She Runs by the Seashore

Disclaimer: Brooks Running provided me with the Brooks Hype Fest experience (lodging, food and activities).

For three days in Santa Monica, everywhere we went, we saw other members of the Brooks Run Happy Team. From the Brooks Venice Pop-Up to a beach party, a banana run and interesting speakers, so much fun was packed into such a short time.

My trip started on Wednesday, Aug. 16, when I flew out of Salisbury in the afternoon and connected through Charlotte to make it to LAX. It had been a long day of travel, and by the time I landed, it was around midnight “my time” and about 9 p.m. Pacific Time. I’d booked a hotel near the airport, where I had some food and a drink before going to bed.

The next morning, I got up early and took an Uber to Downtown Los Angeles to meet Run Happy Team member Kendra for a 5:30 a.m. run. Kendra had posted in our group Slack and I wanted to explore as much as possible and meet her, of course, so I was excited to take her up on the offer. We met at The Bloc and she led me on a 4.7-mile route that included the Sixth Street Viaduct, which offered really cool views of the city. We also got to see some fun murals. It seemed like there was public art everywhere!

We got coffee at Blue Bottle Coffee and then once Grand Central Market opened at 8 a.m., we had a delicious breakfast at Eggslut. I was surprised that places opened so late — coffee places open earlier in Salisbury!

By the time I was ready to head back to my hotel and get ready for the rest of my day, the Uber fee had changed from $18-something to $86-something, so Kendra helped me navigate the Metro, and I headed back.

When I arrived at the Hilton Santa Monica Inn & Suites, the home base for the Brooks Hype Fest activities, I got there a few hours before check-in but immediately found a group of Run Happy Team members in the lobby. There were Brooks accents throughout the hotel, such as pillows, door hangers, inflatables and decorations. I was able to put my stuff in Kristin’s room, and we headed out to get lunch. Most of us ate at a taco spot and then headed to the Santa Monica Pier, where we did some exploring, got some photos and rode the roller coaster.

After that, I had a chance to check in, and finally meet some members of the Brooks and BibRave staff — some of whom I’ve known for several years! — before the welcome dinner. We were each given a bag of Brooks apparel, a belt bag/fanny pack, a lunch bag, sunglasses and a color-changing water bottle, along with a scavenger hunt Bingo card.

The welcome dinner included a “speed-friending” activity in which we created two lines and one line moved, so you would talk to someone new every few minutes. There were so many people that it got loud, but it was exciting to be around so many fellow members of the team. I met my roommate, Bonnie, at the party, and she was an awesome roommate and fun to hang out with.

Run Happy Team member Nick organized some ice cream outings, and the first day, the group went to McConnell’s Fine Ice Creams. I went earlier with a group because the dinner ended early, but I didn’t mind making the walk again, so I headed out with the main group as well (just for the walk the second time).

At 7:30 a.m. Friday, I was part of the pink team for a scavenger hunt at the Brooks Venice Pop-Up at 1511 Abbot Kinney in Venice. The store is open 11 a.m.-7 p.m. through Oct. 28 if you’re in the area and want to stop by.

There were two teams who had marked down the same approximate pace, so we combined as one large team to find the three scavenger hunt items, which were not difficult to find and up for interpretation — something that floats, something supportive and something fast. We walked instead of ran and had fun with some creative opportunities. Shun even directed a guy with a fast car to make an ideal “something fast” video for us. At the store, we each got a pair of the new Hyperion shoes, a bucket hat and breakfast.

The views in this area were cool and different from what I’m used to — fancy shops and palm trees. I walked back to the hotel with a small group, which allowed us to look around, explore and chat.

We then learned more about the Hyperion from Bre, a Brooks Guru, and some of us swapped friendship bracelets or other items we’d made (Lauren made sunglasses and Shana made photo frames). We then had the choice of several activities to partake in. I decided to do the group sightseeing run led by Greg and Gina, which was about 3.8 miles. We got to see different Santa Monica sights and took several photo stops along the way. We also stopped at Sidecar Donuts, which was fun.

Mikah Meyer, a Run Happy Advocate, spoke to us about his journey to visit all the U.S. National Park Service sites in one continuous visit (it took about three years, and he spent time in each) as well as his experience doing this and being active in the endurance community as a gay man.

That evening was the Speed Party at the hotel. People came up with all kinds of creative speed-related outfits. I got a shirt from Amazon from the 1984 Olympics, which were held in Los Angeles and featured the first women’s Olympic marathon, and I also wore my new Hyperions. There were race car drivers, pit crew members, inflatable dinosaurs and more.

Relay Relay, made up of Run Happy Team members and couple Hannah and Jamie Rowen, played at the party, which was awesome. I also was selected as one of the winners of the scavenger hunt and will get a free pair of shoes.

After the party, there was another ice cream walk led by Nick, this time to Dolcenero Gelato — another good spot!

Saturday morning activities started at 5:30 a.m., when I met a group to run before the group run. I didn’t need to get in any super-long miles, but even though I wasn’t going to bed super early, I was still operating on the fact that 5:30 a.m. on the West Coast is like 8:30 a.m. my time here on the East Coast. There were others with us at times, but I was with Stephanie, Cortney and Justin for the whole run.

We did a run-walk for 4.5 miles, and then I found Stephanie again for the main group run so we could continue our run-walk intervals. Stephanie and I have known each other online for a long time through BibRave and Brooks, so it was great to officially meet and run together!

The group run to Champs was about 3.5 miles, including an out-and-back along the Ocean Front Walk, during which we got to see other runners in our 170-ish-person group. We also saw lots of groups of the LA Leggers, a local running club.

Once at Champs, we had coffee and acai bowls and then participated in a question-and-answer session with another Run Happy Advocate, Alison Désir. I read her book, “Running While Black,” and really enjoyed it and the new perspective it gave me. I had been on a Zoom with her last year, but it was awesome to be able to do this in person.

There are several of us on the Brooks Run Happy Team who are also BibRave Pros, so we met up for a photo in our BibRave gear. After that, it was time to head to the beach for a beach party, which was also an opportunity to get some social media content with groups. Really, many of us were taking videos or photos or asking people to do things for reels the whole time, and since we all make content as part of being on the Run Happy Team, it seemed like anyone was up for any reel idea.

Once I got back to the hotel, I did a FaceTime call with Kelly, who was participating in the virtual Brooks Hype Fest, and showed her around a bit.

Then, we headed to Santa Monica Brew Works for the Vaporwave party. I wore an Eastern Shore Running Club shirt with a sun design, as it seemed to fit in with the theme. I’m a fan of craft beer and enjoyed checking out the brewery, although it was warm inside, so the outside temperature felt better.

On Thursday, Friday and Saturday, I’d logged over 30,000 steps each day, and between all the activity, the lack of sleep and the party at a brewery, I was exhausted the following morning, but I got up for a Sunday morning banana run sponsored by Chiquita.

Several of us had purchased banana hats on Amazon, and there were also some runners wearing banana suits, in addition to people carrying inflatable bananas. The run was only about 1.7 miles with plenty of photo stops, and it was fun to see the reactions of others as our banana “bunch” made its way through town and the Santa Monica Pier. There was a banana breakfast afterward.

After the official events ended, Kristin, Frankie and I went to In-N-Out Burger, which was fun. This had been one of the optional activities on Saturday, and I was glad we made it there during our trip.

As the end of Brooks Hype Fest neared, Hurricane Hilary was on its way. Some people left early to avoid the storm, but having traveled all the way from Maryland and having experienced hurricanes before, I decided to keep my original flight, for Monday, Aug. 21. Actually, the last time I flew for vacation, when I went to Florida to celebrate my sister’s birthday in November 2022, I ended up stuck in Hurricane Nicole, and the whole city of New Smyrna Beach shut down (I didn’t have to change my flights). The hurricane didn’t impact my trip home, even though I did get stuck in Charlotte overnight.

It looked like there were areas that got it worse, but thankfully, it was just rainy where I was. I’d wanted to head up to the Hollywood area and go to the Brady Bunch House, but I decided not to venture too far north because I wasn’t sure what the conditions would be like and I didn’t rent a car. Instead, I took a nap (I hate to “waste time” on vacation, but I needed it) and then had dinner at a place in Manhattan Beach called Fishing With Dynamite that mentioned an Eastern Shore of Virginia influence on its website (that’s not far from where I live, and something I was surprised to see in California!).

The next morning, I ran from my hotel into Inglewood, running past Issa’s apartment in the show “Insecure” and ending my run at Randy’s Donuts. It was then time to head back to Maryland.

I had a great time at Brooks Hype Fest, and it was so fun to meet many of the Run Happy Team members in person. There were also several people who asked what we were doing — we’d been traveling around the city in matching outfits, so it was hard to miss us — which was also cool.

Brooks is so generous to the Run Happy Team, and I’m thankful for this experience.

Read another recap from Wendy – Taking the Long Way Home