Why the Oakland Marathon rocks

Oakland pride in the Temescal neighborhood

I can’t think of enough good things to say about the inaugural Oakland Running Festival. This marathon was the best race I’ve ever run. I suppose I could be biased. I do live in Oakland, after all. And I’ve only run a handful — well, maybe two handfuls — of races, so it’s not like I’ve got a huge sample size like this guy. For what it’s worth, here’s what I liked:

1. Oakland’s spirit

I’ve never heard so many spectators exhibit so much pride about their city during a race. Typically, I hear people shout “Go runners,” “Lookin’ good,” “Great job” and things of that nature. On Sunday, it was different. “Thank you for running in Oakland.” “Oakland loves you.” “Welcome to East Oakland.” One lady in Fruitvale had this sign outside her store: “Welcome to Fruitvale Love, Mary Go Runners!” When I’ve run in other cities, spectators have been great about cheering on the runners. But Oakland spectators really seemed thrilled to have the runners as guests. I don’t know if it’s because the other races I’ve run were in cities where residents are used to seeing marathoners running several times a year. Whatever the reason, the spirit of Oakland’s spectators helped make this race an amazing experience.

Showing off the thumb holes in my "Inaugural Oakland Marathon 2010" tech shirt

2. Awesome free stuff

Free stuff is one of the perks of registering for a race. T-shirts are OK. Tech tees are better. But for the Oakland Marathon, I got an extra special long-sleeved tech shirt complete with a partial zip and thumb holes. I also thought the coupons inside the packet pickup bag were more useful than what I usually get. I’ve already used the $1 off any espresso drink at Peet’s (large latte macchiato). I can always use 10 percent off at Sports Basement or $10 off at Road Runner Sports. I got some Gu Chomps and a mini Clif Bar in a flavor I haven’t tried yet. And how cool is this: I got a tiny bottle of olive oil and a coupon for a free bottle of olive oil with a $40 purchase at Whole Foods. A friend said she got a little bottle of vinegar in her bag. Those are just some of the highlights. I never remember getting so many awesome coupons or treats, and this was for an inaugural race. What will they come up with next time?

3. Spectator participation

There was more spectator participation than I’ve ever seen at a race. A family on 51st Street was handing out water and candy. A little girl on Foothill Boulevard was holding out a water bottle for me. I noticed behind her a man had a few cases of water bottles ready to hand out. Outside the Brown Sugar Kitchen in West Oakland, a lady was offering to fill up our water bottles.

I've never gotten to run through fire in any other race.

Making sure runners stayed hydrated wasn’t the only way spectators were helping out. I stopped at a water stop around 22.5 miles. I had been having a hard time for the couple of miles before that, really noticing a lot of pain in my legs and just feeling worn out. I was at the water stop for a few minutes to have a few cups of Powerade, go to the bathroom and have a few cups of water with a Clif Shot. It was a good break, but it was hard to get moving again. A lady came in from the sidelines and said she’d run with me for a little while. She told me her daughter lived in a house right on the route through the Dimond district and had been out weeding the yard the day before so it would look nice for the runners. The lady ran with me only for about a quarter-mile, but having someone to run with and having a story to listen to was just enough to get my mind off the pain for a little bit and prepare me for the rest of the run. After she left me, the run was still tough, but it seemed a little more doable.

There was also some cool “only in Oakland” stuff. The Crucible set up a fiery arch around mile 19 of the marathon under which racers could run. They handed out stickers that read, “I ran through fire,” or something along those lines. Unfortunately, they weren’t quite sticky enough. I saw them littering the route for the rest of the race, and though I kept pressing on mine to keep it attached to my shirt, I finally lost it right near the end. There were also people out from Oaksterdam and from the “keep the A’s in Oakland” movement.

4. Good organization

I thought the race was well-organized. It’s not like I’ve run in a bunch of poorly organized races. All but one of them were done well. The one that wasn’t started about 10-15 minutes late, which was really annoying while standing out in the cold, but otherwise even that race was OK. The Oakland Marathon started two minutes late, but that didn’t bother me. It wasn’t long to wait.

I also thought the route was well-supplied with porta-potties and water stops. I was in the race for a little over six hours of the seven-hour limit. In that time, I never came across a water stop that seemed to be running out of drinks. Even the famous Chicago Marathon couldn’t claim that on its 30th anniversary. There was one porta-potty that was out of toilet paper around mile six, but the one next to it was still stocked, so it wasn’t a problem for me.

Overall, I felt like everything about the race was done well. The expo had a good variety of booths. It didn’t take forever to pick up my race packet. I heard my name called out on the loudspeaker after I crossed the finish line. There were free massages offered to runners at the end. It was the inaugural Oakland Marathon, but it could have been going on for years.

5. Events for everyone

I liked that there were events for every skill level: a 5K, a half marathon, a four-person relay for the marathon, a full marathon and the Kids Fun Run. I’d like to participate in the festival for years to come, though I don’t know if I’d want to commit to running the marathon every year. Because of all the different events, I don’t have to. I can run the half-marathon most years, try the relay or 5K a couple of times and someday run the full marathon again.