Well, we had a really exciting Long Beach Marathon. Sure, there were a few problems, like a badly organized course with 4 cross-over points (they actually stopped runners to let others through) and a messed-up award ceremony. AREC, however, had a really great showing. We had 15 members participate in one of the races, and additional members cheering or providing alcoholic sustenance.
As I did not run any race, it was most exciting for me to be cheering on the sidelines, especially because AREC members came by a lot earlier than I expected. I was hoping Laura would come by mile 18 at about 3:00, so that she could run a PR. To my surprise, she arrived at 2:40. I had promised to run with her the last 6-8 miles, and it was all the more exciting that she was poised to break 4 hours and did by a considerable margin.
In fact, of the 15 runners, 13 ran PRs. I want to extend a special congratulations to Marlaigne Hudnall and Brandy Phillips who each ran their first race EVER, and to Karine Brooks (who has really improved in the last 3 months) in her first 5K and Suzanne Kairy, who broke the AREC female marathon record in her first marathon. And I can't forget Todd Byers, who ran 2 marathons in 2 weeks (11/14 & 11/28).