On March 5^th the Napa Valley Marathon was held under very cloudy skies. The rain was coming down at a good clip, and unfortunately the pre-race weather conditions projected at the previous days “Marathon College” were coming true.

Worth mentioning were the May 4^th Pasta party and marathon college both premier, well organized events.

The 2006 event would mark only the second time in the races 28 year history that participants would get a shower. This bodes well for those maniacs who have trained in the Pacific Northwest; but it doesn’t necessarily mean we look foreword to it!

Along the very scenic and rolling hills of Napa Valley’s wine country we encountered pleasant pockets of fans-which had obviously got the word that were passing through, and braved the very inclement weather to support us. For a mid size marathon in a rural area I was impressed by the number of fans at the designated “cheering” intersections...

I would be remiss if I didn’t mention that in addition to the rain, which came down steadily through race morning, we were also accosted by a fairly strong wind, which relented slightly when the course turned.

Over the rolling vineyard hills could be observed among other things: stately mansion style houses, trees wrought with varies bird species, multiple wineries (I count myself among those who took advantage of the little publicized “15 % marathoner discount that many local wineries offered), and a pink metal bovine (cow).

The finisher’s medal was of a unique multi-colored variety, and the first “spinning” medal I have received. The long sleeve color shirt of a technical material was accompanied by a race logo embroidered sweat bag complete with a logo tag and race number!

The following maniacs completed the event:

Sean Meissner 2:51:11 (narrowly missed 3^rd place in his age group)

Deo Jaravat 3:39:33

Eddie Hahn 3:41:25 (Author)

Gary Guess 3:56:35

Robert “sr Lopez “ 4:01:35

Dana Mosell 5:29:48