Training and race-day execution can make the difference between those who stiffly struggle and those who smoothly speed up toward the finish.

Training and race-day execution can make the difference between those who stiffly struggle and those who smoothly speed up toward the finish.
After so many trail races, it felt good to line up and take off through the heart of a city in an urban road marathon again. Over 26 miles, I went from feeling like a rock star to feeling like a Southwest jet ready to rip apart and crash land from metal fatigue.
I thought about writing a race report on the Oakland Marathon but decided instead to spotlight 26 reasons why Oakland is a city that runners—and tourists—would love. Besides, I boiled my race report down to a haiku (click through to read the three-line poem).