Baker's Dozen Half Marathon Race Report 2013

When was the last time you GAINED weight during a race? This is where the Baker's Dozen Half Marathon comes in.

Let's just say that you haven't yet had the pleasure of running the Baker's Dozen Half Marathon. I will fill you in on the ingredients of this race.

First you need a slightly nerdy race director willing to dress up as Buddy the Elf and wear yellow tights in public. (Um....that would be me.) That person must have an amazing wife who will help pull things together behind the scenes. And that person must have three kids willing to help stuff a couple hundred race packets a few days before the race.

An awesome race shirt is a must. (Thanks Cherie!)

Then you need to add some of the finest, nicest, happiest, funniest runners this side of Disneyland.

Forget all those nasty chomps and nasty GU packets you eat during a race. Let's go with the good stuff! Heavenly cupcakes from The Sweet Tooth Fairy. Delictable cookies from The Sugar Cookie. Gourmet donuts from The Fractured Prune. Incredible cookies from Cravings. Scrumptious glazed donuts from Lin's. NOW WE'RE TALKING!!!!

The race course consists of four loops of 3.2 miles. In order to earn a medal, runners must eat a treat after each loop at the Sugar Shack. A volunteer marks your hand to make sure you have partaken:

The morning started off a bit chilly. But fear not. There is plenty of sugar to give the body some extra padding. A delicious cupcake will make anyone happy, even if it's cold outside.

There were some awesome costumes at the race, including this guy. Note to self: wearing a full body tight Spandex suit drives the ladies WILD.

I was madly in love with the shirt my friend Melissa made. It's fun to see how much the running thing has caught on:

Holy Aunt Jemima, people can catch some serious air when their veins are coursing with high fructose corn syrup.  Here are some mid-race shots me and photographer Alex Santiago caught:

Runners also had the opportunity to compete for the award of Sugar Slayer - the male and female who eat the most treats. It is beyond hilarious watching people cram down treats while running. Check out all the marks this guy earned:

This is one of my very favorite race pictures. He is clearly hating the decision he made to go for Sugar Slayer. (Shockingly he did not throw up!)

The female winners were Laura and Rebecca who traveled to the race from Denver. After losing the Sugar Slayer competition last year, they came determined in 2013. They consumed a nauseating 28 snacks.......and won a gigantic bag of taffy.

The male winner retained his title from last year. My good friend Micah ate an astonishing 36 treats. Incredible.

I kept having a problem with race finishers. Large numbers of runners must have been nearing a diabetic coma because they kept trying to eat the race medal:

One of the best parts of the day was watching my son Jackson complete his first ever half marathon with my friend Adam and Adam's son. It was an amazing thing to watch.

After the race Jackson said "In the middle of the race I wasn't sure if I could do it. But Adam helped me see that I'm capable of more than I thought." Running has taught me that same exact thing.