WE are super excited that Rock 'n' Roll series added a Half Marathon to their San Diego event. What better a way to run the inaugural half marathon course than to rock the elvis look.
Running Skirts joined the rock 'n' roll marathon elvis team. I have to say our white running skirts, performance tank & blinged out accessories were a great lightweight alternative to some of the other costumes out there....we've got to hand it to "spongebob elvis" for running 26.2 in that costume - wow!
Here's the How to on getting the running Elvis look:
solid white Running Skirt or Athletic Skirt....check!
White or gold strappy top.....check!
White performance mesh tank.....check!
Gold lame cape....check!
Gold Sequin belt.....check!
Gold chains, the more the better......check!
Gold rimmed aviator sunglasses - the bigger and bling-ier the better....check!
For the elvis bouffante - craft your bangs into a big bump - snooky style, then put the rest into a pony tail....check
and - voila! running skirts elvis is in the house!
We had a great time running the new half marathon course in costume. For those of you runners who have never run in a costume - we highly highly recommend trying it at least once. It makes for excellent fun along the course, tons more crowd support and commentary. We made a point to channel our inner elvis & respond to each cheer and "go elvis" with a deep-voiced response "Thank you.....thank you very much!
After coming off the 2 marathons in april and trying to recover from our injuries, we didn't really have PRs in mind for this race. I wanted to kick myself for leaving my garmin at home since I would now have to be running "naked" as we commonly refer to running without timing device. With all the fuss in pulling together the elvis costume, I had completely snoozed it and left the garmin on the kitchen counter. This was surely going to be a recipe for disaster pace-wise for me since I'm infamous for going out too fast and paying the piper later in the last miles of the race. As the gun went off and we charged out trying to work our way through the crowded start, I tried to settle into a good, yet comfortable pace. Passing the 2 mile clock in 12:10 was a big "uh-oh" moment for me and I immediately slowed to what I guessed was a better sustainable pace for the running-shape I'm in (or lack thereof).
The costume was my saving-grace as it provided great crowd support and entertainment throughout the course. I was thrilled to hear "Great job - first elvis!" all along the course. As the wheels came off the bus around 9 miles or so and I started losing position one female at a time, I reminded myself that this was merely supposed to be a fun run. I instead turned my goal from a finish time into merely being the first "elvis" to finish. With a few miles to go, I was passed by "steve-0" from our 10 Mile Wednesday group. He shouted some much-needed words of encouragement and off he went. I plodded along trying to keep him in sight as we approached the sea world finish line, all the while, eyeing the occasional runner that passed me to make sure they weren't wearing white polyester or gold lame!
The roar of the crows was amazing as I came down the finish line chute - what a fun way to finish a rock 'n' roll race....in an elvis costume that is. First Elvis! YES! Christy-elvis and Brooke-elvis finished hot on my blue suede shoes and then the other running skirts elvi came sprinting in one by one. We made our way through the finish-line celebration and were thrilled to discover a few of the UPS gear check ladies, sporting Running Skirts - see photo below!
After we finished the half we re-convened at mile 20 for our "Rockin Otter Pop Stop". We had a great time passing out icy cold deliciousness to all the marathon runners as they passed by the course on their way to the fiesta island portion of the marathon route.
Check out the video of our Rockin Otter Pop Stop! Congrats to all the Marathon finishers - can't wait for next year! Who's up for joining the running skirts elvis team next year?
