The ~2nd place woman at~14.5 miles. Carlsbad Marathon 2008. Update: I didn't catch her bib number, but #636 came in second and her bib seems to have a 6 at the end. So, maybe she came in second in the end.

Jesse ran his first road race today. Instead of my method, which would be to start with a 5k, then do a 10k, and then a half marathon etc., he went all out and started with a marathon. [For the record, I have done 5 km and 10 km races... would like to get up to a half marathon some day.] The race was in Carlsbad, and I went up there with him to do the driving and to cheer him on. I'll give away the ending--he finished in about 4 h 45 minutes, and even increased his pace after the 22 mile split and picked up extra speed heading towards the finish line. He didn't walk any of it. Awesome! He did say at the end that he wouldn't have been able to run even one more mile. Note for all photos: the all-white bibs are for half marathon runners, the light blue-gray bibs are the 7:30 am start marathon runners, the green bibs are for the 6:30 am start marathoners, and the orange bibs are for the 5:30 am marathoners.

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ssorchard > Female front runner at mile 13. The guy in blue was running with her... I saw them together still at mile ~20. Carlsbad Marathon 2008. Update: Diona Fulton (this runner) ended up winning the women's race.

ssorchard > Here comes Jesse! He was monkeying around a bit for the camera at mile 13, but he didn't seem quite as perky at the other places I saw him :-) He had recently pulled away from his pace group here. Carlsbad Marathon 2008

ssorchard > Jesse showing off. Carlsbad Marathon 2008

ssorchard > ~2nd elite female runner heading towards the 13 mile marker. Carlsbad Marathon 2008

ssorchard > Female front runner. Amazing legs. Carlsbad Marathon 2008

ssorchard > This guy started at 5:30 am, and was running with a large POW/MIA flag. Unfortunately, he didn't make it to the finish in time--as Jesse and I were driving away from the finish line, we saw him among the other re-directed runners (if they didn't get to a marker in good enough time, they were asked to leave the course and take the most direct route back to the finish). Carlsbad Marathon 2008

ssorchard > Another top female. Carlsbad Marathon 2008. Update: this runner came in 11th in the women's race.

ssorchard > Checking her pace at mile 13. Carlsbad Marathon 2008

ssorchard > The ~2nd place woman at~14.5 miles. Carlsbad Marathon 2008. Update: I didn't catch her bib number, but #636 came in second and her bib seems to have a 6 at the end. So, maybe she came in second in the end.

The ~2nd place woman at~14.5 miles. Carlsbad Marathon 2008. Update: I didn't catch her bib number, but #636 came in second and her bib seems to have a 6 at the end. So, maybe she came in second in the end.