I have to start out by saying that I enjoyed this racecation. However, I enjoy them all, so I don’t know if that’s saying much!

Since most of you want to hear about the race itself, I will tell this story out of order and start there. It started in downtown Albuquerque. 2 blocks away there was free parking at a Wells Fargo bank. We were all told it would be limited and first come; first serve. I wanted a space there, so I showed up 2 hours early. And I’m glad I did. Within 50 minutes, all those spots were taken. The aggravating part of this was that Wells Fargo had blocked off about ¾ of their parking lot. I don’t know if that was purposeful or if one maintenance employee wasn’t informed by management what was going on. But, I guess it didn’t impact me as I was early enough!

I was happy to represent the RWB team for the first time. For those who don’t know RWB is a national running group that is geared towards veterans. RWB stands for Red White Blue. As you probably know, veterans have a high suicide rate. This gives them a group to belong to and get active with. It can bring a sense of belonging and accomplishment. And non-veterans are allowed to join too. In the past, I’ve seen many of my friends wear the shirt before. I ordered mine and got to run in it. I also showed up for a group picture before the race to document our comradery.

My main complaint about the race itself was the start line. There were no corrals. Everybody just bunched together at the front. I was stuck halfway in the crowd, but after passing the start line, it may have been close to 3 full minutes before I could actually “run” at my speed. Other than that, the course was fun.

We left the downtown area and ended up on some paths. There were many aid stations. I think there was one at each mile. They were manned by JROTC kids. It was neat to see them. And they all seemed excited to help out. It was a small enough path that there was always the possibility of getting bunched up. But, that didn’t happen to me at any point. At the halfway point, we turned around a barrel and came back. I liked that because it let me know what obstacles were ahead of me (the same ones behind me) and I could tell how far the leaders were in front of me. That said, I know some people don’t like those styles of races. The course was mostly flat. The only “hills” were when we had to run under a street through an underpass. We would have those small inclines to run up, but would also get that benefit of the same sized decline to speed us up.

The finish line was on the main street where we had started at. There were a good number of spectators cheering runners on. They did have bananas, water and bagels at the finish line. But, unlike other races, that’s the only place that we had those items available. So, if you didn’t pace yourself on that single Dixie cup, you were out of water for the remainder of your cool down.

The celebration area (is that what they are called) was decent. I was frustrated that there was no free-beer stands anywhere. Half the reason I run these is so I can get a free beer (the other half is for the medal!) But, they did have a free massage booth. And it wasn’t 4 minutes and you’re done. I am pretty sure I was on that stand for a good 15 minutes or so. I also found in intriguing that there was a Gary Johnson for President booth open. I did not see one bumper sticker, yard sign, etc for either of the main two candidates. But, former Gov. Gary Johnson was represented there at the race.

All and all, it was a good race. I thought it had a good amount of people to make it exciting, yet not too many to make it overwhelming. They need corals, beer and more water stands. But, they have a solid team built. I’m glad I completed my New Mexico race there!

Now that I’m done talking about the race, I’m going to talk about some of the other things I noticed throughout my racecation. Albuquerque was an odd city. My buddy and I had a lot of things to do and look for. As we toured around the town, we never saw a “good area” of town. We went to several parts of the city, but it all seemed run down. And we drove through the downtown area on Saturday (the day before the race) and saw around 3 people walking on the streets. It looked like a ghost city almost; like something out of a sci-fi movie. It was just an odd city. A lot of people said that Santa Fe was close by and was very beautiful. It may have been, but we never checked it out.

I also enjoy eating a greasy cheeseburger after my races. I spend weeks eating “right,” before a race. So, I like to spoil myself afterwards by eating something bad for me. If I’m in California, it’s always In-N-Out! I found a good place in Albuquerque called Blake’s Lottaburger. The burger was great. The fries were good too. I think the Coke seemed a bit flat. Also, it should be noted that I ate there on Sunday (after the race). One of the locations is closed that day. The other locations are open 7 days a week. I’ve never known a chain where some locations close on specific days, but not the others.

The pre-race meal we had was Villa Di Capo. It was a lovely restaurant downtown. It was probably the most beautiful place we went to while in New Mexico. It was a nice place that apparently used to be a couple different stores that were merged into two. The decor was old, yet elegant. It seemed like a throwback to a more civilized time. There was even an outdoor court with a fountain and several planted flowers. The inside appeared to look like something out of a mafia movie, so you know it was legit. The food itself was very good. My friend and I both opted for the pasta. I ordered spicy sausage, and it was actually spicy! Between the spaghetti and the bread, I was stuffed when we left. I probably ate too much, but I knew I would just run it off the next morning.

The shirt seemed to be a size larger than it needed to be. And the medal wasn’t anything more exciting than any other medal I got. But, I wore both of them proudly. This was state 24 for me. One more and I’m half way there! I hope you all continue to follow me through my journeys.