San Diego Half Marathon: A Challenge for 50

Typically, I prefer to do races in cities other than the one I live in. When I train, I don't believe in training on a treadmill or on a track; races are held outdoors, and that's exactly where I like to train. To have a race over the roads that I train everyday seems somewhat boring, but this year, I have decided to break with tradition. On March 9, 2014, starting in Petco Park, I will be doing the San Diego Half Marathon and hoping to achieve a personal best in honor of my impending (yikes) 50th birthday. When I turned 30, I was living in Indiana, and my family took me to Chi Chi's, a "Mexican" restaurant (the quotes are intentional). I remember all the waitstaff coming out to sing "Happy Birthday" and dumping a huge sombrero on my head. I also remember thinking, "Is this what 30 is about?" Once I recovered from that (5 years later), I felt my life start to hum again. When it came time to turn the next corner and hit 40, I decided to take life (and my celebration) by the horns and face it head on. The 40s have been a blast, and I fully intend to make the 50s even better, starting with this race.

Here's the course: along the way, runners pass the Broadway Pier:



Harbor Drive/Harbor Island and The San Diego Airport:



Coming back, Liberty Station in Point Loma and up through Mission Hills, which is known for its beautiful Mission/Arts & Crafts-style homes and gardens:





Next along the line is Hillcrest, home to many unique restaurants and shops:



And then past the jewel of San Diego, Balboa Park:



With a tremendous finish (I hope) through the Gaslamp Arch:



As far as scenery goes, I really can't complain.

See more vintage & current San Diego photos on my main website.

Traveling Thursdays: Poltergeist...The REAL Story

I think cemeteries are great places to visit; you can honor the dead, learn some history, and with the older ones, appreciate the art of the tombstones. One of the saddest cemeteries to me is this one in Mission Hills. Formerly known as Calvary Cemetery, it became the victim of vandals back in the 1960’s. By the 1970’s, the city made the decision to remove all the tombstones, leave the bodies, and dump all the headstones into a ravine, save for a handful that were deemed historically significant. Hard to believe? Well, it’s true. If you visit the area today, it is called Pioneer Park and unsuspecting kiddies cavort over the bumpy terrain. Yes...bumpy. Just like something out of the movie “Poltergeist.”



Here you can see at the very back of the park are the remaining headstones; I would have loved to have heard the City of San Diego playing “eenie-meenie-minie-moe” as they attempted to determine which tombstones to keep and which ones to remove.



A marker was placed in the ground with the names of all those buried below; I guarantee you that the majority of people who use this area don’t even notice this marker...and even if they do, probably don't realize what it means. “I play over dead people!”



Here are a few creepy shots I took the other night:





Fortunately, my great-grandfather’s headstone was rescued at the last minute from the dump and is now at the Lemon Grove Historical Society Museum.



The City of San Diego’s justification was that all the families were notified. Bull#$%^. I’d like to think that something like this wouldn’t happen today...

See more cemetery photos at my website.

Poltergeist...The REAL Story

I think cemeteries are great places to visit; you can honor the dead, learn some history, and with the older ones, appreciate the art of the tombstones. One of the saddest cemeteries to me is this one in Mission Hills. Formerly known as Calvary Cemetery, it became the victim of vandals back in the 1960’s. By the 1970’s, the city made the decision to remove all the tombstones, leave the bodies, and dump all the headstones into a ravine, save for a handful that were deemed historically significant. Hard to believe? Well, it’s true. If you visit the area today, it is called Pioneer Park and unsuspecting kiddies cavort over the bumpy terrain. Just like something out of the movie “Poltergeist.” Fortunately, my great-grandfather’s headstone was rescued at the last minute from the dump. The city’s justification was that all the families were notified. Bull#$%^. I’d like to think that something like this wouldn’t happen today...



For more cemetery photos, visit my main website.