This year Connie did better than ever, finishing in just over an hour, which was her best time ever. I finished in 58 minutes. That was a little less than a minute slower than I ran last year. Last year was my record so far. I am a bit disappointed in myself for not beating my personal best. There’s always next year. As it turns out, mayor Gavin Newsom ran the race in 60:03, so I beat the mayor, and Connie came in right after him. I didn’t spot him at the finish, but there is a lot going on at this race.
Along the race path, there are a couple of areas where scaffolds are set up and photographers take pictures from above. If the pictures look like we are really hauling, I’ll let you in on a little secret. Over the years, Connie and I have developed a strategy when it comes to race photos. We look around for the most physically fit person running ahead of us and zip over to run near them. We also run extra fast, and try to show good running form.
It’s just for a few seconds, so it won’t kill us.
This new technique comes in handy for our self-esteem. Too many times we have finished thinking we really ran nicely, until we saw the pictures of us running flatfooted next to Grandma Moses, and an old toothless man with a walker. Now we just make a beeline for Wonder Woman, or Sam Studly and let the camera work it’s magic! We don’t run any better that way, but damn do we look good!
