ROCK ‘n’ ROLL ‘n’ RUNNING
Fremont couple Ron and Susan Carino have completed 100 Rock ‘n’ Roll marathons
SAN JOSE >> Depending on who you ask, they’re the “rock ‘n’ roll groupies,” a “bunch of crazies,” or the “gypsy runners” — an elite group of footracers who have hit the century mark.
That’s 100 Rock ‘n’ Roll Marathon events for Ron and Susan Carino of Fremont, who became the eighth and ninth die-hards — and the first couple — to join the club as they crossed the 13.1-mile endpoint of the halfmarathon minutes after 11 a.m. Sunday.
Breaching a banner held up by Ron Carino’s brother Eric and father, Enrique, they were enveloped by a group of fellow runners who broke the 100 threshold before them, welcoming them to the club. Susan Carino said that’s what keeps them coming back, traveling the country and beyond to hit about 16 events a year.
“It’s the people we meet,” Carino said. “We all know each other, we see each other at races every other week. Sometimes we see
them more than we see our actual families.”
Ron Carino, 50, acknowledged he started running late — part of a “bucket list” of things to do that became an obsession. And the bucket list has since been adjusted accordingly.
“I used to want to eat a meal in all 50 states,” he said. “Now I want to run a race in every state.”
The Rock ‘n’ Roll has been in San Jose for 12 years — one of about 30 Rock ‘n’ Rolls held annually. It’s growing, with the latest run added this year in Chengdu, China. Marathon vice president of events Alex Bennett said San Jose was an early entry, one in the first handful of cities selected after the original event in San Diego in 1998.
“It’s an iconic course — fast, flat, scenic,” he said. “We get a lot of pros here, people qualifying for Olympic trials. We had seven runners coming in at under 65 minutes. That’s a fast half.”
The San Jose run attracts about 15,000 people, starting on Saturday with a 5K, followed by Sunday’s half marathon and 10K. The rock ‘n’ roll part of the race comes from music and entertainment along the course, including cheer squads, local bands, and ‘90s alternative rockers Letters to Cleo headlining a finish-line show at Plaza de Cesar Chavez.
The biggest Rock ‘n’ Roll event is coming up next month, with 45,000 expected to run along the Las Vegas strip. Last week’s horrific massacre of 58 concertgoers there was on people’s minds Sunday. Walter Branner, holding a bouquet of balloons while waiting for his wife to cross the finish line, said he warily looked up at the windows of the 20-story Fairmont Hotel that dominates the east border of the park.
“I don’t look at buildings the same way anymore,” he said. “Completely different — you just never know.”
But Branner reiterated a common and strong sentiment among runners as well as spectators: Terror attacks cannot and will not put a damper on things.
“It sounds cliche, but you can’t let fear win,” said Joe Harris, a 67-year-old ex-Marine and Vietnam vet who was the first runner to log 100 Rock ‘n’ Rolls back in 2015. “You have to trust the people out there who are keeping us safe. I stop and thank every police officer I see on the course.”
Bennett said they’ve known all too well about the potential for an attack since the Boston Marathon bombing in 2013. Changes have been made — you won’t see any unattended baggage, and the streets are blocked and closed in a manner to deter a vehicular attack. Most of the measures taken are “invisible, but they’re there,” he said.
“This is as public an event as a music festival in Las Vegas or a boardwalk in Nice,” Bennett said. “We understand we are a soft target, so we go the extra mile to make sure it’s safe for runners, our staff, and spectators.”
The Carinos will be at the Las Vegas run. It will be a return visit — they’ve gone there to race and renew their wedding vows three times. And they’ll be in fine company with their 100-race cohorts, a klatch of which posed for pics after Sunday’s race.
“One day there will be so many of us it won’t fit in the selfie anymore,” said Harris, who is now up to 146 Rock ‘n’ Rolls since he started on a whim in 2005. “That will be the best day.”