The pictures are in, so now I can tell the rest of the story of this year's San Diego Half Marathon. The temperature was slightly cool when I arrived at the starting line at about 6:30am. The official start time for the race was 7:20am, and I was in Wave 2, which would begin approximately 1 minute and 45 seconds after that. I was nervous about 2 things; one was taken care of by a quick trip to the restroom inside of the Omni (note to self: never eat lasagna laden with mozzarella the night before a race) and the other was something I had no control over, which is the outdoor temperature. It was going to be a warm day, and I just wanted to start as soon as possible before the sun came out in full force. As you can see in the first photo, I was in a pretty good mood, excited to be doing a new race and excited to see how far all of my training would take me. I also had a number of coworkers who were running the race, too (thus the apparel).
Here's how it started: the first few minutes, I always wonder, "How the hell am I going to run 13 miles at this pace?" Then by about mile 1, I calm down and start to feel pretty good, as witnessed by this shot of me passing the Star of India Maritime Museum on Harbor Drive.
As the race wore on, the heat factor increased, and I began to wilt. By mile 8, I started seeing too many people pass me (never a good sign) and it really messed with my mind. I had a feeling that my goal time was slowly going down the drain.
After completing the worst hill of the course (and there were quite a few for this race), I saw the time at the 10 mile marker which showed I had been running for 1 hour and 30 minutes. Son of a bleeping bee-yotch. I realized that a personal best was impossible, and all I wanted to do was just stop and walk the last 3 miles. Fortunately, I trudged on and began to get my game back. Not enough to run 3 miles in 15 minutes, but enough to finish with a time of 1:56.12. I saw my assistant from work at the finish line; she had waited for me after completing the 5k. If you run, I am sure you understand how much it can help to see and hear somebody cheering you on. It definitely bolstered my spirits and helped me finish strong.
I was disappointed beyond belief not to achieve a personal best, but I was happy that despite the heat (which is my achilles heel when it comes to running), I came in respectably under 2 hours. And the worst part of the race? Having to climb a few flights of steps to pick up the after-race snacks and goody bag. Ouch, ouch, and double ouch.
Next up…maybe I'll do the SD Rock 'n Roll Half Marathon. Stay tuned…
Thanks to David over at Gorillas Don't Blog, I was reminded that Life Magazine had a number of shots of the Buckboard Wagons from when Disneyland first opened. Hmmm…looks like fun; can't imagine why they didn't last!
Driving through Frontierland, with Native Americans along the way, it looks like lots of fun! I don't get it?!?
Oh…now I get it.
I can imagine that there were very few guests who were excited about getting wet in this vehicle that provided very little (if any) protection from the elements along the way.
Obviously, not much testing occurred with this attraction before it opened! NOW I know why the buckboards didn't last long in the park.
See more Daveland photos from my collection on my main website.
5 comments:
That last picture you have of the Buckboard is pretty amazing, look at the deep water it just went through!
As I remember, the water splash from the buckboards was not an issue, least with most kids! What was an issue (for me) with the buckboard was the frigging other kids hanging on to me like there was no tomorrow! There was nothing to hang on to and brace yourself against on these - some tried to vie for the middle section of the board to brace themselves with others around them. Some thought an outside edge was a good option and hold onto the edge of the slats. Others who had zip strategy ahead planned out, were caught off guard and I remember getting my eye scratched bad when a little kid with long nails was flailing wildly next to me. These weren't there long and sometimes when I was there, they were not open for business and I never was sure why that was. I probably thought the horses needed a rest! In that first year or so that was not all that uncommon to hit the park and find something was in-op that day. I remember thinking these were pretty cool (if no one clawed me or grabbed hold of me like I was Superwoman and could keep 'em from fall off). I liked the lurch forward, the bouncing along and the TILT when it went up any little grade. I would try and lean toward the tilt downhill and test my skills at balance to the max! Only other issue I can think of with these (from a total kid perspective) was the driver played it too safe. They would holler out what was coming up and tell folks to lean this way or that. There was general hooping and hollaring on this wagon. I seem to recall sometimes there were guides who sat on the back with the 'paying' customers. I know this was one thing my mom/grands/friends parents would opt out of, giving the standard 'we will be right here when you get done - and a last knowing adult comment like 'have fun - be careful - don't fall out!'
I heard from a gal pal who I went to Disneyland a lot in the first years it was open - she seemed to think they installed some steel grab bars around the bed of these buckboards that were sort of horseshoe shape. That sort of sounds familiar to me. She was reminded they were uncomfortable if you had to straddle one or were leaning into one when the wagon got to bouncing. She also thought they at one point, had some wire or rope around the outside edges of the buckboard that was there just to grab onto - I don't recall those myself however. I do remember they went around and checked to make sure all the people on board were up into the wagon - you couldn't have your legs hanging off dangling. They wouldn't start up if anyone was not up on the bed and there was some direction about not letting anything 'hang off' during the ride or they would have to stop and you might not get to continue.
Thanks for the firsthand account, Beachgal - almost like being there!
Dave - I heard back from another old scout troop member who went to Disneyland a lot with me in the first 2 yrs - she recalled most everything I wrote about on the buckboards including the horseshoe grab things they put in that I only sort of remember. But she also said she was sort of afraid of the ride but didn't want to let it out to us friends about that of course - she tried to vie for a little cubby kind of seat at either side of the union between the buckboard bed and the raised seat for the driver - I remember that being a pretty secure place to sit and sort of think I remember they put kids there who were alone or real little so the driver could keep an eye on them - there might have been a seat up next to the driver too for one kid. This 2nd friend said she sat up next to the driver she thinks a few times.
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