The Oakland Marathon

The leader at mile three.
Not a crime scene... it's the Oakland Marathon!

This past weekend just happened to be filled with a bunch of running. Sunday was the inaugural Oakland Marathon and Running Festival. It was a whole weekend event, but the Marathon was Sunday morning. I was pretty stoked checking out the route... it started Downtown, went through Temescal (my neighborhood, on the same block as me), Rockridge, up along the base of the foothills, and then through, well, less desirable areas south and then back up to Lake Merrit and finishing downtown again. 

I was suprised to see how many supporters showed up at 7:30AM along the course. I ended up volunteering at the mile 3 water station for a bit. What make's someone hang out and watch people run by? It was the sense of community that this event brought to Oakland. Often "misunderstood," Oakland residents have great pride in their community, and the Marathon was no different. Watching the leaders run by was sorta anti-climatic. They're dedicated athletes who have trained hard for this event and are simply "executing." This is a very different mentality and experience than the average Joe or Jill who is doing this for the first time. Two and a half hours after starting, the leaders will cross the finish line standing, drink some water, and then start doing interviews. At that same time, the average marathoner hasn't even crossed the half-way point. I think it's pretty impressive for someone to be out there for four to six hours pounding the pavement... not something I think I could (or want) to handle. So, congratulations to all the participants or the Oakland Marathon!

Redwood Regional Park... and yes, it's still Oakland

Although I've been to it a few times over the past year, I'm just starting to experience the unique splendor of Redwood Regional Park here in Oakland. Hard to believe it's only seven miles from where I live, this park at the top of the Oakland hills feels incredibly remote. The main attraction is an eight mile "fireroad" loop, but the appreciation comes from exploring the singletrack trails that are off the beaten path. In my opinion, there is a lot of technical terrain to be found, with lots of up and down with uneven footing and tight space. My favorit trail is the French Trail (most technical). The past couple of weeks I've found myself here trail running. I'm not much of a runner (although I was a triathlon geek a decade ago!), but the great NorCal weather has been inspiring. Actually, I kinda hate running because of the beating my feet take... but I do appreciate the environment (trail aspect) and exertion (workout). Not sure how long this "kick" will last, but it's nice to just get out and turn my mind off.

Spring Fevor at Squaw

Tahoe is in some desperate need of snow, but that didn't stop me from heading up there to meet up with my good buddy AB and Desiree. AB was only in the country for about a week before heading off to guide his second season on Mt. Everest, so we thought it appropriate to meet up for the weekend. He had just been in France guiding for over a month, so these boney Tahoe conditions made for more of a social weekend than shred weekend. With conditions pretty bright and sunny, the morning was bullet hard ice which turned into spring slush in the afternoon. To kick off the spring weather, Monster energy drinks hosted a "pool party" at the top of the cable car lift "lagoon" and that was a whole lot more fun than than we thought. Glad we had the foresight to wear swim suits under our riding clothes "just in case." 'Cause you never can tell when you're gonna run into a pool party.

Schooled at Kirkwood

Following Jim into the abyss
Zellers and me
Me, Jimmy Hopper and Hailey Caruso
C-leb, Jim , and Heidi Wirtz in the back about the drop in

I was fortunate to land a three day "work" trip to Kirkwood. Not only was it three days of riding, but it was lead by Jim Zellers, Tahoe hardman who has been shredding since before the word shred was used in boarding. Also, my boy Caleb (aka, Bustah Brown, C-leb, C-liberace, Caleb Brown the Grumpy clown) was there with Jimmy Hopper, charging their way down the hill. On day two, school was in session as Jim pushed me out of my comfort zone, which I'm way psyched that he did. Day three we woke up to fresh powder... a great way to end the trip!