THE RACE! March 30 2004
OK, so by the time we get there, we are in a total
snizzy. I have forgotten to drink the water I brought
and eat either the powerbar or banana. So that was my
first mistake.
We were lucky with parking. parked quickly..attached
our bibs (big loser RELAY on our backs). And made our
way to the convention centre. GAZILLIONS of runners.
WOWSER.
Found our club right where they say said they would
be. Had a group photo and all that stuff. Had a pee.
Then it was time for the others to leave for their
buses (they left for the exchange points 15 minutes
BEFORE the race started!). I sat (stood) amongst 5500
other runners in the warmth (forgetting to eat or
drink) with the other members of my leg WAITING for
9:30am
Finally we have a little stretch and head out side.
HOLY. SHIT.
SO MANY PEOPLE I can’t even tell which way we are
supposed to be facing at the start…I choose DOWN
HILL-ish (correct!). SO many people encouraging other
people. Encouraging us! Everyone was lovely.
I hear NO starter pistol…just notice a sudden smooth
flow of people….
and we are off.
My run was hard…(no food no water DUH!) But it was
fun….I ran into (physically) only ONE person…you
know how I am with peripheral vision.
I ran hard and empty so at my exchange point I was
nauseous (Could have been the VILE water at the aid
station! blech!..more on the later)
So I am coming into to give Lori my (TERRIBLY PHOBIC
OF VOMIT) teammate my ankle bracelet (timing chip) and I am terrified
I am going to puke…this would have totally ruined
her day…possibly her week. So I threw it at her and
told her to go! She was perplexed but ran away..I
explained later..after lunch.
I did not puke, Lori handed me a bottle of water as
she left so I QUICKLY drank that and felt immensely
better (lesson learned).
Then we were bussed to the finish line (ish) and
watched SO many people finish. That was AWESOME. People
are SO emotional. It was really great.
Cheered for lots of our club members finishing their
30k.
After that we got our medals (I was FROZEN! It did not
reach 12C as predicted!!! Great for running..not great for standing
outside after).
We did not find out club again…but yesterday Deb (coach)
emailed me to ask why we didn’t go back to the
convention centre for food and heat.
DUH! Cause we didn’t know about it. (another lesson
learned)
So we went for lunch!
It was great.
Next race is next month…Brantford CLassic Run…10k
