Angel Island

That was something different. I thought I was well prepared – I had even brushed my teeth this morning with my new Swiss toothbrush – but the Angel Island Half Marathon turned out to be far more technical than I had expected. I also completely forgot to position myself near the starting line (there was no seeding), which meant that I was unable to pass other runners on the many single-track sections.

Still, I guess I should be happy, considering that (a) I did not fall off a cliff and (b) I managed to run a half marathon in an official chip time of 1 hour and 49 minutes up a damn mountain while enjoying the most beautiful views of the Bay.

After taking the ferry back to Tiburon, I am now in Silicon Valley at my Aloft hotel, which sadly has a new décor that does not trigger the same memories of China as the one in East London did. But at 90 USD per night for a suite, it was a steal — and, thinking more about it, the smell is in fact identical to the one in Xianglanqi :-)