Today, I ran my second half marathon of the year… in Pleasanton. Right, I was somewhat surprised as well to hear about it but I have to say it was very well organized.

The course is very flat and we had perfect running weather one more time. The race started promptly at 7AM with around 700 runners. I started a bit faster than 4 weeks ago in Santa Cruz running 7:50/mile and had to keep looking at the watch to not run too fast and shatter my race plan. After 10 miles, I used a similar strategy than in Santa Cruz and accelerated to around 7:30/mile catching up with a bunch of runners to finish in 1:40:14 or 7:41/mile average.

The post-race party was very well organized. The food was tasty including warm burritos! The medal and technical shirt are very nice. I even managed to get in line at the chiropractor’s tent that gave me an awesome dynamic stretch. My legs definitely appreciated the special treatment after pounding the pavement for 13.1 miles.

My hat off to the organizers and volunteers. I hope to run the race for many years to come.