New Year, Training, The Flu and The Camarillo Marathon

After some low key time over the holidays, I had a couple decent weekends of running in the new year. Unfortunately, it is 2 steps forward, 1 step back for me as I enter my 4th day of battling/recovering from a nasty flu. Sadly, the day I planned to get my flu shot the CVS store was out. Four days later it was back, but I got busy and didn't make it over there. A week passes by and I planned NEXT DAY to get my vaccination, but somehow I got nailed by it. I believe the culprit was at work. Arrghh.

The 3rd Camarillo Marathon took place on Sunday, January 6th. The Camarillo Marathon is currently the only marathon that is run entirely within Ventura County. The inaugural Camarillo Marathon in October 2010 had some serious shortcomings but over the last several years the race director seems determined to fix the issues.

This year the race was changed to a flat, 2 loop course, which makes logistics a lot easier for things like porta-potties, water stops, etc. According to Athlinks.com, there were only 94 finishers at this year's race, including 64 men and 30 women. That's about as small as they get. But the winning time of 2:40 by 42 year old Van McCarty was pretty impressive, especially considering he is a master's runner running completely alone, his nearest competitor 13 minutes behind at the finish. This was no fluke for Van, having won the much larger San Luis Obispo Marathon last April in 2:38.

Back to Camarillo, there were also 203 finishers in the half marathon and 72 in the 5K. The 96 marathon finishers oddly was exactly the same number that finished the 2012 event, although the average finishing time dropped from 4:44 to 4:27. That's a step in the right direction.

The 4th Annual Camarillo Marathon is planned for January 5, 2014. www.camarillomarathon.com