The 12 Days of Running

Given that it’s “12 Days before Christmas,” I made a list {and checked it twice} of the most popular holiday races to share with friends who are looking for something fun and festive to do with their kids – or their friends who simply act like kids – this holiday season. Plus, I couldn’t let a perfectly good #12-12-12 news hook go to waste.

So, here are my Top 12 Picks for races to run, over the next 12 days, in 12 different cities across the U.S.:

1.  The "Running of the Santas"

Not unlike Madrid’s famous “Running of the Bulls” in Spain, this race has plenty of wild animals running the streets. I would best describe this event as part-5K race, part-Pub crawl in that it begins at a bar and ends at a bar and well, if you’re into that sort of thing, what could be more jolly than that? Originating in Philadelphia, this race has become so popular it has expanded to two other cities (New Orleans and Atlantic City) and in the words of Tiny Tim, may the Lord bless them… each and every one. They're going to need it in the morning.

http://www.runningofthesantas.com/

2.  Re-Invent Yourself in Silicon Valley

For my Northern Cal friends, I’ve chosen a more family-oriented race. I love the downtown partnership that is San Jose/Silicon Valley. After all, where else can you see young upwardly-mobile families mingling with the next Mark Zuckerberg? Grab yourself a hot cocoa and enjoy this family-friendly race which loops around the Downtown Ice rink and provides joy for kids from one to 92.

http://sjdowntown.com/santa-run-silicon-valley/

3.  "Reindeer Run" Santa Monica

If you’re in the L.A. area, this is a fun, festive race set to the backdrop of Santa Monica’s famous pier and ferris wheel.

http://www.active.com/running/santa-monica-ca/reindeer-run-2012

4. Laughing All the Way

If running a race weren’t hard enough as it is, try this on for size: Ri Ra’s Irish Pub in Vermont sponsors a Santa Run that requires all runners to wear a full-size Santa suit (which comes with your paid Registration.)  Have your own stuffed suit? No worries, chubby, you can bring your own and get a discounted Registration.

http://www.events.runningroom.com/site/?raceId=7619

5. Jolly Old St. Nicholas

Jolly Old Londontown is, well, not so jolly when outdone by us Yankees. So they’ve put together an entire month of Santa Runs in our festive American tradition in case you find yourself across the pond for winter. But I’ve got news for the Brits – we red-blooded Americans don’t like to be outdone, either. Let's not forget that our Seal Team Six knows how to up-stage a fancy Royal Wedding. And we won’t hesitate to shoot down any errant reindeer, either (just ask Sarah Palin). So, all of you lads and lasses in your fancy 8-hours-ahead timezone, let's keep it moving and send Santa our way. We’re waiting for him. Spit-spot.

 http://www.santadash.co.uk/

6.  Run for a Cause

As you know from this blog, one of my favourite things in life is to run a race, and to run it for a good cause. My most recent run for charity was the Thanksgiving Day Turkey Trot 5K race in San Diego, which benefited Father Joe’s Villages to help feed and house the homeless. Fact: during the holidays, most fun runs donate their proceeds to charity. If you're on the east coast, check out this one in Boston which takes you through historic neighborhoods and is sponsored by the establishment that inspired the TV series “Cheers.”

http://runagainstcancer.org/holiday-5k/

7. "Santa to the Sea"

One of my girlfriends and her husband just ran Oxnard’s “Santa to the Sea” Half Marathon. A half marathon during the holidays? Now that’s impressive!

http://www.santatothesea.com/

8. Jingle Bell Jaunt

I'm not sure if it still exists anymore (read: I couldn't find it anywhere) but the Jingle Bell Jaunt in Long Beach, California has historically been not only a race but an event that marks the official kickoff of the holiday season along Long Beach’s funky “2nd Street.” The memory of my first Christmas in California is a good one, spent hunting and pecking through the sweet little shops with the most unique, thoughtful gifts I ever did see. Whenever I think of Christmas in California, I think of the salty air and this little seaside memory.

http://www.active.com/running/long-beach-ca/jingle-bell-jaunt-2010

9. Santa Runs Tacoma

Beyonce may think that girls run the world, but I think it's Santa. Turns out, he runs Tacoma, too.  For those of you in the Seattle area (and I know there are a few of you here), visit this family-oriented race:

http://www.santarunstacoma.com/

10. Your Treadmill

No list would be complete without mentioning that you can create your own personal “5K a Day” in your own home, your own gym, or your own neighborhood. After all, that’s how this very blog got started. After running the Coronado Bridge 5K one Saturday last year, I mused aloud about "the runner's high" and why couldn't I feel that good every day? And so the idea was born. That’s why this item makes the list here as my perfect “10.” Here, the original post that started it all:

http://5kaday2011.blogspot.com/2011/07/bridge-to-anywhere.html

11. Right down Christmas Tree Lane

While my attention is often focused on Coastal races, we can’t forget about those who live and work in the “bread basket of the world," the Central Valley of California. While you’re running those carbs off this holiday season, check out the Jingle Bell 5K race in Fresno, which takes you right down Christmas Tree Lane in the town square.

http://laraces.com/race/11313

12.  Ring in the New Year

In closing, there is one race that caught my attention, and that is the Los Angeles New Year’s Half Marathon and 5K, which kicks off at the stroke of midnight. Talk about getting the year off on the right foot. I don’t know about you but I’m inclined to be clinking a champagne glass that night, at that exact hour. However, the opportunity to actually run through downtown L.A. at midnight and not get shot? Sounds just intriguing enough to look into:

http://www.newyearsrace.com/

A Return to Sanity

As the Grateful Dead once said, “What a long, strange trip it’s been.”

It would be an understatement to say that the 2012 Election year was arduous and somewhat strange for me, both personally and professionally. It was filled with new jobs, which later became lost jobs (due to California budget cuts), losses of Elections that were important to me, and being there in the final days for many highly-qualified friends who placed their names on the ballot for the first time – only to be crushed to find out that they, too, had lost.  It was a rough year, one which I’m not ashamed to admit I took hard. And I’m not embarrassed to say, as someone who had only lost one or two races in the prior ten years, it took me a full five weeks from Election Day to get over the losses. I am human, after all.

While I don’t often talk Politics on this blog, it’s a fact that my bio states here that I am a "Press Secretary by day, and a Runner by night" (...or morning, or the lunch hour, or whatever 15-minute period I can eek out.)  Honestly, this year it was pretty much wherever I could fit it in along the campaign trail. Sure, I got by just fine. However, after ten years on the road, I was left wanting more. Amid Election results that were wildly un-balanced, it comes as no surprise that I emerged on the other side craving more balance.

Which can only mean one thing: It’s time for a return to sanity.

I spent the weekend retreating –  a word not often looked upon with a great deal of favour in politics, or war, which I believe are nearly one in the same. But the truth is, it is necessary for the body and soul to retreat on occasion. No matter what little white lies we tell ourselves (that 3 ½ hours at night is plenty of sleep in a pinch), the truth is that human beings need proper rest to function. So does the mind. So does the soul.

This past weekend, I retreated to a cliffside beach not only to run, but for meditation and yoga – two things which I have often viewed in terms of being “out there,” politically speaking. But I’m coming around to the feel-good, meditative lifestyle I have shunned for so many years. After all, in my business it’s all about who can hit the hardest, work the longest, shout the loudest. But after this Election, voters sent a message that they’re not into that anymore. In fact, they’re not into much of anything that I’m into. So, it’s time to re-calibrate, re-invent. Time to do things a bit differently.

Does this mean I’m no longer a pitbull? Of course it doesn't. I'm still as feisty as I ever was when I came onto this planet, and I am steeled to my newly-centered core. I am simply choosing to fight with a bit of a different weapon, to channel my energy from a place of calm, instead of the angst we've all grown accustomed to. I’m only a week into it but so far, I like this new feeling – and more importantly, I’m certain my opponents won’t.

To the small group of loyal followers here, I admit that amid the fervor and the noise and the finger-pointing this Election season, my own fingers strayed from this very keyboard and my posts to you. At times, I even strayed from my own tightly-disciplined running regimen. But I pledge to you (and probably even more importantly, to myself) the words of a famous politician, “Read my lips: No new lapses.”  I hereby commit to take more time to enjoy the little things in life, and to make more time for the running which so clears my head and soothes my soul.  A new year is upon us and in the spirit of renewal I, for one, intend to consistently make the best of each and every day life has to offer – no matter how much noise will undoubtedly swirl about.

My new mission is to be a rock, a good friend, and a solid place of quiet refuge for my friends who are still in this fight with me. It’s the best way I can continue to give back to the life that has given me so much.

Namaste.