Runners in the final stretch on North Santa Cruz Avenue. Felipe Buitrago photo.
As I sit here at my desk Monday morning, upper thighs aching and Achilles tendons begging for Advil, I keep asking myself “What were you thinking?”
My wife, who will be running a half marathon this weekend up in the Redwood Empire, casually asked me Friday if I wanted to run the Great Race with her on Sunday. What the heck, I thought. How hard could it possibly be to run four miles?
What I had forgotten was that I hadn’t run a race in nearly 15 years. Any running I have done since has been on a treadmill at a local health club. And even though I run the treadmill regularly, turns out it is a lot different than running on the street.
But pain aside, it was all worth it. The weather was perfect, the Los Gatos Rotary Club once again did a fabulous job organizing the event, and I finished 94th. Well, actually, that’s 94th in the Men’s 50-59 age division. Some guy named Michael Kennedy of Los Gatos edged me out in my age group by a mere 16 minutes, 14 seconds. How does someone in their ’50s run four miles in 23:58?
Fred Haubensak was the overall winner. The 43-year-old from Los Altos clocked in at 21:49. Ravi Garcia of Los Gatos was second overall at 22:03, winning the Young Men 14-18 division.
Mitchel Drew of Los Gatos finished 5th overall at 22:42, and Michael Kennedy of Los Gatos placed 15th overall at 23:38. Melinda Dinapoli of Saratoga was the overall female winner with a time of 23:40. Honor Fetherston was the top Los Gatos female finisher with a time of 26:57.
For complete race results, go to Great Race Results.
But regardless of whether you ran the four miles in 22 minutes, 39:52 like I did, or one hour-plus like the guy on stilts, the Great Race once again lived up to its name.
It truly is a race for everyone. There were those looking to break running records as well as just walkers, stroller-pushers, joggers with kids on their shoulders, and old men like me just out for a nice Sunday run.
Along the course on Highway 9, there were supporters cheering on all the runners. There was a group handing out chocolate chip cookies at the water station near La Hacienda Inn. Everyone had a smile on there face — well, almost everyone. The only folks who looked unhappy were local residents who had forgotten about the race and were trying to exit a side street only to find the road closed until all 1,500-plus runners had passed.
There was live music afterwards, with a pancake breakfast to support both the Rotary Club and the Los Gatos High School boys basketball team. There was water and oranges for all runners, and enough post-race booths to keep you busy for at least an hour.
And of course, there was the spotting of friends that you hadn’t seen in years.
The Great Race is the type of event that only Los Gatos does best.
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