Hollywood Half Marathon & 5K/10K is coming up!

If you're going to be in the LA area on Saturday, April 11, 2015, I highly recommend the Hollywood Half Marathon & 5K/10K. My daughter Alexis and I did the 5K last year and it fulfilled my criteria that a road race should be somehow unique to its area, and not just in name. This one was!

1) It was still dark out at the starting line on Hollywood Blvd., which means it was all lit up with neon signs and lights. So it felt like you were getting a taste of the glitzy Hollywood night life, even though you were standing there in your running gear and kicks in the starting corrals, getting ready to do your healthy thing. 

2) We ran by one iconic Hollywood building after the other. I was excited to see Grauman's Chinese Theatre, still lit up at night and looking so exotic and "old Hollywood."

3) As daylight was breaking, we rounded a corner and behind us could see the famous HOLLYWOOD sign up in the hills. There's just something fun about that, and it energized me for the rest of the race.

4) While I'm not a big fan of participation medals, I thought it was pretty cool that they gave all the finishers a glitzy star-shaped medal, a nice tie-in to the stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. It's a great souvenir. 

2014 Hollywood Half Marathon & 5K/10K Finishers Medal

After the race we walked back along the sidewalks and I had to pause more than once at the star of a famous actor or actress I've admired.

The course is fairly flat and the race was well-managed. There are so many people, I don't know how you'd even notice any celebrities, if there were some in the race. That wouldn't be my reason for doing this event.

I flew in from Minnesota to do this race and used the excuse of a snowy, long winter to not run much. Alexis kindly walked or jogged along with me for the entire race. 

I have a habit of not wanting to overdo it early in the season. But when I know the finish line is nigh, I feel like I should expend a bit more energy. So I took off running and left Alexis behind to wonder where I had gone. It resulted in a race finish photo that looks like I came in ahead of her. Ha. In my dreams!

That's Alexis in the purple scarf. I'm the Minnesota-pasty-white one in the gray striped shirt.

Wish I could run in this year's Hollywood Half Marathon & 5K/10K, but I just got back a few weeks ago from spending a month with Alexis in West Hollywood and walking/jogging through the "hills of Beverly" nearly every day. Now I'm training (if you could call it that) for the triathlon event at the 2015 National Senior Games in July. I'm sure I'll be blogging about that here.

Wherever you're running or walking or biking these days – enjoy the springtime weather, and happy trails to you! 

Jen