2012 America's Finest City Half Marathon Recap

This year, the America's Finest City (AFC) Half Marathon celebrated its 35th anniversary.  Since this is  was one of my favorite races in San Diego and many of my friends signed up for the Triple Crown I decided to join them. 

This is me with the Triple Crown medals in 2011

With some friends at the starting line in 2011

Saturday 18th - Expo

We arrived in San Diego from Portland (OR) on Friday night. We woke up early and went to the expo at around 10:00 am.  I was worried about traffic and the parking situation at the Harbor Island but it was not that bad after all.  I usually like spending my time at the expo but the tent was really hot and the a/c was off. We just went in and out in a matter of 5 minutes. My new expo PR! :)

Sunday 19th - Race Day

The official starting time was 7:00am. We left our home at 4:30am and drove to the San Diego Zoo where we parked at 5:30 am. It was busy. We were on the bus on the way to the starting line few minutes later. We arrived at the Cabrillo National Monument Park with 45 minutes to spare. We meet our friends Edward, Haruki, Jen, Ken, Kerri and took some pictures.

There are no corrals in this race. At 7:00am the gun went off. 

Photo Credit: AFC FB Page

The first three miles were rolling hills. The sun was already UP. What happened to our marine layer? Oh noo!  I was running at a  8:45 min/mile pace. I was feeling good. Then came mile 4, all downhill. Fantastic! I was able to keep up all the way to mile 6, the entrance of Harbor Island. By then, I was melting. It was too HOT! On top of that, there was no water to be found. The stations ran out of cups first and then out of water. Grgrgr, I should have know better after the RnR Las Vegas fiasco. I MUST run with water bottles from now on. 

I saw a couple of familiar faces from West Coast Road Runners, 2 guys screamed my name " Go Ciry!" hahaha I am famous!  In Harbor Island, I enjoyed the nice Rain Forest showers, always located between mile 7-8.  They also have free grilled cheeseburgers for the runners. Since I don't eat cheese nor burgers, I passed. 

Photo Credit: Bob Betancourt

From Harbor Island, we headed to San Diego downtown passing Pacific Highway and the famous Star of India. 

Photo Credit: Bob Betancourt

Soon after we reached the infamous hilly 6th Avenue. The heat was killing me once again. I ran and walked and ran and walked and ran and walked ... for a whole mile and a half. Unbelievable! I was exhausted.  I don't know the exact temperature but it felt like 100 degrees. At the top of the hill was the entrance to Balboa park. As soon as we reached it, I ran as fast as I could but there was only less than a mile left so there was not that much I could do. I finished 10 minutes slower than last year making this my personal worse this year :( Still, I am not completely disappointed considering all the conditions ( the heat, the lack of water and the fact that I just arrived from vacation the day before). 

Everyone I know arrived at the finish line physically exhausted and injury-free. Proud moment for the Triple Crowners and all the finishers! BIG congrats to my friend Edward. He finished in 1 hr 34 minutes, 24 minutes faster than last year. Very happy!

For more information about this race ( course route, elevation, etc...) check out my 2011 AFC Half Recap