Tag: Big sur international marathon

Long Walk, finale!

This marker let us know we had 1 mile to go (mile 20 for us 21-milers). Our feet were ready to stop walking in spite of all the fun.

2/10ths of a mile remaining as we crossed the Carmel Creek Bridge! We were really pouring it on in terms of speed, knowing we were going to reach our goal of 5-1/2 hours for the 21 miles!

This was our first view of the finish line.

The only time I ran (besides passing folks) was when I saw Michael on the sidelines! Nancy and I finished in 5 hours, 34 minutes, which translated to a 15.5 minute mile. This was our best time in any of our training walks together! It is quite amazing what momentum and adrenaline (plus training at a higher elevation) can do for one’s time!

After the walk, Michael and I retired to the beach at Asilomar. The sand and the cold water were exactly what my feet required. That’s my medal on my shoulder. (Yes, of course I knit at the beach! Doesn’t everyone??)

Poor Michael – the walk really wore him out!

Big sur international marathon First Saturday three Rivers

Long Walk, part 3

Remember, today is First Saturday in Three Rivers!

There were peculiar sights along Highway One throughout our 21 Mile Power Walk. Check out these Shetland ponies!

And this guy with his old car, synthesizer/keyboard thing, and 2 flags, one that I did not recognize:

The views continued to be almost breathtaking (perhaps if we hadn’t been in such good shape they might have taken our breath away!)

The Carmel monastery is beautiful! Nancy went to Mass there the night before the walk and said it was jam-packed full of people. She also said it was as beautiful on the inside as on the outside.

Big sur international marathon First Saturday three Rivers

Long Walk, part 2

Because Nancy and I trained on the Mineral King Road, North Fork and South Fork, the dreaded Hurricane Hill wasn’t very hard to us! The reward at the end of that hill is the Bixby Bridge, which looks like the larger brother of my favorite bridge, and it was such a treat to march across it to live piano music. (They must have the world’s best sound system attached to that piano!) We heard the Charlie Brown theme and then Piano Man – just about made us both cry!

Big sur international marathon

A Long Walk

The Big Sur 21 Mile Power Walk was on Sunday. The weather was perfect, and Nancy and I walked faster (and further) than in any of our training walks. The hardest part of walking 21 miles was the training, not the actual event. What a beautiful walk! Because there are so many photos, I’ll post them thumbnail size and if you want to see them larger, click on them and they’ll get bigger for you.

Predawn gathering at Andrew Molera State Park, 21 miles south of the Carmel finish line.

We started slowly, to avoid early burn-out (the dreaded “wall”) and because it was crowded!

As the sun rose over the hills on our right, it shone on the waves on our left.

Can’t remember why I took this photo.

The mile marker signs were fabulous! This was mile 4 for us 21-mile walkers, but mile 9 for the marathoners. The next mile was where the leader of the marathoners caught up to us – incredibly fast and strong, and way out in front of anyone else – he was a blur so I didn’t get his bib # to later learn if he was the winner, but he HAD to be the winner!

The views were fabulous. Looks like this will be a long story about the Long Walk, so it will be continued tomorrow!