Bay Breeze Half Marathon (February)

So my 2012 goal includes doing a half marathon every month for a total of 12 half marathons in 2012! Sounds great huh? I have a reason that I set that as a goal that I still haven't blogged about and every time I think about blogging about it I lose the nerve - I will get to that blog post - I promise! So back to Bay Breeze Half Marathon! Brazen Racing puts on some great races and they have some awesome medals! We woke up bring and early to drive to San Leandro and I was excited to be in the bay area again! I LOVE the bay area!!

I had been following a blog about a guy that is in the Marathon Maniacs and his quest last year was to achieve the highest level in that group - Titanium - by doing 52 full marathons in 52 weeks! He goes by the name Endorphin Dude! I "ran" into" him at the finish of Tinkerbell and very briefly introduced myself to him, I so wanted to talk and share stories, but he was going one way and I was going another and I figured I would end up seeing him at another race. I heard he was going to be running Bay breeze and I was so excited!

At the start line a group of Half Fanatics were going to take a group picture and since this was the race that would qualify me as a half fanatic and I would join after the race was over I got to be in the picture! I met a ton of people in a very short time and they were all so welcoming and nice!

The race starts and Endorphin dude whips out his camera and start taking pics! He is saying hi to everyone and his enthusiasm is infectious! The course starts at a park and heads out to the trail which is so beautiful and in sight of the water at all times. Now when I say in sight of the water what I really mean is one wrong step and you are off the trail *into* the water. On some parts of the trail there was water on both sides of you! It was so pretty!!

Front of the packers coming back at us!At the turnaround point!So pretty! Aquarium on the way back to the finish!

I decided to take the opportunity to talk to Endorphin Dude (AKA Tony) so we settled into a comfortable pace and we talked about racing, health, losing weight, our families, budgets, the half fanatics, the friends we have made because we run, the friends we don't have any more because we run and just about anything and everything else! The one thing about Tony that you don't fully understand from his blog is he is so genuine and down to earth. The next thing about Tony is he is so encouraging! He believes in you the moment he meets you and can pretty much talk you into doing anything! It turns out Tony is a "normal" guy - a mid to back of the packer just like me and someone I could really relate to! We ran together for 8 miles before he fell back to provide support to some other Half Fanatics behind us. I finished this race with a renewed love of running and a shot in the arm of enthusiasm for the sport!

Another good thing about Brazen Racing - the photographers are all volunteers and they put the pics they take on a photo sharing site and they are free!

Hamming it up for the camera! - Side note - the person in blue behind us is Christa - a former Sacfitter that I run into at a lot of races!

The bling!

So after the race I submitted my application to the Half Fanatics and was accepted (As if there was any doubt!) - I am now Half Fanatic #1936! I'm currently moon level 2 (Uranus *snicker*) with plans to move up to level 4 sometime in June!