Victorville River Walk Half Marathon-July 14, 2007 (Race #8)

Race Number 8: (California)
Ok, you have to bear with me for a moment. If you signed up for a race that had the title, “River Walk Half Marathon,” would you have not expected the following?
1. The race would be by a river
2. The term “walk” might suggest that you were going to run on a walking path.
3. You might assume that the “walking path” was a hard surface or at least a hard packed surface.

Well, as Gomer Pyle used to say, “Surprise, surprise, surprise!” The Victorville River Walk Half Marathon was run by a RIVER BED that was completely dry and has been dry for a million years! Additionally, SIX of the 13 miles were on the river walk which was all sand or loose dirt and would be GREAT for horses, large dogs (small ones would have sunk into the sand and never be seen again) and maybe camels!!!. If you are training for beach volleyball, I suppose you would have enjoyed this experience in mid-eighty degree heat, but this “not a volleyball player and never will be” guy (volleyball is for girls anyway) found the run to be a real painful experience. It was nearly the slowest race I have clocked and I could not get enough water in me or on me. The race medal was a cheesy one, bought from a catalog of running medals and did not even note the event name and date on it. My magic marker will have to help enshrine it for generations to come.

So much for a small town half in sunny Victorville, California. Oh, I forgot to mention that they actually ran out of water at the water stations at the latter part of the race! OH MY GOSH! They are lucky there was not a case or two of heat stroke.

Upon completion of the race I drove two hours to get my sore, browned body into the Pacific Ocean for the last time. I have spent two solid, special, and glorious weeks surfing (mostly boogie boarding) Hermosa, Manhattan, Newport, Dana Point and Doheny beaches. I needed to get in the water to wash away the sins of Victorville and the high desert. The cleansing was successful!

One major positive: It was my eighth race in eleven months! Only ninety-two races and twenty-two states to go!! Next race: The San Francisco Half Marathon over the Golden Gate Bridge on July 29th.