The Santa Anita 5K

 My  Run - Jim Manley's Personal View!
 

The Santa Anita 5K Run, April 9th at 8:00 am

We had thought about the Santa Anita run for weeks. Now it was April 9th and we were going to run it. It was early that day, about 5 am, and I was up. It was dark out but I couldn't stay asleep. Krista had said that she would take me to Tony's, where I would meet my fellow runners: three in particular: Tony Brundage, John Moore, and Kurt Vandervoot, all recently retired from Cal Poly, except for Kurt, who is a member of the Physics department.

So I could do my usual maneuvers to make the time go slower. These involve making my bed, doing my weight, and  going to the bathroom. So I did those, but it was still not time to go.

I started on making breakfast. I made steel cut oatmeal in a four-day "lumps", this was the first day, as we had gotten some steel-cut oats the day before. I got out my pan and measured two cups of oats into the pan and filled it to the brim with water from the Propur pitcher, and set it on the stove. Usually I set the timer for seven minutes and then reset the timer for 22 minutes. I did this today, and time was going a bit faster.

6:15 was the time to leave to go to Tony's house. I locked up the house and made for the car with Krista driving. It was a right onto Indian Hill and then a left onto 12th and just before Mountain, we saw them gathered at Tony's. Krista joked, "do you know these people?" And I said, "Sure do." There stood John Moore, and Kurt Vandervort! Tony came out of his house a few minutes later.

After a "Good-bye" kiss from Krista, and "remember to hydrate!" I settled into a half-hour's ride on the 210. Kurt was driving his Honda and Tony was in the back seat and John was in the front.

We left the 210 at Huntington Drive and proceeded to the Arboretum. We then went to the race track and entered through 4th or 5th Avenue, and we got excellent parking.

The "stalls" through which we entered the race were not far away. We took a picture of all four of us, with help from a female "taker". Tony took it on his camera.

But it was 7 o'clock, and 8 o'clock was the start of the race! So we went back to the car! We stayed until almost 8 o'clock. We bid "adieu" to Kurt, who was going to go much faster than we were!

Looking at the "stalls" we made appropriate moves as we headed up closer. The idea was to start at the gate as a horse would! We were people, running like horses!

I took some pictures of people up close in the crowd. Then it was "Go!" and we went through the stalls. I adjusted my Garmin watch to carefully time my race: 

The first part of the race was a parking lot! Finally, we got to the green spaces. John was gone, but Tony wasn't so I stuck with him. We finished the entire race together.

Now for the twists and turns. We crossed Baldwin Ave heading towards the race park. Then we did a right turn that got us into the park, essentially bisecting it. Then a left turn which put us on the actual horse's path. We were now horses!

Tony and I  were moving very fast in tandem until the end! When we crossed the finish line, I told him, "I'm glad I stuck with you." After 55 minutes, 27 seconds we were both across the line. Now to connect with the other members!

We were already in the middle of the park. We had to find a spot that looked good for meeting John and Kurt. We saw one, but it was the "exit." The "entrance" was on the right, so we went through there and saw Kurt looking for us and - Presto - he found us! He led us to the beer. We got a good Mango IPA. He led us around, and we saw John Moore. A nice table, beers, everything!

We've not been introduced to others at the table. One girl said "We must go to Easter Services!" Another man said, "I've got a horse here. He's number 6." A nice man from Georgia, I think.

So we got ready to leave. We remembered the "exit" and proceeded there. Then we heard, "Use the South exit, that will get you back to your car." We used the South exit, but it was a long walk back! We loitered in the lobby, and then walked outside where a "Seabiscuit" statue is situated, and then on and on in a Southerly direction to parking.

We headed "Rod's," which is not far from the track. We all got in the car, which seemed a much longer walk, but still not far from the "stalls." So we finally exited from the race track.

It was a short drive to Rod's. And we were easily accommodated. Tony was to my left, John on the right, and Kurt across from me. We ordered and I must say I wanted "The Big Winner." It is bacon and eggs, with sourdough toast. A little slip up on the eggs - I received them in a little bowl, they were poached! I really liked the bacon, however! There were five pieces there!

John was reminiscing over all the races. Santa Anita is his favorite. He talked about how it is the happiest of runners' favorites. When he played tennis, you were down when you lost, up when you won, but runners were happiest, always.  It's the endorphins!

I remember my first run, in 1987, I ran as John Moore! It was Chinatown by Dodger Stadium. I remember looking upwards and - for the life of me - not able to imagine ascending to the heights involved! But I did! Always!

So we were going to get back on the 210 and come back to Claremont. There is a lull that happens during this segment. It is filled with reminiscences from everyone, in the car. But I want to say to my colleagues, thank you for sharing this!