Ran the Conejo Valley YMCA Turkey Day Dash Today in Thousand Oaks

Conejo Valley Guide helped get the word out about today's 9th Annual Conejo Valley YMCA Turkey Day Dash 5K and Kids Fun Run today and I heard the race had a PR of over 2,600 registrants. So as has been typical for me I chose to run the 5K today along with my son without having done any particular training for it. This is becoming the norm for me but it was fun.

On Veterans Day, November 11th, I decided to change up my 20 minute gym routine and work out in the morning instead of my normal early evening workout. Well, my lower back didn't agree with the change and decided to complain with a spasm. That spasm threw my back out for the entire week. With the help of my chiropractor, I was able to run again by the 16th.

The week prior to that I was fighting a head cold that led me to pull out of the Calabasas Classic 5K on the 10th.  Today I had no excuse of a head cold or back spasm but I certainly wasn't in great shape for a 5K. I gave it my best, labored effort and used my only gear...slow. With labored effort, I wheezed to an 18:17, good enough for 20th overall and 2nd in age.

Thanks to the Conejo Valley Y for making such a nice event happen on Thanksgiving Day each year. They really do a great job and I highly recommend this family-friendly event. 15 year old Logan Beteta of Newbury Park High School took the overall honors in 16:08. Nicely done, Logan! The top female was 20 year old Logan McNally of Simi Valley in 18:40, good for 25th overall.

Maybe, just maybe, one of these days, I'll be prepared for a 5K. But regardless, I had a great Thanksgiving Day and I hope all three of you reading this did too!

Beautiful Day For the 5th Annual Malibu Marathon Today That I Didn't Run

Today was a perfect day for running a marathon, or any race or a run of any type today. Yet another sunny, yet not overly hot November day in Southern California.

While I wasn't at today's Malibu Marathon as I was last year, photographer Suzy Demeter was and she captured this colorful wave of half marathoners running on PCH between 8:30 a.m. and 9 a.m.

Today a course record was set by 34 year old George Kitonga in 2:35:10. A web search for Kitonga turns up he is originally from Kenya and has a marathon best time of 2:21:23 in winning the 2006 Memphis Marathon. The top 3 was rounded out by Ricardo Ramirez-Pacheco (age 42) in 2:37:01 and Shaun Maguire (age 27) in 2:37:50.

Jessica Stern (age 24) topped the women's field in 3:02:03, followed by Tammara Francis (age 31) in 3:11:00 and Stephanie Wurtz (age 31) in 3:12:29.

As for me, I've been battling a head cold that finally migrated to my chest, just in time for today's Calabasas Classic 5K that I signed up for like 10 months ago. While I actually feel fine, there's stuff in my chest that told me to back off 1 mile into the race. I was struggling to breathe so it just wasn't worth pushing through.

However, I didn't mind, as my son was running his 3rd 5K and I backed off my pace to see him run the final mile at a blistering pace to win his age group and set a personal best. My best race in the last 10 years!

Results From the 2nd Annual Marla Runyan Half Marathon on Sunday, October 20th

The 2nd Annual Marla Runyan Half Marathon took place on Sunday, October 20th. I ran the inaugural race last year and would have loved to run it again this year had my kids' activities not precluded me from doing so.

There were 243 finished in this year's event and top placing male finishers were Bradley Jones (36) of Camarillo in 1:19:45, Jose Lastre (29) of Oxnard in 1:23:46 and Greg Wondra (35) of Camarillo in 1:26:05. My 1:23:51 in last year's race got me 4th place last year but would theoretically have landed me one place higher in the 2nd annual event.

Top women finishers were Schatzi Sovich (46) of Ventura in 1:36:58, Rikako Takei (51) of Gardena in 1:37:31 and Jenny Loppnow (43) of Camarillo in 1:38:24. Wow, impressive showing by masters' runners in the women's race!

The oldest finisher in the half marathon was Ted Price Sr of Oxnard, who crossed the finish line in 2 hours, 30 minutes, 39 seconds. Nice job, Ted!

There was also a 5K event, where 37 year old Jesus Perez took top honors in 17:18. Not far behind was top femal finisher, Melissa Hernandez of Oxnard in 18:42 - that time got her 4th place overall in the race. A total of 220 runners and walkers completed the 5K.

Not a bad showing for this 2nd annual event, which benefits the Boy & Girls Club of Camarillo at www.bgccam.org. Hopefully we'll see a 3rd annual Marla Runyan Half Marathon in 2014 at www.camarillohalf.org.