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!
