snoop doggy dog

seems like forever since i ran any kind of race, huh?  i was kind of hoping i could do at least one per month again, but as i thought back i realized that i missed all of february.  the last run i did was on the very last day of january...d-oh!  but i have done 3 races so far this year, so i suppose it all evens out.

this weekend was the 10th anniversary of the coaster run at knott's berry farm.  while i certainly haven't run all ten years, this was my third year in a row.  and because i hadn't wanted to drive to buena park two days in a row (to pick up my race packet), i got up at the asscrack of dawn to score a decent parking spot and grab my bib and t-shirt.  with a start time of 7, i pulled into the parking lot right at 6am - of course, it was the very morning that the time changed, so that was extra fun.

and after going through the unorganized mess that was race morning packet pick-up, i'll go back to driving down the day before for future races.  the lines were long, only to find once i reached the front that a signed waiver was required to pick up my bib.  considering there was no signage nor any type of instructions anywhere for this, not to mention that we'd all electronically signed waivers upon registration, a lot of people were pissed off (including me, of course).  we had to stand in that line for ten minutes, go back and find the table with the waivers and pens that actually worked, and then stand in the line again for another ten minutes.  it was a pain in the ass, and the unfriendly and snarling volunteers at the desk were absolutely no help at all.

oh well.  i managed to get all of my stuff, take it back to the car, and head back up towards the start with plenty of time.

i found my friend mark up at the start line, doing what he does as a race announcer.  he's a great guy, full of energy and always happy and upbeat.

since i didn't remember submitting an estimated finish time, i wondered how they went about figuring out what corrals to assign to everyone.  i was stuck way back in wave #5, which kind of sucked.  there were tons of people up ahead of me.

right at 7, after the national anthem had been sung (beautifully, by someone i couldn't see from way back in corral 5), the first wave of runners was released.  there was a 3-minute gap between corrals, and then finally it was our turn.

the course is familiar to me by now.  first, we run through the parking lot:

and then we wind around a little and enter the park.  i want to take the bean to knott's for her first visit soon, maybe during spring break, so it was nice to get to run through the whole thing and get an idea of what there is for her to see and do.  and not do, as the case may be - like these:

mile 1, done!

i think my body is getting used to running again, because i've been feeling pretty good over the last few runs i've done.  this is great, considering i'm gearing up for two half marathons in the span of a month - a month from now.  yikes.

i was making pretty good time, and so when i came across the one and only character stop with lucy and linus, i knew i had plenty of time to stop for a quick photo op.

the sight of the charles schultz theater always makes me smile - the last time i was here, i was very very very pregnant with the bean.  i'd brought the teen and a friend for a day of fun, and i remember taking a really lovely nap in this air conditioned theater during the snoopy on ice show.  haha!

the course wound around through most of the park, and then took us back out towards the parking lots and past the famous chicken dinner restaurant.

one mile to go!

as i ran through the parking lot, i remembered a scary moment last year when a man collapsed to the ground at this very spot.  i wonder how he is now.  i hope he recovered quickly.

heading around to the entrance of soak city, we passed independence hall, a replica of the one in philadelphia.  they have some historical exhibits here and a little bit of education - maybe one day we'll take the girl scouts here for some learnin'.

water parks are weird without the actual water in them.

when i came upon the 5K/10K split, i knew i was almost done.

just a bit past that sign came the 3-mile marker.  yay!

the finish line was a lot closer than i'd expected.  according to my nike app, it wasn't a full 3.1 mile run - it was more like 3.06.

and don't you want a piece of boysenberry pie right after you finish a run, at 7:45 in the morning?

of course, if you didn't, there were other things to partake in.

a few finisher's pics, and then i was outta there.

super fun!  and now i have a coupon for half off admission.  looks like we'll be visiting snoopy in the very near future.