Nearly all of the CFC Half-Marathon participants

Sunday morning, way too early. Thousands of runners are preparing for our local marathon/half marathon race, and Champion Factory was out in force. A big group of our San Diego and Los Angeles contingent had gathered for this mid-January hit out – and perhaps just as importantly, the promised post race tacos from our resident foodie, Gabe Lara.

Coach KT had been in Australia for some weeks now so the huge drop in temperature was a shock, as was the jet-lagged early morning wake up. So nice to catch up with team mates while standing in a starting corral towards the front of the pack. Gabe, Lynne, Andres, and friends Molly, Lynn and Greg were also nearby. Gabe had been putting in some solid winter training and was excited to represent the black and green, Lynne was sporting a very summery Kona-inspired CFC race singlet and definitely looked the part!

Our fit couple Greg and Lindsay were backing up their ultra distance racing by doing the half together, well kind of together, except that Lindsay whooped Greg’s behind! Perhaps the haste was to get back to their lovely accommodations chosen for the weekend and a little pool time/drinks in the afternoon??

Amber made her half-marathon debut on daughter Ava’s birthday coming in just under two hours! Ava was as delighted with the finishers medal as she was any other b’day gift, and Amber had the support of not only us, but parents, family friends and in-laws out from Australia.

Needless to say it was a big day for head coach Pete Coulson who loved zipping around the course looking for all of us. Him and Matt Hoffman were everywhere

I think this day jolted us all back into racing mode, knowing our next team hit-out is only weeks away now in Palm Springs. Lenny is back on program with more ironmans in his sight for 2015; and our newest addition Rusty also got his intro to what the year will look like. Lynne, as always, was on the top spot in her age-group with a winning time of 1:34; and Andres led the CFC pack by a minute or so from Gabe who had an outstanding hour thirty finish. A few race thoughts from Gabe:

“The day was a bit cloudy to start, and perfectly cool for a good race.
Left with the 1:30 pace group, and decided to stick it out with them to
see how I’d feel. Had plenty of confidence due to my training Pete laid
out for me leading up to the race, and it really allowed me to shine with
my performance.
Course was really beautiful along the beach. Was nice to check the surf
along the way out and to take your mind off the run was a bonus!
Stoked to enjoy a good day out with the CFC crew on such a fun and
challenging course.”

But where are the pics of the tacos/burritos? Next time for sure . . .