Even then, the temperature was forecast to jump pretty quickly after the marine layer burned off, so I headed out as early as I could. I left the house at nautical dawn (5:53) and drove to the beach. It was still dark when I stepped out of the car to begin my run (6:07). A really bright light was pointing in my direction as I approached the beach parking lot which made it quite hard to see anything else. I half imagined it was police officer holding a flashlight, but as I got closer I realized it was just a light to illuminate the traffic spikes.
I wasn't sure what I was going to be able to see as I reached one of the ramps down to the beach. The parking lot itself has no lighting, but the overcast sky was just bright enough that the white foam of the surf and, more importantly, the bike path were indeed visible...so down I went. I was surprised to find the restrooms lit (many public restrooms don't have power). There were other runners on the bike path. I even saw someone riding their bike without a headlight. Obviously I wasn't the only one trying to beat the heat by starting well before sunrise. It was even easier to see as I reached the Esplanade because illumination from streetlights on the beach side easily reached the bike path...not that it would have matter that much since civil dawn arrived by the time I was running below the avenues.
As I very rarely run along the beach before sunrise, I could not resist taking photos of a few things...including around Redondo Beach Pier. Sunrise happened at 6:48, just after I passed by the Shade Hotel (I hadn't seen its illuminated blue strips because I rarely go by there when they are lit), not that I could see the sun because the marine layer was nice and thick. I was happy with the early morning temperature...probably around 67 degrees and not too humid.
This was my third time running this "Sea to the Sea" course, a run inspired by my frustration with L.A. Marathon having lost the "to the Sea" portion of their course after 2020 (the last time I ran it). The first time I ran it was in 2023 on the day of the L.A. Marathon. Last year, I did it on the day of Long Beach's event. During the latter, I noticed signage for the Bellona Wetlands Ecological Reserve as I ran towards Fisherman's Village in Marina del Rey. Some days after that run, I went back to check out the reserve (hoping to photograph some interesting birds). The particular area I had run by only has a single looping trail that is roughly a half mile long and there wasn't that much to see...but I realized I could easily add the loop to my "Sea to the Sea" course and just turn back at Fisherman's Village rather than continue further into Marina del Rey. So that's what I did. I hit my half marathon split early into the loop...2:15:20...not a fast time by any means, but fairly typical for me when I am not training for races. I didn't see any birds this time which was probably a good thing because I had already stopped longer than I should have to record video of an egret fishing along Ballona Creek.
The sun started to burn through the marine layer as I took a selfie in front of the sign for Fisherman's Village. This was forecast to happen here around 9am...and was my primary motivation for starting so early. It was now 9:03. I definitely had spent too much time at Ballona Creek. As I continued along the water through Fisherman's Village, I couldn't resist taking more photos of the birds...especially when I saw how many pelicans, gulls, egrets, and herons were trying to get at a fishing boat's haul as it docked. And then I spotted a motionless fin sticking out of the water near Lifeguard boats. I had to capture video of it when I realized its head would briefly poke out of the water from time-to-time.
As I started back towards the beach, I felt like I was now trying to catch the marine layer before it fully dissipated. I was starting to feel the heat and I was regretting the time I wasted in the marina. My pace drops pretty dramatically when I feel the heat. While I ran south along the bike path, the sun only briefly hit at full strength, but also only briefly became fully consumed by the clouds. Most of the time the direct rays were partially dispersed to some degree...so the temperature stayed manageable, but it definitely was not as cool as it had been during the first half.
I didn't entirely beat the heat, but was happy to complete the distance within 5 hours...moving time....and just barely. I was definitely out there longer than I had hoped, partly because I got caught up trying to catch video of an egret fishing (I started recording after the bird had been hopping from rock to rock...and just got a whole lot of footage where the bird barely moves anything other than its head), partly because I watched a bunch of birds (egrets, pelicans, seagulls, great blue herons) try to get at a fishing boat's haul as it docked in Marina del Rey, and also because I caught video of what I initially thought was a dead sea lion (just a fin was sticking out of the water, but every so often its head would briefly appear)
