A Surprising Number Of Nice Bums

Getting organized

And just like that, race 2 of the 5 races I had registered to run between March and May is over.

W00t!

Today’s run, as most of you are likely aware¹, was the Run for Retina Research Half Marathon in London, Ontario. A huge thank you to all of those who donated. You helped me raise over $300 for retinal research. That’s freaking AWESOME!

In a word the run was amazing. There were 170+ runners registered to compete, 70 of them male. I was the 38th male to cross the finish line (and 47th overall – top 25% – not too shabby). In my age and gender group (Males 30-39), I was 15th out of eighteen².

My time – 1 hour 51 minutes and 40 seconds. W00t! That means I managed to maintain an average pace of 5 minutes 18 seconds per kilometer. Sweet! I’m very happy with that result. Of course, I still aim to do a 1 hour 45 minute half marathon – so clearly further training is required.

Things that I loved about today:

• Running with Carolyn. For those not in the know, Carolyn is freaking hard core. You’d probably never know it by looking at her – but beware, because she could crush you if she wanted. Both mentally and physically.

  

  Elliot once again checks the authenticity of the medal. He agrees - it is made of 100% Awesome.

• Running this particular half marathon. The course was awesome – winding through Springbank Park in London along the river. Seriously, the scenery counts for so much when I run longer distances. Being able to run through nature is a huge bonus.
• The size of the race. There were only 170+ half-marathoners. This meant that the race was not crowded. It also meant that any winding was associated with the course itself, and not trying to step around slower runners.

• 

  Just a little wet. No big deal.

  Fewer walkers. I may have complained during the last race that there were too many people stopping and walking after only a short distance (e.g., 1 km in). Don’t get me wrong – I love that people are out and run-walking the distance. I fully encourage everyone to do it. But, for anyone wanting to get a certain time – the slightest thing can interfere with that. It’s similar to when you are driving on the highway and there is a driver in front of you insisting on travelling at 95 kph in the fast lane. Legal – yes. Frustrating as hell – absolutely. There is etiquette to running, just like in driving.

• A surprising number of nice bums. Ha! Normally runners have rather flat butts (myself included). For whatever reason, this was not the case today. Given that you are almost always behind someone, having some nice scenery is a bonus. Double Ha!

Things that I did not love about today:

• The rain. Actually – I kind of loved that too. It was a lot of fun, and helped keep me from overheating. Also, I felt a little like a kid whenever I ran through a puddle.

Anyway, I thoroughly enjoyed today’s run. So much so, that I will definitely be adding this to my list of races for next year. And who knows, perhaps next year I’ll be under the 1 hour 50 minute time.

For those keeping score: 2 of 5 races completed; 52.1 km of 151.5 km behind me. That leaves another 99.4 km to go.

I’ve got this.

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¹ Because I keep yammering on about it.

² Clearly most dudes my age are way faster than me. Whatever.

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