Zola, my favorite Brazilian Superfruit beverage company will be sponsoring the Emerald Race Across the Bay 12K on Sunday, March 15 in San Francisco and have graciously given us SIX free race entries to give-away to our readers. Now, you’ve run out of excuses (pun intended) - get off your butt and leave us your best/worst race story!
To enter for a chance to win, all you need to do is leave us a comment (with a valid email address) about your WORST/BEST race experience - whether its running, swimming, biking, inline skating, potato sacking or even racing to meet a deadline. Whatever it is, leave us a comment describing the experience and you’ll be entered for a chance to win.
We’ll pick six winners on Friday, March 6th at 12:00 pm PT and sent a notification via email.
**UPDATE**: Thanks to interest from the Adidas San Francisco Urban Run Group and Zola, we now have more FREE race entries to give-away so we’ve extended the deadline for comments from today until tomorrow at noon!
{ 13 comments… read them below or add one }
Worst race ever - my first half marathon. It’s the only time I’ve ever been tempted to quit running. It was hot (over 80 degrees), and they ran out of water. The course pictures of the beach were deceptive. Turns out it was all inland, on a course the military uses for boot camp. We never once saw the ocean. Good thing I kept it up because the half marathon is now my favorite race and I take every chance I get to run one!
Worst racing experience would have to be swimming, awkward age of 13 - the time when every mistake seems to be the end of the world. I had just started racing with goggles. I jumped off the block and upon hitting the water they came halfway off my face, making it virtually impossible to see.. and thus I missed the wall on my flip turn, looking like a complete idiot and landing me with last place!
I would like to say I have competed in a running race, but due to shin splints and a reactive knee, running is not most suited for me. However, if you are into running, triathlons, swimming races, etc., I recommend checking out an awesome fitness line called SkirtSports (www.skirtsports.com), which is the original creator of the women’s running skirt. For women, designed by women, these pieces are functional, yet fashionable and will put some sass into you step ;)
My worst race was the time that I did a 10k totally hungover. I had a friends bachelor party the night before, so I had to go.
I barely woke up in time that morning, threw on my running shoes, and headed out. After a couple miles, I was starting to really feel it. I passed a port-a-pottie but thought I wouldn’t let myself puke. Not even a half mile later, I was diving for the bushes.
A couple of other runners were really nice and helped me out… I was too embarrassed tell them the real reason I was sick, ha.
I felt way better after that though and I did finish. Didn’t exactly set a world record time though.:)
Worse race experience was the Bronx Half Marathon back in 2005. I ate some creamy pasta sauce the night before the race and my GI tract was having major issues. I consider that race to be a run from porta-potty to porta-potty to public restroom!
Best Race was running the Big Sur marathon with my brother-in-law. It was his first one and as rewarding for me as it was for him. It’s not often you get to spend about 4 hours chatting with an in-law. It probably consisted of 1/3 us talking to each other, 1/3 me talking and him fulling responding, and 1/3 me talking and him grunting single word utterances. For that last section, I wasn’t sure whether I was incredibly helpful or downright annoying. But, since his grunts were not fully intelligible, I just kept on talking. The best moment of the entire race was seeing the tears in his eyes as we ran down the finish shoot and he saw his wife (my sister) and daughter for the first time that day.
Worst race can be summed up in two words: Indian Food. Nuff said.
Best race… NYC Marathon. I had never been to NYC before and was so excited that I walked the entire day before, trying to see as much as I could, which was nothing. Manhattan isn’t like San Francisco, where you can basically walk anywhere to anywhere with good shoes and patience.
The next day I woke up (okay I didn’t really sleep… I rose from hours of stirring), jumped on the subway to see a handful of other early risers in running gear with bibs on, then took the Staton Island ferry to the start.
Then, you look around and there are tens of thousands of people, organized at multiple starts, speaking more languages than one likely ever hears at any one place at one time. Seriously, runners come from China, Japan, eastern and western Europe… everywhere. And right before the start, everyone starts ripping off their clothes and throwing them into the air. The energy is ridiculous and the track jackets and break away pants are everywhere.
The NYC marathon course is incredible. It covers the 5 boroughs, 5 bridges and you literally watch the crowds change completely by the mile. The diversity and energy of the 2MM spectators (yeah 2 MILLION, packed 5 or 10 deep, yelling Go RYAN, thanks to a sticker with my name on it on my chest, for 26.2 entire miles) is beyond words. The only quiet time in the race is on the bridges.
NY wasn’t just one of my best races. It was one of the best experiences of my entire life.
Worst race story was last year during the relay our team thought it was a good idea to drink slim-fast after our first leg. Lets just say it did not make for a happy night (one bathroom to share…) or second leg in the morning. Best race story was running my first trail race (Mt Tam) the beautiful views of Marin made me fall in love more with San Francisco.
In highschool, I had amazing hair. Long, wild ringlets that fell right to the small of my back. Like most fourteen year old girls I was competitive, cocky and totally boy crazy.
During that time of my life I was a distance track and field runner. I remember being at a track meet at the start line of the mile race. I was putting my long locks into a big pony tail when I noticed a group of three cute boys checking me out. Right before the gun cracked for the start, I turned my head, gave a sly sideways smile and said something outlandish like, “hey boys, this one’s for you”
And then the race began, my little nike spiked feet pounding out each step of the race. As my feet ran one race, my mind started another. “Who are those guys, I’ve never met them before?” “They are cute, maybe one of them will ask me out.” “Hell, if I pull off this race, maybe I’ll get a date to prom…prom! As a freshman! I’ll be the talk of the whole school!”
Before I knew it, I was inching my way to the head of the pack at the last lap. My lungs, legs, and body were burning and I was across the finish line with a personal record time and a pretty ribbon to take home.
But the glory of the successful race was overshadowed by how much I was hurting. I was thinking so much about those cute guys I wasn’t really thinking about conserving my energy for the first couple laps, and just ran fast and hard for all four laps on a hot Sacramento afternoon.
I sat in the bleachers with my mom and grandma and tried to cool down, taking small sips of water, and trying to slow my breathing. And then I saw them approaching me, the cute boys from the start line. The world started getting fuzzy, my heart started racing, my vision got blurry. And right as the words, “hey girl, nice run.” Escaped from the first cute boy lips I vomited everywhere. On the bleachers, on my nike spikes, and all in my long wild, amazing hair. My hair was in my face but I peeked out through my ringlets just long enough to see the most horrified look of disgust on my cute boys’ faces before they turned and walked away.
I never saw those boys again, and I did not go to prom that year.
I don’t think I can compete with the everyone else’s stories! I haven’t raced since high school swim team, so I’m going to share my vicarious experience of someone else’s race. I was part of Jamie’s crew during her first ultra-marathon, which was up along the Dick Collins firetrail - aka some of the most beautiful scenery you’ve ever seen. Driving along the hills, with spectacular views of the bay and SF was one of the most incredible experiences - plus, I was totally amazed that Jamie was RUNNING all this distance! She finished first in her age group, naturally. I was incredibly proud and excited to see her cross the finish line after 50 miles - and, not gonna lie, the bbq after was a nice perk!
Best race experience was 2005 Bridge to Bridge 12k. That was the first and only time in my life that I’ve run a sub-8mm pace for a race, including 5k’s. I’ve still been running, but due to repeated plantar injuries and weight lifting, the extra 15 pounds I’ve put on since then has made quite me a bit slower. Therefore, as of right now I’ve decided to change my goal from repeating that sub-8mm performance to merely gaining entry into the Paul Sloan Clydesdale category of the Across the Bay 12k. I’m only five pounds from my goal, so maybe if I eat a lot this week, I have a shot! And it won’t be granola. I’ll save that for after the race.
Getting chased & attacked by a Goat that escaped from a nearby farm during a race!
Apart from running track in high school, I only have one competitive race story since I just ran my first real race a month or so ago.
On Feb 21, I ran the Kaiser Permanente Half Marathon. I am not great at training; I just don’t have the discipline for it. I pretty much just run whatever I feel like seems appropriate on that day, which is probably why I had to drop out of the marathon I was originally training for and just do a half marathon.
For my half marathon I decided to see how beneficial sticking to a schedule and listening to a trainer would be. Luckily enough, the head coach for the Pamakid Runners Club, Andy Chan, is also a coach at the high school I teach at. He started giving me training tips, and as the race approached, he started to send me daily motivational e-mails. The greatest thing Andy did for me though was to share with me his experience for running the race. Having never done anything like this before, he told me what to do during in each section of the race, when to take it easy, when to push it, how to use the hills, etc. The thing that I remembered most though was how he stressed that I should focus on passing people during the last third of the race. He said it would be hard, but I would have to force myself to do it.
On race day, when I finally got to the last third of the race, my body and mind were just about to give out. I could not believe that I still had a third of the race to run. At that moment, I did what Andy told me to do. I focused on the person in front of me and tried to pass them. Whoever was directly in front of me was my target, and one by one I picked them off. This took my mind off how far I still needed to run and turned the last part of the race into smaller more manageable goals. Had I not been focused on passing people, I might have given up either mentally or physically. Plus, the fact that I was trying to pass people helped me keep my pace up. Not only did I finish the race strong, but I ended up running an average of 8 min and 10 sec miles, which is a heck of a lot faster than the 9 min miles I had been running while I was training.
So having a trainer and sticking to a schedule is a good thing. Who would have guessed?
As a side note, one of my friends has been raving about Zola for years. I did not drink any Zola before my half marathon, but I have used it when I have gone snowboarding and rock climbing, and it really is amazing.
I have always been frightfully clumsy. I have fallen without warning in countless scenarios – on my way to work, on my way to class, in a fancy dress that has ripped subsequent to falling, in my Birkenstocks, on first dates, etc. Sports are no exception to this rule- therefore, I spent my formative years believing that I am and never will be a person you would call “athletic”.
I had to preface my best race story with that because otherwise, one would not understand what the sport of running has helped me achieve. Only last year, I signed up for and ran my first half marathon. The race morning was not atypical. I stretched a little, ate a little breakfast, ran to the starting line because I was late. The race itself also felt like no big deal. I paced myself, ran with a few dudes, passed a few others, picked up the pace for the last few miles, and collapsed at the finish line. The unique part of the race is that the ribbon I received at the finish line was blue. I won the race (for my age group). I had no idea my body was capable of such a feat. The same body that is capable of collapsing without warning is also capable of running fast. I truly had no idea. It made me feel so… athletic.