Below is a scenic point on the race course. A desolate sort of beauty. I am going to cruise, so I plan to walk every inch of hills. No worries I have all day- I think I will be about 7-8 hrs.

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Next Race is the Calico 50K in the high Desert above Barstow

running-Me on right

I mostly run on trails over the last 15 years. When I heard about the New L.A. Marathon course running from Dodger Stadium to Santa Monica I was convinced I needed to do it, even though I had almost no hope of runnning at my "days of glory" speed. (For someone my size I was kind of fast with a PR of 3hrs and 22 min for the Marathon)

I decided that it would make sense to train on pavement so I joined the L.A. Leggers.A group that trains in Santa Monica near the Pier on what would be part of the course. All my long runs on Saturday were with the Leggers. The Leggers are a great running group that provides plenty of people at various paces to train with, refreshments after (bagels,bananas) water stations, speakers etc. and a nice shirt all for 65 dollars/year! I did all the runs up to 22 miles with them. My last long run was 17.5 miles 2 weeks before the Marathon.

The new course was Stadium to the sea, the stadium was Dodger stadium (Frank Mccourt the owner of the Dodgers bought the rights to the Marathon), the sea was the Pacific and the finish two blocks north of the pier on Ocean and Santa Monica blvd.

Therefore it is a Point to point course, same as Boston or New York. But that does create a transportation problem. How do you get 25,000 people to the start and from the finish to wherever they are going?. The solution was for people to park in S.M. and shuttle to the start. Early!

I didn't like the idea of getting up at 3am on the day of a race so I came up with a public transportation idea both to and from the Marathon, In L.A.! And it only involved one transfer in each direction!. We would take the bus in to pick up our number and go to the expo on Saturday, then stay two blocks away for the start, walk to the start sunday morning, run the race and take the bus home, no car. we wouldn't have to wake up to 5:45am.

The marathon had several problems

expo- 1. They screwed up on numbers several people did not have numbers assigned and had
to agrue to get a new one.
2. Long lines to pick up numbers for no reason it wasn't crowded inside
3. They ran out of "goodie bags"
4. They ran out of t Shirts- Plan on a marathon with 25k and then not have enough shirts?

Day of race- Traffic was horrible, I heard it was backed up for miles, some people had to run to the start, what a great warmup! Why did they allow cars in to the area at all? The race therefore started 30 minutes late with several people arriving late and having to catch the pack.

Porta potties why did they put them in a place where you had to cross the course then announce that "you can't use the porta potties" ? Lovely, people peeing all over the lot, in the bushes, all over the place. They should of been on the side where the expo was, the Dodgers don't know how to handle crowds?

Course was great, support good

I felt a little patch of low energy at mile 16 and stopped for a quart of coke, I kind of lost some motivation as my friends went ahead. So I decided to walk much of the last 10. Nice to run through S.M.

Finish more screw ups, way too many people there. It took us 30-40 minutes to walk the half mile to our bags and the "beach party", what party? most of the booths were closing. It wasn't a party it was a corporate promotion event. Just like the coverage of the race, One giant commercial.Even the "editorial" content was a commercial.We are now at the Desani water 5 mile mark, or the blah blah 8 mile, whatever. Att phone was displayed and the features lauded by the "reporters".

Way too many people it took us 30 minutes to get to the S.M. bus which was involved in so much traffic it was delayed for an hour and we had to walk another mile or so to get down further in S.M. to eventually get a bus home. 2.5 hrs later!

Times were totally screwed up. Officially I did not finish. According to them my tracking device says I dropped between 3 miles and 6 miles.

Another day another race. I'm not even considering doing L.A. again unless there are major changes!

Believe it or not I have found a way to get to the Stadium from my home in Culver City and back from the finish in Santa Monica with public transportation with only one transfer each way.

So on Saturday of Marathon weekend we will grab a small bag with all our running stuff and walk about 5 blocks to the bus stop. Take the bus downtown then transfer to the 4 with a bus stop one block form our hotel. Go to the expo pick up our number, meet some friends for dinner and stay overnight two blocks from the start. Wake up walk to start, drop off bag at start. Run the Marathon and then take a bus ride home with only one transfer!

My cause for the Marathon

American Red Cross- Los Angeles Chapter Haiti Disaster Relief fundraiser

2010 Los Angeles marathon

Everyone has heard of the horrible losses from the devastating earthquakes. I am raising money for the Los Angeles Chapter of the American Red Cross. Funds can be designated for Haiti disaster relief. There are two ways to donate. You can write a check to the American Red Cross and give it to me. I’ll send it in. Please put Haiti disaster relief on the Memo.

Robert Rainey 9225 Venice blvd Los Angeles, Ca 90034

American Red Cross Los Angeles chapter 11355 Ohio Ave. Los Angeles, CA 90025

Online- Go to www.redcrossla.org , click on donate now, designate Haiti relief and development please put Robert Rainey La Marathon fundraiser in the Company/Organization field (You get the tax deduction, they just want to keep track of the amount I raised)

I would appreciate if you could donate now when the need is greatest; I promise I’ll finish the Marathon!

Thank You fro your support Robert Rainey

After 35 years of running, including 25 marathons and 38 Ultramarathons (50K to 100K so far)
I decided to take a six month break from long trail runs, and I am commited to doing the Los Angeles Marathon. Why would I do that? Well the course has been changed from the beastly ugly it was before, to a far different animal. We will be running from Dodger Stadium to Santa Monica! Stadium to the Sea. The last several miles on San Vicente and Ocean where I have run many a mile in training.

I havn't done an urban marathon in at least 15 years, preferring instead the scenery and open air of trail running. But I thought lets do something different, before they decide to change the course back or something crazy like that. the L.A. Marathon has been probably the worst organized and benefited the People and runners in L.A. the least on any "major" marathon.

I say major in quotes because it really is a second tier race. Due to the Management in the first few decades Primarily to the benefit of one man Bill Burke. The man made millions on the race.
The city ended up with a half assed second tier marathon. If it was done right we would be up there with New York, London,Chicago and Boston, No one thinks our race is the equal on any of the preceding.

So I will be running 22 miles on Saturday, think of me at 4am Pacific time that is when I have to wake up and get my ass out of bed!

I have a upcoming hike of about 80 mile s in Switzerland followed by a few days in venice in August/Sept. I hope to post about training running and hikes as I lead up to the hike on the Haute route.

I have a hotel to crash in both ways. It is only 5 minutes from the airport. It looks like a very comfortable place the Novatel.

I have raised about 3000 dollars for the American Himalayan Foundation so far. More contributions will come when I'm done.

I have almost a whole month. The longest I've ever taken. Partially due to the difficulty of getting dates as everyone was scrambling to get alternative to Bangkok tickets.

I'll do my best to post here. In Kathmandu I know there is a good internet connection. Maybe in Namche as well.

I've been lazy lately. I will be running Saturday but not Sunday.

Here is a photo of the recent fire/smoke near my house. the fire was miles away but we got smoked!

I just had a great day. I started out easy despite the temptation to follow those who were running the early hills. I knew that I would do better to just power hike all the uphills. Anything that even looked like it might go up at all I was calling a hill.

The run has a total of 5000 feet of gain. I am not sure if non runners can appreciate that, but here is a comparison. the feared Boston Marathon with "Heartbreak Hill" has a total of 1054 feet of gain.

The first two miles or so were on pavement and more or less rolling so it was walk run walk run.
then the first real hill. well at this point let me show you the elevation profile.

Then the long downhill. I was carefull not to trip over the many embeded rocks. On the next hill I passed another 6 people or so, like they were standing still.

I still felt great. At this point with 3/4 of the race done I had gone through 6 leters of fluid. My famous I get the same Mileage as a Hummer intake. At the next to last aid station I took another 2 leters.

Here is a photo from last years race off the website. I should have carried my camera!

So anyway despite taking salt capsules and my 8 leters of fluid I stil got some hamstring cramps on the final downhill to the finish line. I finished in 5 hrs and 25 minutes! I think I'll have a banana! Just 4 weeks until I leave for Nepal.

People, It's not too late to contribute to my cause the American Himalayan foundation. You can find a link to their site on the sidebar. Please help them build schools, clinics etc. It's tough here but much tougher there!

Highlights- Views from the Refugio Lagazuoi

Food at the Refugio Averau

After our train and bus ride from belluno to Venice we welcomed being immersed in civilization

After an initial flat section we quickly began climbing up for 2 and a half hours to the Porta Sora al Forn. It was a brief downhill to a Refuge the Biella where many people stop for the night. we decided based on our Itinerary to go one hour further.

Refugio Biella where we got a Coke and a smile. all those white "dots" down there? - Sheep!

The hike extends from Lago de Braises near Austria to Belluno two hours by train to Venice. It is almost directly north to south.Unlike the Tour Of Mt. Blanc the trail stays up in the mountains and does not pass through any towns.
(It is possible to travel by ski lifts down to civilization and near roads to civilization)

The attractions of a multiday hike like this are many. Beautiful scenery, excellent huts with beds,showers and food. No camping! Also after hiking for 4-8 hours it is possible to eat everything and not gain weight. In fact I last a few pounds.

The easiest way to reach northern end is by bus from Venice to Cortina and then from cortina to the Dobbiaco the town near the lago de Braises start.

We like to go on our own,self navigate and we carry our own pack. There are several disadvantages to going on a group trip

1. Cost 2-3 times as much as do it yourself

2. On their timetable and schedule- we were told by one group on the tour Of Mt Blanc that they were skipping the "Ugly sections". News- there are no ugly sections there or on this hike.
There may be section where it would be difficult to support a group or porter their luggage.Their solution, skip that section

3.As far as I could tell there is no group trip that covers the entire trail.

4. Group dynamics- don't like someone in the group, well you will be staying and eating with them for the next 9 days plus!

Below Lago de Braises and the begining of the AV1

We will spend 9 days hiking staying in mountain Inns called refugio's. You can hardly call it roughing it,in fact I would consider the places very comfortable. As always in Italy the food and wine are local, abundant and fabulous ! Here is an exampe

http://www.sennes.com/

We will be self supporting and navigating. There will be no support car portering our stuff. I will be carrying 25 pounds in order to relieve some of the weight from my wife Peg who may carry 15 pounds or less. But compared to backpacking there are many advantages.We get to sleep in beds, in most cases in private rooms,eat great food,have a great workout every day, a shower
and Not gain any weight!

Not to mention the great scenery of the Dolomites.

Please remember my cause for my December trek in Nepal. The American Himalayan foundation. See the web link on the sidebar.

Below a photo of Refugio Coldai

The 20 miles of the thousand Island loop near Mammoth,Ca was one of the most beautiful hikes I have ever done, in over 40 years of hiking. It includes part of the John Muir trail and the Pacific Crest trail. Gorgeous flowers everywhere. Amazing scenery 5-6 lakes,snowcapped mountains and zero photos! Anyway it's in my memory (the brain type) and I'll always have that.

Below a photo off the web. I suppose I'll just have to buy the book my friend is getting published on the John Muir trail. He is the Photographer, another guy is writing the text.

Speaking of memory don't forget my cause, the american Himalayan foundation there is a link on the right column of my blog under Nepal.