San Jose Rock and Roll Half Marathon

A look back at the 2008 San Jose Rock and Roll Half Marathon

By Andy Johns

The organizers of the Rock and Roll series of races know how to put on an event. You know how sometimes when you’re working out and you start to feel tired, yet your favorite song comes on and energizes you and suddenly you feel as if you just warmed up? Well, that’s what the Rock and Roll race series is all about.

In short, if the Rock and Roll Marathon had a mascot I would imagine it would look something like this guy. Yeah, it’s that bad ass.

Run like a rock star

Massive crowds of enthused runners, miles of live music from various different bands, street corners and intersections jazzed with the cheers of admiring spectators proud to see their city streets filled with happy, healthy and determined runners.

The 2008 San Jose Rock and Roll Half Marathon was no slouch. I arrived at the race to find runners in Elvis costumes mixed in with some of the best runners in the world. The start line was buzzing with anticipation and after a mile the racers encountered our first live band, strumming deep tones on bass and electric guitar with a mixture of percussion and soulful modern rock lyrics. Yeah, that was just mile one. 12 intense miles later we came to the finish in the heart of metropolitan downtown San Jose. A fitting finish to a fantastic race.

In a nutshell, the San Jose Rock and Roll Half Marathon is flat, fast, fun and for every type of runner. If it’s your first race, you couldn’t have picked a better one. And if you’re a more veteran runner then expect to put up an excellent time. Either way you’ll walk away with some pretty sweet schwag!

So if you’re looking for a great race consider buying an Elvis wig and tight white jumpsuit and sign up! Or, you can just slap on your tennis shoes Either way you should run this race. Me, well, you can expect to see me out there every year now that I’ve had this first experience.

Run hard, run strong!

By the way, you can see a review of other races on MadeToRun such as the Florence Italy Marathon if you’re interested in checking out other races.