2010 Buffalo Run - Catalina Half Marathon

On Saturday, February 27, 2010, I made my second attempt at the Buffalo Run on Catalina Island. This day turned out to be more of an adventure than just running or in my case jogging/walking a half marathon.

I look at this event as training for the Catalina Marathon which is usually St Patrick's Day weekend. Training for this event has been going very well. After starting to get a handle on how my legs will do while keeping my heart rate in check, I was expecting to beat my time from last year of 3:15. Like last year, the weather was predicting rain, and a lot of it.

Woke up at 4:35 am, got my gear and headed outside to pick of my neighbor, Kris. This was Kris' first attempt at the Catalina Buffalo Run and she was just as eager to go as I was. We started our drive to Long Beach and got to the Catalina Landing port just before 6 am. Jumped on the boat with about 50-100 other runners for a 6:15 am departure. I checked the ocean conditions when I got up and it look to be very mild. Well, that was completely WRONG! After about 30 minutes of 4 knots and not even getting past the break jetties, the captain turned around declaring the seas to be too rough.

Kris and I got back to the ticket counter and got our refunds. We figured that we were not going to be able to get to the island. They had said the next boat was going to be canceled as well. We waited a little bit to see what other runners were going to do. Most had decided to just go home. I really wanted to get my training run in. Just as we were getting ready to leave, they said they were going to try again at 8:30. A race official also said they are going to have a second start for us, which I thought was really cool of them. So needless to say, we were in line again and ready to go for it again.

Being a boating person, I wasn't really worry about the boat ride. I just wanted to get there. The captain came on and said we were looking at 8'-10' seas with the swell shifting. This meant we were going into a big bathtub. Got a little nervous at this point. Kris and I met up with some other runners while waiting at the Catalina Landing. Cool peeps who had kids similar in age to mine.

After about 30 minutes of up/down and side to side, everyone stopped talking. Having a few layers I started to feel hot. I noticed myself sweating like I just finished a good run. I thought to myself, oh no. It's time to get more air. After heading to the back of the boat, I started to cool down and feel a bit better. People started turning colors, and my mind just could not control it anymore. For the first time in my life, as embarrassing as it is, I got sea sick.

It was about 10:15 and we headed up to the check in and thought we were getting a 11:00 start. Nope, "you guys are starting at 10:30." The panic starts. The lockers are back at the dock about a quarter mile away. Sweats off.. bib on.. shuffle and headphones.. water bottles.. shoes tight.. rain poncho.. throw everything else into a locker. By this time it is pouring rain, we have no idea if the second start has begun. Well it did. Kris and I were a little rattled by this time because of all the rushing, and me trying to rehydrate and get a banana down. Kris says to me, "We forgot our garmins." Anyone who uses a garmin watch knows what that means. We were late and wanted to get started. I think we were second to last to start, but were off and running.

The rain was still coming down hard and passing by us were some of the runners from the 9 am start. After pushing the banana down and getting a couple of GUs in me, I was feeling good. I knew what was ahead of me, about 5 miles of climbing. Actually it's walking for me.

I got to the top of the rig at around mile 5, the rain had stopped and life was good. This is where I feel you will find the best views on Catalina. With the rain stopped and sun peaking out, I was able to see San Clemente Island. This was very similiar to last year's race weather. The difference this year was that I felt good at the top, unlike last year when I had used up most of my energy.



A little tired, but I was able to start running again. The course was just as muddy as it was last year. But this year, I was all by myself. Kris, who is a runner, was about 15 minutes ahead of me and was with a few other late starts. By mile 8, I had caught up with my first walker from the 9 am start, which made me feel great. In this part of the course, there are some really steep parts, and everyone crosses this path twice, so it was really muddy by this point. Multiple times I found myself sideways and sliding all over the place. You really need to be careful, otherwise you will become very friendly with Catalina mud.

The last 4-5 miles is all downhill. I was able to run all of it with a slow but steady pace. It's like the horse seeing the stable. With my legs & shoes all muddy and wet, I got the natural high that you get from accomplishing something great.

If you have never done something like this, I highly suggest you try. No matter if you are first or last, everyone cheers for you. It is sooo cool.

Two weeks and then the my third bar for the Catalina Marathon

Shoes before and after


The goodies we got from competing



Couple of people I would like to thank:

• Jodeen for watching the kids and allowing me to do these fun things.
• Kris for going on this adventure with me. Let's get Larry out there next year.
• Tony for the great words of encouragement.
  
• Jack at Pacific Sports for having the second start time. Also excellent job on the aid stations despitethe bad weather.
• Steve Mackel at SoCalRunning.com, who does not know me, for having videos that get me pumped up for these events.