Monday, November 17, 2008

A great marathon in Sacramento (in spite of road-rage incidents)

Well, I finished the marathon. In fact, I ran the entire thing non-stop, and finished a lot more quickly than I expected. The route, along the American River, from Folsom to Sacramento, was quite beautiful. I've run two other marathons but have never seen deer charge across the route, or Canada geese flying overhead while honking their heads off. If you've never seen this part of California, you really ought to check it out. In fact, this marathon was so enjoyable that at one point, I even thought to myself, "What a great time. I don't want this to end.'' The only bummer was the road-rage incidents that started coming up about ten miles into the course. Often, when there's a marathon, the organizers arrange to close off the course. For this reason, veteran runners get into the habit of spreading out and using the entire road. In this case, the marathon course was open to other use during the race,. Bicyclists love this pathway, and justifiably so; it's a smooth, scenic ride all the way from Folsom to Sacramento. The vast majority of the riders were just out there having a good time. Most were incredibly supportive and kind. But things got sketchy when a few rogue elephants on wheels decided to take out their aggression on the runners. After seeing another runner get screamed at for straying too far towards the right lane, I obeyed the rules and stuck very closely to the left shoulder of the road. The trouble is, aggro bicyclists started buzzing into the left side of the road, too. One of them shouted "WAKE UP!!!'' at me and some other runners -- right while we were hitting the wall at mile 24 or so, making it rather hard to "wake up.'' I also overheard two bicyclists screaming obscenities at other runners -- some who had strayed into the wrong lane, others who were running squarely on the left side of the road. I didn't feel like having an altercation in the middle of a marathon, so at one point I moved off the paved area and stuck to the dirt path to the left of the route --- only to get scolded by a man pushing a baby stroller and telling me to stick to the "bike path.'' This was quite confusing -- considering that the bike path was the appointed, official route of an inaugural marathon! I would guess (very strongly) that there is a rather intense, pre-existing 'use conflict' situation on that bike path that precedes the marathon. Anyhow, I managed to finish the race and had a great time anyhow. I just hope that runners and bicyclists can share roads in the future. There is enough division in this world without recreational sports enthusiasts bagging on each other.

4 comments:

Dr. Logan said...

As a cyclist and daily user of said bike path, I apologize for my fellow cyclists' behavior. The penile numbness resulting from 50 mile rides on the 100 gram, carbon fiber torture devices known as bike seats can sometimes lead to baditudes. Glad you enjoyed our little city. I just finished your book a couple days ago and enjoyed it very much. It did leave me curious though, as to whether you've spoken with Allison since?

cactuseaters said...

Dr. Logan --- Thanks for the kind words. The open space areas outside Sacramento are very beautiful. In fact, I was so taken with my views of the lovely American River at sunrise that I barely noticed how fast I was running (throwing down eight point fives for the first few miles.) What a beautifully designed trail. To answer your question -- yes, I've spoken with her since then and she's doing very well. We had an enjoyable conversation in May just before the book was shipped -- and by the way, we corresponded before that via email a bunch of times to talk about Cactus memories. As for the bike-versus-runner stuff -- that's what can happen when there is a limited, desirable resource that draws many different user groups. (I saw that on the PCT, too.) thanks again, dw

Dr. Logan said...

I should have mentioned, I picked up the copy of the book I read in the break room at REI in Sacramento, where I work. Not sure if your publisher gave it to us as an employee copy or if another employee left it, but I'll be passing it on and I've recommended it to several people. Take care, Logan

cactuseaters said...

Much appreciated. By the way, I just went to the REI branch in Seattle the other week --- nice store. I asked them if I could move in (take up permanent residence in one of their display tents.) dw