Serena’s Avenue of the Giants Marathon

Serena ran The Avenue of the Giants Marathon on Sunday running a 3:57:29 for her first marathon. This road marathon is in a truly gorgeous setting of old growth redwoods. There is also a half marathon and a 10k option for those looking for a shorter distance. Serena felt good and came through around 1:56 at the halfway point where I handed her additional gel packets and shot bloks. She stuck it out in the second half to finish strong in 1:57:29. We were not expecting a sub-4 hour performance so it was great to see Serena come through below this barrier. She was 30th out of 181 females and 117th overall. Congratulations Serena!

Runners in the Avenue of the Giants Marathon

Serena nearing the finish

Stuck in the mud after the jump!

We drove up on Saturday in solid rain from the Bay Area all the way to Humboldt. It was so wet in Humboldt that my car sunk in mud next to the campsite while I set up the tent and was temporarily stuck! Whew, glad a little pushing got it out. I was careful where I parked overnight. In the evening, we checked in at the starting area, walked through the spectacular Rockefeller Grove, and then ate a pasta feed put on by the California Forest Fire Volunteers. Just as we got ready for bed, the rain picked up again with some periods of heavy rain overnight. I was definitely worried, but fortunately the rain tapered off when we woke up at 5:30 am. I was even more surprised when the fog cleared and the sun came out in time for the start, yay! It ended up being virtually perfect weather for running – partly cloudy and cool.

This is where my wheels were spinning in the mud

This is how the car looked after it spun mud all over the place

Serena next to a giant redwood

Final stretch to the finish

I took the opportunity to do a little trail running on the Bull Creek Trail North. The single track through gigantic redwoods and a carpet of redwood sorrel made for a special run! Check back for a future post with photos from this awesome run!