Rock n Roll Los Angeles Recap

Last year after running Rock n Roll Los Angeles, I quickly signed up again to get the great price promotion they had going on.  Then I forgot about it.  But alas, this past weekend, it was that time again to head up to Los Angeles for another Rock n Roll event. I went up with Michelle and we left Saturday morning—there is no remix challenge for this race, so going up Saturday gave us plenty of time to hit up the expo and be ready for Sunday’s race.  

After checking into our hotel, we headed over to the Los Angeles Convention Center for the expo—so many people!! Not only was the race expo happening here, so was the Stan Lee Comicon.  The costumes were fun, but it was a little overwhelming to be surrounded by so many people.  After making our ways through the crowd, we found the expo.  Getting our bibs and shirts was easy and we headed into the main area to meet up with Stephanie.  We had fun at the expo catching up with other runner friends we saw, but overall I was disappointed in the what the expo had.  It seemed small which is not what I’m used to from other RnR events.  After our expo shenanigans, we headed back to our hotel to rest for a bit.  Later, we met Stephanie at the Yard House for dinner, followed by a trip to Sprinkles Cupcakes.  If was the perfect way to carb load before heading back to the hotel and get race ready.

We woke up Sunday and headed down to the start line area for a quick We Run Social meet-up/picture opportunity and then it was off to the corrals.  On Saturday, I had talked to Megan and she was going to pace me on Sunday in an attempt to get a PR so we headed to the corrals with Charlotte.  After a quick National Anthem, the rolling starts began and we were off. 

I found Waldo! Megan & Charlotte 

Photo Credit: WeRunSocial

The race didn’t go as I had hoped.  I felt good for the first ten miles but then I hit a wall.  I still had contusions from a fall earlier in the month and my leg was in a lot of pain.  I also started cramping and while I could run most of them out, I did have to stop a couple times to stretch.  I am so grateful for Megan who stayed with me the entire time.  I am disappointed in my time, but I also know that I ran what I could.  I also know that I had a great time!  I loved seeing the costumes and although some people don’t like an out-and-back course, I enjoy seeing my friends in passing and cheering them on.  

Ice, ice baby!

Of all the RnR events I’ve run, Los Angeles is my least favorite.  All the other RnR events are on point and Los Angeles seems to need some fine tuning.  I didn’t like this year’s course change—I know that is in part due to city regulations, but I was not a fan of all the rolling hills and I feel like we saw more LA sites last year.   Will I run it again? Probably. (Although I did notice that there was not a post-race email sent out to sign up like in other cities, which makes me think that something might be changing).

So grateful for Megan!

Although I didn’t love the race, I did have an awesome weekend.  I love being able to see so many of my running friends and this seemed like a mini-reunion for runDisney Superheroes weekend coming up.  The people were the best part about this weekend and I can’t wait to see them again!

Have you ever run a race that you didn’t love? Would you run it again?

Until next time, happy running.
Jenn13.1