Running, Riding, and a Bit of Both

2,000 runners started yesterday's Santa Barbara Half Marathon under a deep and wet marine layer. Mrs. Fanelli was hoping for a good time because this would be the first year in many that she wasn't coming off a recent marathon and feeling a bit burnt. Also looking to do well was my new team's boss, Todd Booth, who is one of the top runners in SB.

I think they both achieved their goals: Todd got 2nd place overall with a fast 1:14 (5:40 mile pace!) and Gina got 4th out of 106 women in her age group with a 1:36 time. Congrats to both Gina and Todd!

A couple celebrities did the half marathon on Saturday. Kristin Armstrong (ex of Lance) raced with a bunch of friends from Austin. She ran a 1:56, which is slower than she is capable of going, but she stuck with her posse. Apparently she gets out to SB pretty often and occasionally does some local running races. (BTW, Lance ran the NY (full) marathon today in 2:46.)

Also running the SB half on Saturday was Julie Foudy of USA womens soccer fame. Not sure what her connection to SB is exactly, but it was cool she was there.

A 5k was run in parallel with the half marathon and my son and I did that one, along with one of his friends from school.

I took a few pics and jerked some others from the interwebs (including from DJ's site and from Edhat).

The men's winner is a star runner at UCSB. Doesn't he look a lot like Steve Prefontaine in this picture?

The womens winner in 1:21 (6:15 mile pace!).

Todd ran comfortably in 2nd place the entire race.


Gina out on course at about mile 6.


These two were the early leaders in the 5k. The San Diego kid blew big time and lost a couple minutes to the SBAA guy.

And three of us were hanging about 10 seconds behind up to the half-way point. BTW, I don't know the etiquette about sharing pace in running races. I drafted these two for 1.5 miles into a slight headwind. Am I obligated to pull through? Anyway, when we hit the turn around, the guy with the UCSB shirt surged and dropped me and the other guy fell off even worse. (I finished 3rd in 18:33, which I can't complain about having not run fast in a few years.)

Brian's friend from school, Lauren, ran a good race to get 2nd place woman. She's 12 and can run a 6:20 mile!

And Brian ran the entire distance and set a PR. He's actually starting to enjoy running and is beginning to push himself a bit into that slightly uncomfortable, higher aerobic zone. Makes me really happy.


Julie Foudy posing for a picture with Lauren, who might just be her biggest fan!

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Did the Sunday Worlds today for the first time in a month or so. Glad people weren't hammering too hard. I love the ride when there's a big group of old-timers like today. Chris Hahn, Hans, Mark Mittermiller, Paul Thorson, Karl, Hecky, Johnny O... on and on, a bunch of bike-ridin' addicts!

Crappy camera phone pic from the regroup at top of Bates...

Interesting to hear some team switching news (maybe old news, but I've been out of touch)... D-Ramsey is leaving SuccessfulLiving and heading over to race with the Time Factory Team, specifically, the flavor of Erik Saunders group. Daniel, along with Jon Hamblen and Adam Hodges-Myerson will be mentors for the younger riders. And of course, he'll be teaming up with C-Walk when the two of them are in a race together.

Also, interesting to hear that Cody is signing with SuccessfulLiving. Should be a good move for him with a lot of opportunities just like this year with KGSN.

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After the ride, Gina and I headed over to Lake Casitas to watch some 'cross action. All I can say is, "Dang, those guys got skillz" ...the fluidity of the dismounts, barrier hops, and remounts was just beautiful to behold. I had delusions of doing 'cross but after seeing how good these guys are, it would be a joke. Do they have a joker race for guys and gals with no skillz?

I took a few pics...

Instructions from CBlackRide at the start of the elite race. There's some kind of season-long point series and Brent Prenzlow is leading it but he wasn't here today. Mark Noble is also high up but he wasn't racing since his clavicle is broken. The top dogs were Chance Noble and Mike Easter. Teammates Gary, Steve Smith, and Jamie Goldstein were also in the mix.


Chance flying over the barriers. Look at his elevation!

Mike Easter is really smooth, just like on the road.

From behind.

Gary looked good here too. I wanted him to show off and do a double bunny hop, but he didn't want to risk a face plant!

Chance and Mike Easter had ridden away from the group and a mano-y-mano battle was forming when, unfortunately, Chance flatted. He got a wheel but spent the rest of the race chasing. Mike won comfortably and Chance worked his way back up to 3rd.

Gary was going good in the top ten but a crash and some mechanical issues hampered him toward the end. Still, I was impressed. Steve Smith's race ended early when he wrapped his chain around his crank and front derailleur in some bizarre topological configuration that took 5 minutes to unwind. Jamie rode a good consistent race and looked comfortable the entire time, but was also taken out by a mechanical problem at the end.