Spring Ahead Miata Marathon
March 8, 2008
It started on a cool Saturday morning in early March--the 8th to be exact--in the sleepy little
town of Sunol. The drive was billed as a spirited backroads adventure, but that was an understatement.
The name of the event--The BAMA Spring Ahead Miata Marathon--was more of a clue to the kind
of endurance effort the 24 hardcore club members who made up the trial contingent for this all-day
challenge were about to face.
If the intensity of the run was ever in doubt, another clue was the five pages of route
instructions! With few passengers along for the ride, written navigation was seldom an option,
replaced instead by the more rudimentary method of keeping the Miata ahead in sight by any means
necessary.
To keep drivers awake, hydrated, and smiling, "survival" (goodie) bags were generously
provided by BAMA Events Committee member Sally Johnson.
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A complete description of the route is beyond the scope of this web page, but it should suffice to
report that fuel tanks filled in the morning were empty at day's end, and between the eighteen Miatas in
attendance, enough rubber was left on all the various roads to retread a pair of worn-out Bridgestones.
Dozens of south bay roads were tackled, and seldom was the
path straight for more than the length of a football field.
After a three-hour blast in the morning, an excellent Italian lunch in Gilroy kept spirits high
during most of the long afternoon (four hours!). But when the sun dropped toward the horizon and the
last few corners on Highway 9 were negotiated, the group rolled into the parking lot of The Diner in
Los Gatos, and bodies were dragged, zombie-like (but smiling!), out of their Miatas and into the
restaurant for a well-deserved dinner.
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