BFFL Best Friends For Life

Father's Day - I am always asked what do you want to do for Father's Day? My first choice would be to run a race. My second choice would be to participate in an open coed division race with a strong possibility of winning. So, what did I do for Father's Day? I ran in the Presidio Relay 20k relay!

Burlingame Track Club entered this event last year, and there was talk about not running it this year, but cooler heads prevailed and we put together the same team that won it last year - Lesley,(who also blogged about this race) Christine, Mark and I. The feeling this year just wasn't right as I know I am still feeling the lingering effects of a very poor Boston Marathon, Mark hasn't been training his usual routine, and both gals were a bit nervous. But none the less, we decided to roll the dice and see how we would do. Bottom line, anytime you get into a group event anything can happen, and usually does.

Mark and I are creatures of habit, and we like to be early for everything, so we make arrangements for me to pick him up at 6:00 am to head to the city. My wife seemed puzzled on why we'd need to leave so early in the morning. I get accused all the time of making way too much noise when I get up, disrupting the entire household. And because of the ruckus, no one can fall back asleep. I woke up right at 5:00 am, tried to be as quiet as a mouse (didn't work) the cats immediately woke up looking for their early morning feeding. I open the cabinets and the stupid container is stuck - makes all kinds of noise as it pops open. I peak into the living room as my oldest has a friend sleeping over (camping in the living room floor!) They are both sound asleep so I dodge a bullet there.

I like to make a bit of espresso for the ride into the city and I can't find the flippin espresso maker! The previous night, I was told "Why don't you get up and lay everything out that you need, that way, you will not make any noise in the morning." I dismissed the suggestion, saying I will be quiet. Well, I wasn't planning on going on a hunting expedition searching for said coffee maker and I still didn't find it, so, I pulled out the old one and brewed up a cup.

5:55 am, I hit the road and pick Mark up. The ride into the city is pretty uneventful and we arrive at the Sports Basement right at 6:40 am. This year, the start and finish line is being set up in the parking lot of the store. I mentioned to Mark that the tangent to the finish line will be pretty sharp to hit the chute just right. We park and head inside the store, pick up our race bibs, and relay chip. We see Christine pulling in the parking lot, we head out to warm up a bit.

Lesley arrives and we are all set - the order this year will be based on how we all signed up. Lesley will go first, Christine second, I will run third and Mark will anchor.

We all line up at the start and Lesley is planning on pacing herself with her friend Sam who is also participating in the relay. the gun goes off and so does the group. We wanted to see how Lesley was pacing herself, so we headed out to the 2 mile marker. The sprinters came running by around 12 minutes then couple of other group of runners, then Lesley, looking calm and relaxed, came gliding by. We then jogged back to the relay exchange point as she was only 7 or so minutes from finishing.

Christine headed out and again, we repeated the routine and watched her cross the 2 mile marker. The team was right at 7 minute mile pace a little off from last year, but still looking strong and marvelous.

OK, my turn, and I head out. I remember a breeze in my face and immediately had bad flash backs to Boston in April, but the sun was out and the air was warm and no Vaseline on any part of my body, so I knew I would be ok. I didn't use my Garmin (the battery just conked out on me) but I knew my pace. I felt I was running ok, but when I came up to the first mile marker, I checked my watch and it said 7:00 - sheesh, I've run a faster pace on a half marathon! But I didn't worry about it. My goal was to run smooth, and to get as many road kills as possible.

There were many runners out there as Crissy Field is a popular locale, I would glance up when I saw a potential road kill and then scan for the bright orange velco strap around the ankles. When I would spot one, my pace quickened until they were behind me. I repeated this for a total of 6 times on the course and when I finally hit the chute to exchange with Mark, I felt I had a good run.

Mark does his usual nose to the grind stone, take no prisoners pace and blows away a bunch of people out there. We also meet him at the 2 mile marker and he's just cruising! We quickly make our way back to the finish line and witness Mark putting on the after burners just beating out someone from another team by a half of a second.

Our overall time was slower this year than last year, but we all had fun and that was the key. I figured we did well enough to at least place in the top three coed teams but wasn't too sure. We anxiously awaited the results to be posted and wow, 1st place for the second year in a row is the Burlingame Track Club! Damn, I was definitely impressed - even when we didn't have our best effort, we still managed to ink out another victory.

Around 10:00 or so, they handed out our medals and $25.00 gift certificates to Sports Basement. I really wanted to head back home, but when will I be back at Sport's Basement? Maybe next year again to defend our title? Sports Basement is like a budget REI in an old converted grocery store. The place is huge, but the pricing is similar to REI and not much of a discount. I looked and looked on what I could possibly purchase with only $25.00? Towards the very rear of the store, I stumbled upon soccer equipment so, I picked up a new set of shin guards and an ultimate Frisbees. Not bad for a Father's Day present.