Salinas Valley Half
Marathon California 3rd Aug 2013
[Tue 27th Aug]
During my recent extended stay in the US, I was
fortunate enough to be staying the in the Monterey region of California which
is approximately 100 miles south of San Francisco. As I was planning this I
knew I needed to stay focused on the running whilst abroad (balancing out my
hamburger consumption) and quickly found this event about 30 miles away from
our location and what a great event it proved to be.
Salinas is very much the agricultural heartland of
this region and names itself the ‘Salad Bowl of the World’, and judging by the
sights and sounds during my brief visit I can only confirm this. Fields full of
crops as far as the eye can see and a certain level of ‘busy-ness’ and
‘industriousness’ at a level that you simple don’t see here in the UK. The
other key fact of this area is that it is home to a lot of wineries, and so
they have set their race theme around this. The SV half logo pictures grapes on
a vine, and for the most part the course they have chosen follows the path of those
vineyards.
The run is a linear event starting at an old mission
in Soledad, and then after a brief southbound effort, turning north to end up
at Pesagno Winery not too far from the town of Gonzales, both, quite frankly,
in the middle of nowhere. Unless you imported your support, there was very
little of it, unless you’d mastered the art of talking to grapes or lettuce in
the field. The scenery was most pleasant though with small mountain ranges to
both the east and west, which made the climate, surprisingly, quite British –
it was even ‘spitting’ before the race started!
Like all things American, the event was well
organised (or is that organiZed), easy to park, loads of portaloos (or
portapotties depending on your preference!), FREE coffee, and STARBUCKS at
that, as well as a choice of other drink and foods for nothing, yes thats right
nada, gratis, or thinking about it objectively, perhaps included in the £65
entry fee!!!! You think GNR etc has gone mad, US races are a lot more money
than we are used to.
Donned in my 2012 Olympics, Great
Britain, running shirt to ensure I flew the flag, I made my way to the start
with about another 8-900 people. A quick rendition of the Star Spangled Banner
by opera lady unknown, brought tears to the eyes of the oh-so patriotic Americans
whilst I shuffled a bit showing my polite appreciation with my GB top on show.
The local Radio guy from K Y Zee (or some such, I think I made that up), did a
great job rallying the runners, and we were quickly on our way.
What I had forgot to say was that due to a side trip
to Florida a few days before, some kind American had shared their head cold
with me on the flight over, so with my new gift of un-wellness I really
shouldn’t have been running a half mara, to be honest a parkrun would have been
a stretch. BUT, I had paid my £65 so I certainly wasn't going to miss it, even
if I had to crawl. I had seen the medal too, a fairly unique big shiny thing
with an integrated wine stopper in it, and only finishers got those, so to get
my hands on one, I had to run…
So run I did, the course was mainly a combination of
dusty track or worn out tarmac surface, all adjacent to those fields. Each
field even had a sign telling you what was growing so I was educated on the
types of wine as I progressed, I particularly enjoyed passing through the
‘Pinot Noir’ stage, but to be honest I think thats more of my taste speaking
here as it looked identical to ‘Chardonnay’ stage if you ignored the grape
colour (color???). The course had moderate undulations but nothing to cause concern
until about 5 and a half miles where you had to ascend 150 feet over a couple
of miles, nothing too hard core but that British-like weather had changed to
more of Californian Sun by this stage making it a little tougher
My goal was to keep in the 9′s and 10′s
inter dispersed with the odd walk, a zero pressure run which makes a really
positive change. I tried to engage a few fellow runners in brief discussion,
but for the most part they were quiet which I found unusual. I did occasionally
find the odd ‘gobshite’, but when I didn't have one to hand I just sucked up
the unique scenery and watched as Californian Highway Patrol on the motorbikes
cruised up and down the route to ensure our safety, it was like my own personal
episode of the eighties’ favourite CHiPs.
On course amenities were good, water, gatorade, and
good support at these points – otherwise nothing to report apart from the odd
random individual from a local farm dishing out ‘Ya’s’ and high fives to anyone
willing to receive them…..I even had a go myself, very un-British, but when in
Rome… 
Some military type was running with the largest US flag I have ever seen,
and he beat me, the shame….
Mile 12 had a strawberry stall, that was new, and at
this point I was speaking to a chap who was certainly fitter but noticeably
older than me (even if I do say so myself). He paid me the worst/ most
cack-handed complement I’ve ever had, we were both heading for a 2.15 finish
(remember I was ill!!), he told me I was doing great for an ‘Old, big guy’ !!!!
But he said it in a very genuine and sincere way, so I pushed on past him
bemused by such a statement, this was certainly one old big guy who was going
to beat his ass (local venacular)
As I made it to the final mile, quite a few
supporters had congregated and normal running support was resumed. A couple of
boos and ‘USA, USA’ were thrust at me quite aggressively, but for each of the
xenophobes there were ten or more inclusive and supportive people.
I rounded the corner towards the end, the PA
mentioned me and Bedlington by name, and I must admit I was thankful to finish
and get my then very sweaty hands on that cool medal.
A smorgasbord of goodies was at the finishing line,
forget the wine, I went straight for the chocolate milk!
A great event, unlikely to be repeated by me, but I
really couldn’t have timed my visit to the Monterey region better. With the
exception of the Big Sur Marathon down the road, Salinas must be one of the
better ones they have locally and I feel privileged that I got to experience
it.
Lee Simpson