2014 Ventura Marathon and Beach Party Celebrate Record Success

In its second year, the Ventura Marathon and Beach Party reached record numbers, drawing over 3,200 participants from 34 states and nine countries.

Overall marathon winners were Dirian Lenin Bonilla who ran a 2:32:34 (5:49 per mile pace) and Bonnie Axman Keating who finished in 2:45:15 (6:18 pace).

The men’s half marathon was won by Westlake Village resident Sean Gildea who ran a 1:08:04 (5:12 pace.) The women’s half-marathon title was won by Allison Maxson in 1:15:57 (5:48 pace).

The 2014 event raised over $25,000 for local schools and charities including Pier Into The Future, the Humane Society of Ventura County, Autism Society Ventura County, Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation for Childhood Cancer, Max Cure Foundation, the Rotary Club of Ventura, and over one dozen local school groups and teams.

Race director Josh Spiker was particularly excited about the event's support of local charities and programs and gives thanks to the over 700 volunteers that made the event such a success.

The flat and fast course took runners and walkers through the cities of Ventura, Oxnard and Port Hueneme before culminating at the beachfront finish of the historic Ventura Pier.

The event included a full two-day beach party which featured over 60 vendors, food trucks, a beer garden by Firestone, seven live bands and various kids’ activities.

For more info or to check on updates about next year’s event, go to VenturaMarathon.com.

The event is managed by Vendurance Sports, a Ventura County-based running club and event management company aiming to bring high-quality, well-organized and affordable events to the region.

First Day Off Running in Two Months Today

Yes, today, Sunday, September 7, 2014, is the first day I've taken off from running since July 5, 2014. I've been running pretty much every day the entire summer, though my 50th birthday, the longest vacation since my teen years and other summer activities.

My running, however, has been nothing special, just daily 4 to 6 mile runs, mostly on trails, nothing too speedy, no races, speedwork. My fastest runs have been with the local youth cross country running club that my son participates in.

So today my quads are sore as hell. Why? Because yesterday I ran a local 5K cross country race mostly with a bunch of kids (and some adults) who have been training for the last 6 to 8 weeks. I, on the other hand, have not been in race training mode.

You can't fool your body, especially at age 50. Five years ago I could run a 5K on a moment's notice and feel fine the next day. Today I run a 5K and the next day my legs feel like I've run a marathon.

But it's a "good" feeling in that it is just soreness, not pain. No injuries. Just my muscles reminding me that if I want to run fast, I've got to train fast. A pretty basic concept. The soreness is a wake up call.

Getting back to the race, I don't even know my time. I had to bolt out of there to get to my other son's soccer game. The race was at 10am in 80+ degree heat, which is not my idea of fun. But I'm glad I did it and it gave me the excuse today to take a well-needed (and deserved) day off.

Looking forward to a fall/winter season of cool temperatures and rain. Perhaps wishful thinking here in drought-ridden Southern California, but I think we're about due for it.

The Famous CITGO Sign in Boston Tells You There's Just One Mile to Go

Although I haven't run the Boston Marathon for quite some time, I did have a chance to visit the city of Boston recently on a family vacation. In over 13 years of marriage, not once have we, as a complete family unit. been to a local Dodger game. But that didn't stop my wife from convincing me to spend the equivalent of two car payments on outstanding tickets to the Red Sox vs Yankees game at Fenway Park.

The game was a lot of fun, at least the few minute of it that I got to see between trips to the concession stands for my offspring. A growing family requires sustenance at all times.

Before the game we grabbed a snack at a local eatery (pre-game sustenance) and I looked up to see one of the most well known scenes from the Boston Marathon...the CITGO sign on Beacon Street.

Any Boston Marathon participant with eyesight will be able to recall the CITGO sign, because it indicates that you are just about done with the 26.2 mile trip. The sign is situated just about a mile from the finish of the race. I've run over 30 marathons over the years, but this is perhaps the only marathon that has such a distinctive, memorable, historal finish.

According to the CITGO website, CITGO was founded in 1910 as Cities Service Company. In 1965 its name was changed to CITGO for branding purposes, using the first 3 letters of "Cities" and ending with "GO." My wife says local pronounce it "See It Go." I don't know if that's true or not but pretty cool nonetheless.

After a brief stint as a subsidiary of Occidental Petroleum in 1982, CITGO was sold to The Southland Corporation in 1983 to provide a steady supply of gasoline to the 7-Eleven store chain. In 1986, Southland sold half of CITGO to Petróleos de Venezuela, S.A., (PDVSA), the national oil company of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela and the other half in January 1990.

But I digress. We had a great vacation and I managed to get out there and run every single day. Not a lot of mileage, but enough to keep me feeling groovy. I have no race plans at the moment but once I'm feeling it I'll be back in the game, having just turned the BIG 5-0. New age group!

Saturday Morning Run Down Sycamore Canyon to Ranch Center Road

For those of you who have walked, run or cycled down the paved Big Sycamore Canyon Road in Pt Mugu State Park from the Rancho Sierra Vista/Satwiwa area, you may have noticed the fork in the road about a mile from the bottom of the steep hill.

Sycamore Canyon Road / Ranch Center Road juncture

Sycamore Canyon Road / Ranch Center Road junctureMost folks continue straight down Sycamore Canyon towards the beach. But if you veer right, you are headed down Ranch Center Road. I don't get up that way very often on my runs in the canyon. In fact, I can't even remember the last time I was up that way. But this past Saturday I decided to divert myself up that path.

In general, I don't see a lot of people down in Sycamore Canyon. As beautiful as it is, it is a lot of work getting down there and about five times tougher getting back out of it up the steep fire road to Newbury Park. I'd estimate easily two thirds of the folks I see down there are on bikes and the rest are hikers and runners.

But  there are significantly less people on Ranch Center Road. This past Saturday, I was surprised to see two young teenage-looking gals jogging up the trail, chatting away, having a nice run. Otherwise, I saw about 8 cyclists as I made my way up Ranch Center Road to the dilapidated, burned down Ranch area structures where Ranch Center Road meets Wood Canyon Fire Road.

Wood Canyon Fire Road is more interesting to run than Ranch Center Road as it is all dirt trail and surrounded by trees.

Wood Canyon Fire Road is more interesting to run than Ranch Center Road as it is all dirt trail and surrounded by trees. I saw two cyclists rolling up this trail as I was coming down. Quite peaceful.

Trail runners' heaven is Wood Canyon Fire Road. I could run on trails like this any day.

Several miles downhill the trail links back up to Sycamore Canyon Road, where I ran up past the Danielson Multi-Use Area, where I saw a group of campers, then back up the canyon.

Less than a mile north of the Danielson Multi-use area is this well placed porta-john.

I was out there for about 1 1/2 hours. A good, mid-summer fun run.

Saturday Morning Run Up to Danielson Cabin in Boney Mountain State Wilderness

This morning I decided to test out my new Sketchers trail running shoes with a trail run up to the Danielson Cabin and back.

I have no affiliation with Sketchers, by the way. Maybe I should, because I'm liking their shoes more and more. These trail shoes feel as comfortable as any shoes I've worn. Every shoe brand is different and everyone has a brand that seems to fit their own feet better than others. I'm finding this to be the case with my Sketchers. They fit snug but not too snug, light, yet supportive. And comfy.

Mind you, I can pretty much run in any shoes. Over the years I've worn ASICS, Saucony, Nike, Mizuno, Brooks and a few others. Since I'm not particularly picky about the shoes I run in, other than they can't feel too heavy, I tend to go with whatever's on sale.

But the price point on the Sketchers I like on a day-to-day basis without having to wait for a sale. Plus, if I can get to the Sketchers store on a buy one, get one at X% off day, that's even better. Also helps that my kids like to wear Sketchers.

But enough about Sketchers, which is just one thing that Meb Keflezighi and I have in common.

What else do I have in common with Boston Marathon winner Meb K? Well we're both UCLA graduates. And we've both run the Boston Marathon. He ran it 37 minutes faster than my time back in the day, enough time to shower and have breakfast. But we both like Sketchers. Except, he gets paid to like his Sketchers. I don't. But that's ok with me. Or maybe it isn't ok with me subconsciously, since I've mentioned it twice now. Hmm.

So my run up to the Danielson Monument this morning was a nice, easy one, no falling and hurting myself, which is good, as the scabs from my last fall have not quite healed up yet.

I'm keeping my eyes on the trail more now. Watching where you're stepping on trails is pretty important. It is ok to look around too, but better to do so on flatter sections so you don't trip on a rock or root and bash your body around. Attempting to practice what I'm preaching.

The sky was pretty clear this morning and it wasn't quite too hot...yet. We are a few days from July and it appears the temps are going up soon. Spring is my favorite time to run, when it's cool out, but not too cool, and the sun's out, but it's not too hot.

From my house, I made it to the Danielson Monument in 36 minutes at casual pace, stopping my watch a few times to take pictures. I was back at the house 34 minutes later, which, given the downhill, seems slow, but I did sidetrack a couple minutes to see if there was even a little dribble of water in the "Waterfall" off of Danielson Road. No such like. Quite dry back there.

I've Been Running in Sketchers Before I Knew Meb Keflezighi Ran in Them

Today I just bought 3 pairs of Sketchers running shoes, including a Go Run 3, a Go Run Ride 3 and a pair geared towards trail running. Yes, 3 pairs in one day, bought with a 20% discount I had. Came out of the store with 3 pairs of shoes for about $200, including taxes.

For too long I've been running in 2 pairs of Saucony Kinvaras, also a lightweight trainer, and a Go Run 2. For the 4th time this year, yesterday I was running in the trails, my foot hit a rock, and I slammed into the ground. My right knee is pretty banged up and I've got a dime-sized lump of skin missing from my left palm from the impact, but otherwise I'm ok. But I decided, I need to buy some new shoes to get my spirits up. Not to mention, my current shoes need to be retired.

I like Sketchers running shoes because they're light, yet feel like they are giving me adequate support. They are comfortable. And I like their pricing. $80 isn't cheap but I like the nice, even number. There's something appealing about the simplicity to me.

So getting back to my latest fall. This time it happened within 5 minutes of the start of my run. And I hit the ground so hard that the pain was too much to continue, with skin and blood involved, so I walked back home.

Chatting with another of my geezer running friends, he believes as we get older, we don't lift our feet as high when we run. That could be a factor in my 4 falls this year. The last fall I thought perhaps it could be due to my Sauconys feeling slightly too big for my feet. Today's fall was in my Sketchers, which fit perfectly fine.

Deep down inside, what I really believe to be the issue is...not enough sleep. Running at 6:45am off of 5 1/2 hours sleep is not conducive to good training. Yet that's what I've been doing. I enjoy too many things, one of which is maintaining this website until the wee hours of the night. And of course my running, taking the kids out, etc. Something's gotta give.

But yes, here I am, typing this at 12:15am, when the creative juices flow the most for me.

In lieu of getting to bed earlier, my plan is to find time to take one solid nap each weekend to rejuvenate my body. If that doesn't happen, which it probably won't, I'll be pondering a plan B.

Results From the 21st Annual Senior Concerns "Love Run" in Westlake Village

The 21st Annual Love Run to support Senior Concerns' Meals on Wheels Program took place this past Sunday, June 8th, 2014. Meals on Wheels delivers two nutritious, freshly-prepared meals to homebound, hidden elderly in the Conejo Valley community 364 days a year. Funds raised from the Love Run enable Senior Concerns to provide Meals On Wheels scholarships to those who cannot afford the program and ensures that nobody is ever turned away. Learn more about Senior Concerns at www.seniorconcerns.org.

I've run the Love Run from time to time in the past and it is a well organized event. There is a 5K, 10K and a 1 mile fun run.

This past weekend's event had 754 participants in the 5K and 440 in the 10K. Some results:

Top 10 Males in 5K:

1. Sean Gildea  Thousand Oaks 22 15:35
2. Mikey Giguere Westlake Village 17 15:50
3. Cole Anderson Simi Valley 17 16:34
4. Timothy Wells   14 17:32
5. Phillip Wright     58 18:45
6. Andrew Harris   Thousand Oaks 33 19:00
7. James Locher     Ventura 45 19:13
8. Thomas Morley Westlake village 15 19:16
9. Rudy Gonzales Thousand Oaks 56 19:21
10. Steve Arce  Placentia 19:49

Top 10 Females in 5K:

1. Christy Jesson   Simi Valley  18  20:40
2. Bobbi Marie Ellias Newbury Park  17   20:44
3. Nina Greenberg   Oak Park  51   21:37
4. Ashley Alderman  Westlake Village  30  21:42
5. Barbara Ellias Newbury Park 52  21:46
6. Jody Vermeulen   Simi Valley 38  21:47
7. Stacy Mackintosh  Westlake Village 41 22:08
8. Alison Krane  Thousand Oaks 35  22:29
9. Rochelle Moncourtois    Moorpark 29  22:51
10. Sophia Tross Westlake Village  11  23:37

Top 10 Males in 10K:

1. Jerome Vermeulen Simi Valley 47 33:49 (Impressive time for a 47 year old...let alone any age!)
2. Scott Hambly Thousand Oaks 37 33:52
3. Clayton Graham Calabasas  24 35:20
4. Emman Labao  Sylmar 48  37:27
5. Jorge Rangel  Simi Valley 28  37:38
6. Jorge Rebolledo  Simi Valley  20 37:49
7. Teerth Patel  19 39:55
8. Scott Smith  Thousand Oaks  37 40:07
9. Chris Just 36 40:49
10. Nicholas Johanson Westlake Village 34  40:56

Top 10 Females in 10K:

1. Becky Ahern El Segundo 27 35:53
2. Jenny Mallen Newbury Park 23 37:46
3. Katrina Frame Newbury Park 31 42:19
4. Carolyn Smuts Huntington Beach 40 42:43
5. Madison Weinstock Thousand Oaks 17 43:17
6. Kimberly Vipond Westlake Village 34 43:50
7. Evelyn Gonzales Westlake Village 42 43:55
8. Jennie Labao Sylmar 40 44:32
9. Casey Hambly    Thousand Oaks 33 44:58
10. Laura Serrano Simi Valley 25 45:01

The oldest 10K finisher was 86 year old Francis Petracek of Woodland Hills, who completed the 10K in 1 hour, 23 minutes! Wow!

The oldest 5K finisher was 85 year old Jean Gosse of Thousand Oaks, who completed the 3.1 mile course in 41:26, 518th place overall out of 754 finishers. Way to go!

I was shocked to see there were five male finishers in the 75 to 99 age group in the Love Run 5K! Quite an impressive group of youngsters out there!

Gene Burke of Westlake Village, 77 years old, finished in 29:15, 199th place overall! Woah!!

Rod LeGate of Westlake Village, age 80, finished in 35:56!

Irv Cherno of West Hills, age 79, ran a 48:27.

86 year old Richard Ruwe of Thousand Oaks finished in 50:05!

And 78 year old Gil Good of Thousand Oaks ran a 50:14.

I. Am. Quite. Impressed!

My Little Eight Year Old Kicked My $%^&* On a Hike Up Boney This Weekend

Last Friday night I took my 8 year old and our dog to the Edison Road Trail in Newbury Park when it was becoming overcast. And dark. He wanted to keep going up the hill to walk "into a cloud." We didn't quite make it and had to turn around, lest we get stuck in the dark. That was that.

The next day I got up and ran about 9 miles mid-morning, came home and decided to take take the same kid out for some fun. No dog this time. We stopped at Jamba Juice. While slurping our smoothies, he said, let's go hike up Mount Boney. Huh?? I said, how come? Because I want to hike up to Mount Boney while I am still in one digits. And I want to walk inside a cloud.

Basically, I discovered these were two things he wanted to accomplish on his pre-double digit age "bucket list."

Saturday was a bit overcast (the photo above was taken another day). I said, are you sure? Yep. Are you sure? Yes. I think I must have repeated it 5 times but he didn't back down. We had shorts on and I had jackets, along with a backpack, in the car. I went back into Jamba Juice to buy a couple bottles of water and some snacks. The temps were in the 60s, making it a nice day to hike up there.

As we drove over, in the back of my mind I'm thinking, how I will reward him for making it to the Danielson Monument, quite a hike in and of itself. The really technical, rocky, crazy steep sections of the path to Boney Peak come on an unmarked trail above the Monument, unsupported by the National Park Service. Most people who have been "up Boney" have been to the Monument, not to the very top. Boney Peak stands at over 2,800 feet, making the climb well over 2,000 feet from Newbury Park.

It was a great time. The entire time my son asked questions, starting with, how many miles is it? I estimate about 4 miles. How many feet is it? How many inches? How many centimeters? And so on, the day goes. And we move along, gradually, stopping now and then to observe something of interest. A gigantic red ant, a stink bug, a stick, a bench. Then more questions. What would happen if an asteroid landing here right now? What would happen if three coyotes came and tried to attack us? How many minutes does it take to get to the top? How many seconds?

We made it to the Danielson Monument and had a snack. Then he saw the sign below, that after years of running up here from time to time, somehow I never noticed it among the overgrowth.

So, you wanna keep going, or are you tired? We moved on, through the narrow, jungle-like sections with poison oak surrounding us, the steep, rocky, highly technical sections that he seemed to navigate like a pro, the ups and occasional downs, the twists and turns and occasional pass by some person's discards (quite disheartening to see that someone would make the effort to bring TP yet leave it up there after use). There's always gotta be someone like that out there I guess.

We left the parking lot around 1:45pm and reached the top around 4:45pm. My son got his wish, or wishes, I should say. He had reached the top of Boney Peak. And he enjoyed the feeling of being "inside a cloud."

He was thrilled climbing on large boulders that made me cringe. I had to keep my eyes on close watch on my little adventurer because the drop from Boney Peak would be the end. After 20 minutes of exploring, it was time to head down.

We made it back to the car in about 2 hours and about 100 questions. I was nervous about getting locked into the parking lot as it was getting late. He was starting to peeter out a bit so I grabbed his hand and helped him along a bit. Overall though I was quite impressed at his endurance and stamina. Then again, he managed to eat all the snacks I brought. I had to settle for a handful of BBQ potato chips as he scarfed everything down. Note to self: Bring more snacks next time.

So long story short, here we are 3 days after our little cross training endeavor, and my upper ass cheeks (technical terminology), an area of the body I never think about, are still SORE! Mount Boney is like training on a Stairmaster on steroids. My glutes weren't used to this type of workout. But I'm sure by tomorrow, or maybe the day after, they will be fine.

On the other hand, I've heard no complaints from the 2nd grader. He seems as spunky as ever. It's good to be young, when you can kick your old man's %^&*( and not even know it. Or maybe he did know it. That night, he said to me, you don't have to run tomorrow. You can take a day off, you know.

And so I did. I took a Sunday off. I rarely take Sundays off. But that little kid of mine had the upper hand. He knew dad would stay home on Sunday morning and cook him pancakes while skipping his weekly long run. And that's what he, or I should say I, did.

The Occasional Hazards of Running Trails

I've enjoyed running local trails for over 15 years and am on them almost every day, barring rain and mud. A majority of my mileage is on trails and I enjoy the variety, the peace and quiet, the scenery and the chance of spotting wildlife, like a coyote off in the distance.

For the last few years I've been carrying my camera with me when I run so that when something photo-worthy appears, I'll be ready. Kind of a hassle for sure, in that the camera is not light, and I hold it in one of my hands (switching off to the other hand from time to time).  But occasionally it comes in handy.

This year, 2014, so far I've managed to trip and fall on the trails not once, not twice, but THREE times. I'm not talking a simple trip and catch myself, but a full on, snag my shoe on something, then topple almost flat on my face fall.

No, this is not a pile of poop on the trail. It is a root sticking out of the ground, I believe a remnant from damage done by the Springs Fire of 2013.

This has never happened to me before. Ever. Never have I fallen flat on my face before while running on any surface, and I've run all types of surfaces and have run and raced trails like Bulldog at Malibu Creek, the Catalina Marathon and all around town.

Mostly just scrapes and cuts from my latest encounter with the ground on a trail run.The other day was the worst of my three trip-and-falls. I was running along, la la laaaa, thinking of all the exciting workday activities, when, BAAAMMM, I was down. My right foot snagged either a rock or a root, and I had no time to react. But I did manage to get my right arm on the ground before my head, which saved my face, but got my right arm pretty good. Just scrapes and a little blood. Nothing broken. There were some minor scrapes and scratches on my shin and lower back. THANKFULLY my knees and face were spared.

After my body finished sliding, I got up, assessed the damage, picked up my camera (held in a case, so it was safe, unlike my body), and ran home.

So WHY does this keep happening? I'm almost afraid to continue running on trails because next time I may do some more serious damage.

I think it is one of, or a combination of, three things. I've noticed that the Saucony shoes I currently wear feel slightly too big. I have to re-tie them more often than most shoes I wear to make them more snug. I suspect that this is the main culprit...my shoes are too big and they are snagging things on the trails and damn near killing me.

But perhaps the other issue is that I'm carrying this camera around, looking around for nice shots. Maybe I should be looking at the trail more and the surroundings less...at least when the trails are rocky and technically challenging. That would make sense now, wouldn't it?

Lastly though, I'm turning 50 in a few months. Maybe I'm, well, just getting OLD. Yes, maybe I'm not lifting my legs up as much when I run (which actually is a good thing on the roads, as it is more efficient). Maybe I'm going blind (well to some degree I am, after dealing with a detached retina a few years ago and its impact on my eyesight). Maybe I'm just going senile.

Or perhaps it could be all of the above. I dunno, but I'm gonna continue running those trails until it kills me. Probably. Literally.

In the meantime, time for some new shoes.

Top 60 Year Old Runner at 2014 Big Sur Marathon Hails From Newbury Park

A good friend of mine, 60 year old David Louks, finished 42nd overall, 1st in his 60 to 65 age group and 2nd fastest age group performance of all time at the Big Sur Marathon held last Sunday, April 27th. This was Louks' 67th marathon and I'm certain it will not be his last. Big Sur is one of the most challenging, yet most beautiful marathon courses. Congrats Dave!

As for me, a few days ago I signed up for a local 5K, the 2nd Annual Run for Your Health 5K in Camarillo held this morning, along with my son. This was a small 5K, with only about 70 registrants, on a well marked course taking runners from the Camarillo Community Center, up Carmen to Las Posas to Arneill to Ponderosa and back to Carmen. Not the most exciting course in the world but with the help of local police they were able to cone off a lane for us the entire course.

Somehow I managed to win the race in 18 minutes, 22 seconds, slower than I felt I was running, but I was running all alone most of the way. This 49 year old body was followed by a 15 year old about a minute back. Fun stuff. I felt fine other than a bit of a stomach cramp that kept me from "pushing it" in mile three. My strategy with stomach cramping is to periodically breath in and blow out air quickly, though not too much (the last thing I need is to hyperventilate in a 5K). It kinda sorta worked for me, but not completely.

In any case, it was fun going out there on a whim today and my 11 year old ran a solid 22 minute race too.

It was not cool out today after week of hot temperatures but it was somewhat less hot than over the last three days, which was nice.