Temecula St. Patrick 15k

Holy hot as hell Batman! This was the 2nd Annual Temecula St. Patrick 15k held at Cougar Winery.
The weather started out at 67 & quickly went up to 78 degrees.

The race had same day bib pick up at 8:00 a.m. There was no long lines for anything including the porta-potties because only 167 runners showed up. This might be due to the late start time of 9:00 a.m. Might has well start at 1200 p.m. because there really isn't a difference. Hot is hot!

I sat in my car & changed out of my cute compression socks into short socks. There was no doubt I was going to sweat buckets today.

About 10 minutes prior to the race, I walked over and stood under a tree for shade, closer to the start line. A very nice girl approached asking me to take her picture & before the race, she found me again, told me her goal was to finish the race, explaining she had lost a lot a weight after she began to run. I was so excited for her! We have that in common. During the race, at about mile 2.6, after one of many steep hills to follow, she ran by me. She powered up the steep hills, but it was getting hotter. Mile 3.5, I caught up to her on a flat & didn't see her again until the finish. Awesome race whom ever you are!
Almost everyone had green on. Some wore costumes. *applause* running with a costume is truely difficult!

It was quiet. A guy gave last minute instructions to follow the man on the bike. Early, I hear the man on the bike tell some women some of the hills are so steep, his bike wheel comes up off the road! I kept waiting for him to say 'bazzinga'!  This was the first time I could actually see the timing mat before the start! The race started on time at 9:00 a.m.
The course starts out on a paved road for about half of a mile, turning into a dirt roads for most of the race. There's a lot more sand on the roads then dirt.  Mile 2 & 4 for only a half a mile at most, has trees for shade. In the past, I ran a 10k on this similar route, so I knew to bring a hydration belt because the water stations seem to follow no real incremented pattern.  I was glad to have the water when I needed it! I did take water frofrom the water station, drank a sip & dumped the water over my head. Thanks to the volunteer who met me out on the road. YOU WERE my best friend in the moment!

The course is tough with more butt lifting hills than San Dieguito. I am not a fast runner so when I hit mile 3, I was amazed, I didn't see any runner's heading back yet. At mile 3.3 I finally see the 2 runner's heading back. It's seemed something was coming up! Turning left onto Los Alamentes Rd, I found out why. Miles 4.5 through 7.3 are hills going up! Yes, hills on top of hills! No water stations through here. There were a few trucks on the roads too but were cautiously going around runners.
On final stretch, up to the finish line, I cheered the girl with braids on, "c'mon now get up that hill! You're the shizzle!" I know, I'm a dork or the heat stroke kicking in!

The finish line, has no metals, but even better, some wonderful volunteer asking me if I'd like some water! Yes please! The race theme was Go Green 2014. Instead of giving out metals or t-shirts, you had to BYO t-shirt (or purchase one) for screen printing. This didn't last long because the screen was clogged and wasn't printing the complete design. See mine!

The race ends & starts at Cougar Winery. The new building is beautiful & offers a race logo commemorating stemless champagne glass filled with green champagne. Cougar staff are amazing & tolerate the smell of sweaty runners. Service with a smile & knowledge of their wines/champagne.

Time: 1:53:15

Overall: 107 of 167

Gender: 65 of 115

Age: 3rd of 5

If the sponsor Sandy Feet changes this race to an earlier start time, I might come back next year.