Challenging Myself: California Dreamin’ Racing Cup

Contributed by Ashley Jones

Ashley Jones is 2016 San Francisco Marathon Ambassador who will qualify for the California Dreamin’ Racing Cup by completing the Surf City Half Marathon on Sunday, February 7. She also plans to complete the SF/Berkeley Challenge this year.

On Sunday, I will run the Surf City Half Marathon in Huntington Beach, CA. By completing this race, I will have qualified for the California Dreamin’ Racing Cup. Yesssssssss! As you can see from the graphic above:

All you have to do is run both the Surf City Marathon/Half Marathon and the San Francisco Full/Half Marathon and you get a fancy medal!

Sounds simple right? It’s not. Running 13.1 miles, or 26.2 miles takes time. It’s takes effort. It takes dedication. They don’t just hand these medals out to every athletic lookin’ dude or dudette on the street. No, no they don’t.

You have to earn it.

This medal isn’t just earned on race day. It is earned in the early mornings. It is earned in the snow, in the heat, and in the rain. It is earned in July, in December, and in March. It is earned on the weekends when you would rather sleep in. It’s crazy to think that one simple medal could represent so much.

My California Dreamin’ medal might be one of twenty-two medals hanging on my medal rack. (Yes, I counted them.) But it represents so much more. For me, it represents 2 years of hard work. It represents my vindication over the injury that caused me to DNS in 2014 at the Surf City Marathon. It represents how I clawed my way back from that same injury to finish one of the most challenging half marathons of my life, the San Francisco Half Marathon.

So needless to say, I am looking forward to wearing that medal around my neck for a while. Who knows, I might even wear it to sleep!

Ready to push yourself? Click here to learn more about TSFM Challenges.