Today’s route brought us past two locales very important to me: the town of Carmel, where I proposed to Brynn, and Big Sur, where I ran one of my favorite marathons only weeks before the start of BPR.

Carmel-by-the-sea is a small scenic town perched above a beautiful stretch of the California coast just south of the famous 17-mile Drive. Despite the high number of tourists, the place has somehow kept its charm. On a sunny and warm December day in 2005, I popped the question while we sat on the beach watching the sun set. Brynn was so surprised, she didn’t quite understand the immediacy of my question, “will you marry me?” She responded with, “of course we’ll get married one day.” When I asked her again, ring in hand, she finally understood and said, “Oh, you mean NOW! Wow, I don’t know what to say!” After coaching her that she could start by saying “yes”, she gleefully gave me a huge kiss and agreed.

Immediately south of Carmel, Hwy 1 winds its way along the jagged cliffs of the California coast through an area known as Big Sur. Anyone who has driven between LA and San Francisco knows that this stretch of road is one of the most scenic in the world. Each year, thousands of lucky runners get treated to the spectacular ocean views in the Big Sur Marathon, which is universally regarded as the most scenic marathon in the US. Today, Team Orange had the same pleasure of running along the route, albeit in the opposite direction. About five weeks before the start of BPR, I competed in the marathon and had one of my best race experiences ever, finishing much faster than I anticipated, and blown away by the scenery. My leg today retraced the first 10 miles of the marathon in reverse, as I finished only meters from the race start.