Everyone has bucket list races, right? I’ve had two on my list for some time: New York City Marathon and Big Sur Marathon. Two years ago, I entered the lottery for NYC for the first time, and I got in! I couldn’t believe my luck. It was everything I had hoped it would be and more, but that’s another story for another time.
So this year, I decided to put my name in for Big Sur. I figured my chances were pretty low because the field is small. But I put my name in anyway, and then totally forgot when the drawing was. Then on Tuesday afternoon I’m in the middle of my workday, just returned from lunch, when I see a notification pop up on my phone from The Big Sur International Marathon, with the subject line Application Update, and then the first word of the email, Congratulations. My mouth fell open and I quickly unlocked my phone to read the email. I work in cyber security so I legit thought it was a phishing attempt. However, I quickly realized it was real
Who enters lotteries for two bucket races and gets in on their first try?!
And for anyone who doesn’t understand the appeal of this race, check out this course tour, which breaks down what you see mile-by-mile.
Mike and I are definitely turning this into a racecation and I’m so ready to plan our trip! Right now, we have a hotel booked in Monterey, but we’re planning to leave there the day after the race. Where all should we go? So far, people have recommended Santa Cruz, Half Moon Bay, San Francisco, and Napa. We’re tentatively planning to fly round trip into San Francisco or San Jose because it all appears to be a relatively easy drive to Monterey, and then we’ll just work our way back north.
But I’m at a total loss. What towns should we stay in? And what should we do and where should we eat while we’re there? Is it possible to do Napa on a budget? We love National Parks and neither of us have been to that part of the country, so we want to make the most out of this trip. If you’ve been there or live there, what do you recommend?
I Was Running 