I killed the hill!

The inaugural Hollywood Half Marathon has come and gone - and what a race it was!

The race started off at the main gate of Universal Studios with 6100 of my closest running buddies. It was 5:45am, a little chilly and still dark. My sister Kim and I made our way through the crowds to the 9 minute/mile corral and started to soak in the excitement of the morning. Thankfully, the race organizers did a fantastic job of staggering the start times to avoid congestion at the start line.

Passing beneath the immense Universal Studios globe, we started our watches and set off for the neon glow and curving, narrow cobblestones of City Walk. The sound of thousands of sneakers filled the air and everyone was running along with excited smiles and whoops of joy. It was the most fantastic start to a race I have ever experienced!

Once through the cobbles, we headed South down the steep hills of Hollywood toward the infamous intersection at Hollywood & Highland. Knowing the first 4K were downhill, we picked up the pace and let our legs fly. Originally, we thought the uphill on the return was "only" 2.5K, but it turned out to be 3K! So, with the final few kilometers of the race back up this killer hill, we tried to gain as much time as possible on this section.

As we made the turn from Highland onto Hollywood Boulevard, the crowds cheered us on and we started the flat, middle section along the Walk of Fame. By now, the sun was up and the sky was clear. We passed a guy running along balancing a watermelon on his head. It was the most hilarious thing to see! How he managed to finish the race, I'll never know, but the message boards say he did! Possibly due to this distraction, we accidentally missed the first water station at the 5K point, so we had to change our hydration tactics a bit.

By the time we hit the turnaround on Sunset Boulevard, 57 minutes had passed and our legs were still feeling strong. But, just before the 15K mark, my quads started to tighten up and I knew I'd need a quick walk break. Within a minute, we were off again. We hit the Clif Shot station and grabbed two packs each. I'm not sure whether it was that the Gu was warm or the fact that I'd never taken one before, but I was gagging and sputtering within seconds of sucking this thing back! Lesson learned? Don't try new shit during a race!

We arrived, once again, at Hollywood & Highland and started the 3K climb up "The Hill". To top it off, we got hit with an insane head wind. By this point, the water stations had run out of cups - the only shitty part about the race. Luckily, we had our Batman belts to refill at each station.

The inspiration songs I had added to my race soundtrack kicked in and onward we plodded. There was no way to run up this thing quickly. The hill went on forever! By now, the theme song for Baywatch was blasting in my ears. Don't judge me: I figured I'd need a fun song to keep me smiling. This was a 3K hill after all! This is when I started belting out "I'll Be There" at the top of my lungs. I can't sing on a good day, so you can imagine how shrill it was on a steep incline after 20K!

When I realized the top of this monster was steps away, I felt like I'd just climbed Everest. We had killed the hill! The rush was amazing and I admit, I got a bit weepy when I saw the red carpet finish line 700 yards away at the bottom of a fast hill.

We kicked it up a notch and started passing other runners on the way to the awesome finisher's medal. After 2 hours, 16 minutes and 3 seconds, Kim and I crossed the finish line on the red carpet holding hands - just like we did at Surf City. Only this time, we were 13 seconds faster!

What a fantastic race! At some point, I will be doing this race again, just to see if I can gain some more time on that killer hill. I encourage all my fellow runners to run Hollywood and Kill the Hill!

Promenading down City Walk after the race!

The most amazing post-race portrait ever!

Wouldn't you run 21.1K for this awesome race bling?!