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 The Great Race of Agoura Hills consists of 2 half marathons (1 trail, 1 road), a 10k, a 5k, a kids 1 mile, and a family fun run 1 mile. The Pacific Half Marathon (not the race I originally signed up for, I’ll explain in a minute) starts in at an Old West movie set and takes around the Santa Monica Mountains, pass 2 wineries, a lake, and gorgeous homes, finishing at Chumash Park. It’s a definite bucket list race.

The days before…

The Wednesday before the race I received an email saying that the Chesebro Half (half trail/half road) was cancelled due to the rain and everyone who registered for that race (me) were now moved to the Pacific Half (all road). Bummer! I was so looking forward to the challenge of 7 miles of trail running followed by 6 of road running. Oh well, it was probably a blessing in disguise. Either way the run was guaranteed to be beautiful, with it’s green hills and clear blue skies.

Thursday my husband and I made the hour drive to the Expo to pick up my bib because I love Expos and I didn’t want to worry about the possibility of long lines race morning. It was nice having company despite him constantly pointing out all the hills surrounding us. I get it, it’s hilly, stop reminding me! 😉 I even had to walk up a hill to the Expo! Yikes!

The Expo was what I consider a success. I got a bunch of free samples (love free stuff!), discounted clothes…my husband got some shorts for $20, and we both got new shoes for $5o each. I’ve been wanting to try Asics (I wear Saucony now) so I figured this was a perfect time to get a pair.

Race morning…

We got there with plenty of time to check a bag (something I don’t usually do, but my husband wasn’t there to bring me a jacket at the finish or carry my post race goodies so I took my chances) then we sat in the car to keep warm for a little while longer.

The race was as promised, beautiful and hilly. I’m pretty sure this was the hilliest race I have ever done…and I’ve ran San Francisco, Napa, Solvang and Temecula! My friend, Melinda, powered through every hill while I walked up most of them. She got ahead of me at the very beginning, weaving through the crowd then running up the first big hill from mile 2 to 3. I caught up with her on the downhill just in time for the next hill. We stayed together running up and down hills until about 7.5 miles when I walked up another big hill and took a Gu anticipating a water stop at mile 8. I lost Sol at the very start and didn’t see her again. Apparently she had issues with leg cramps and then her phone died and wasn’t able to text until she got to her hotel.

At around mile 12.5 we tackled the “last hill”.  Well I should hope so, or are they going to squeeze in one last hill before the finish line? (sarcasm)

You would think with all the walking I did I would’ve gotten some good pictures but no, unfortunately I didn’t.  You’ll have to take my word for it…it was beautiful. The weather was perfect for running the whole time. It took almost 3 miles for my hands to thaw but otherwise, perfect.

Post race…

My legs were sore! But I would do it again. It’s a strange addiction.

We went straight to the bag check to get our jackets because it was chilly, and low and behold, they couldn’t find my bag! After waiting for 10 or 15 minutes while they looked and seeing everyone else get theirs, they took my contact information and we left. Thank goodness Melinda had her car keys with her, but my phone charger and house keys were in the bag, not to mention our jackets. As we walked away they flagged me down waving my bag in the air. They were reading my number upside down, 1592 instead of 2651. An honest mistake. 

Time for pancakes and coffee! What a great treat after a grueling run. We decided all races should have pancakes and coffee. Both were hot and satisfying…now I could browse comfortably. We got some more free samples…have you ever tried coconut water? I have and never liked it but I took this one because it looked like it was watermelon flavored or some other yummy flavor. 

Was I ever wrong! This stuff tastes like dirty feet! Seriously! It tastes like you washed dirty socks and then bottled the water. It was awful! Smells just as bad too. Usually I smell things before I taste them but not this time. My mistake.

Overall…

I would highly recommend this race. There’s a reason it has been voted one of the best halfs in the nation. The Expo had lots of vendors with free stuff, the race was organized with plenty of volunteers (love volunteers!), post race pancakes was an added bonus and even with my bag check mishap, I had a great experience.

That’s a wrap…

                                                     I’m linking up with HoHo and Wendy for the weekly wrap.

Have you ever lost a bag at a race?       What was your hilliest race?

Do you love Expo’s too?        Do you like coconut water???

Thanks for reading! Until next time…

Keep Running!

                 Denise