I signed up for the California International Marathon after a successful go at the San Francisco Marathon in July, and some polite (yet persistent!) encouragement from a friend. I had heard about the race’s notoriety for being a flat and fast course from many others, and the combination of a few friends already confirmed to run and the event at 99 percent capacity months out, my FOMO got the best of me, and I signed up.

As per my usual race weekend shenanigans, I traveled with a group of friends—Victor, Jeremy, Erika and Nick—to Sacramento the day before the race to hit up the expo and get our bearings before race day. We stayed in an Airbnb about six miles from the Sacramento Convention Center (where the race expo was), which I like to do versus staying at a hotel because there is more room to spread out the night before (and there’s a kitchen to make breakfast the morning of the race).

 

After visiting the expo, grabbing dinner (we ate at Big Stump Brew Co—I got a chicken sandwich), and stopping at a CVS to grab last-minute necessities (vaseline for Victor, cold brew for me, toilet paper for all of us), we retreated back to the house, made a quick game plan for the morning and most of us were in bed by 9pm. Continue reading “The Sac, Squeeze Burger, and Knee Circles: California International Marathon Race Recap” →