple. Good luck Rudy!


Thank you Race Director Charlie for a well organized, challenging, love the medal and shirt marathon. I'll be back next year for the 100 miler. I must have that beautiful buckle to add to my collection. Special thanks to Rob Cowan co-race director for a well done inaugural.















Marin County Inaugural Marathon was marathon #36. The marathon started with my marathon buddy Dennis who picked up my bib & chip. Dennis is working on completing his 200th marathon this year. It was a beautiful morning in Marin County. The course was challenging, hilly, and nice views of the ocean and mountains. My goal was to finish in less than 6 hours. I'm a little sore from yesterday's race and I didn't get much sleep. I'm still nursing a blister from my 107 miles a few weeks ago. Another nice feature that I liked about Marin Marathon is that they had 6 hour pacers. I walked with Dennis and two of the first half pacers. As we reached half way we got new pacers.

I met Karen. Karen is 58, single, a mother of 3 (18 year old, & 14 year old twins), works full time, has run 104 marathons and is a Breast Cancer Survivor! Karen was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2005. What amazed me is that she had a mastectomy, after the surgery she went for a run and the next day she went for a run again. Karen's passion and love for running didn't let anything stop her, not even breast cancer. Karen paced me and we finished the Marin Marathon in 5:52:50. Thank you Karen, you are my "She-ro"









What I love about my journey to Guinness is that God puts amazing people in my life, even if it's just for a moment.

Within our Dreams and Aspirations we find our opportunities.
Sugar Ray Leonard, Boxer

Keep Believing,
Yolanda "Walking Diva"

http://www.dirtyredgear.com/
http://www.charliealewineracing.com/
http://www.marinmarathon.com/
http://www.laketahoemarathon.com/

1 comment:

  1. You're awesome, Yolanda! I had such a great time yesterday getting to race with you and the rest of the 6-hour crew. I see you got the picture of that beautiful garden on the way back. I'm going to keep following your story, and I wish you all the best on your quest to Guinness.

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