2016 Los Angeles Marathon recap

Sunday, February 14, 2016 was the day of the 31st annual Los Angeles Marathon.  As always, the night before I laid out what I was going to wear as well as everything I was going to need for the race.

All the necessities!

The morning of the race I got up at 3:45am and was on the road to Santa Monica by 4:15am. I had opted to park near the finish and take the shuttle bus to the start at Dodger Stadium. Since I had stayed in Long Beach the night before it was an easy 30 minute drive to the parking area. The directions provided when I pre-paid for my parking were easy to follow so I had no trouble finding the parking lot or parking. 

As I walked across the parking lot I saw a huge line of people waiting for the buses but there had to have been at least 50 buses waiting so the line never stopped moving. 

After arriving at Dodger Stadium I found some of my Runners Lane team mates and we took a few pictures. 

These feet are ready to run!

We love LA!

Although it was crowded everything seemed organized. There were tents set up for pre-race refreshments. 

At about 7:00am we started merging into the corrals. 

A little arm candy from Momentum Jewelry to keep me motivated!

There were a few hills in the beginning of the race. 

Around Echo Park I passed some people giving out chili cheese dogs!  I didn't stop but I saw plenty of people that did. (I borrowed some pictures from Runners Lane since I didn't take very many on my own.)

As I was running I passed a few police officers running in full gear. It was getting pretty hot by this time. I don't know how they did it!  

I also saw several firemen running in gear. 

Around mile 22 I came to the Runners Lane support tent. I was happy to see them and happy for the COLD bottle of water I got. 

They snapped a few photos as I ran by. I didn't stop for too long since I only had a few miles left and I knew I was very close to finishing under my goal time. 

By this time my feet were hurting pretty bad but considering they hurt whether I ran or walked I figured the faster I finished the faster I could get off them so I kept running. 

As the finish line came in to view I glanced down at my watch and saw that I was so close to finishing under my goal time. I gave up my 1:1 intervals and just kept running. 

I ending up finishing in 5:59:19!  

I thought I was going to cry as I finished because I had definitely been emotional all week leading up to the race but honestly I was so happy to be done I accepted my medal and Mylar blanket, took a few photos and walked to my car. I didn't even check out the finish line festival. 

The medal is pretty cool. It's double sided and is Valentine's Day themed. 

I'm really happy that I picked the LA Marathon as my first marathon. The spectators definitely made the race for me. I don't think there was a spot along the whole 26.2 miles that didn't have people out watching, cheering, offering food, water or ice. The course was great. I loved running by all of the famous Los Angeles landmarks. 

I definitely plan to run another marathon someday but I think I want to be on the other side of things next year and come out and support and cheer on the runners. 

Did you run the LA Marthon this year?  How was your experience?  Let me know in the comments!