I wasn't sure if I would run this race. It depended if it was raining and how I felt. This morning I seemed fine and it wasn't raining so it was a go. Left the house at 7:15 am and got to the site slightly after 8:00 am. I had 1 hour to pick-up my bib, tech shirt, and goodie bag. The goodie bag was a handbag filled with a box of cereal, 3 packs of gum, a Panago pizza $5 coupon, as well as some flyers on energy savers. While walking to the Rotary Park Pavillion building, it was very windy along the waterfront. It was at this time that I erred and should have brought along a winter toque (they should have had a booth selling them!). I did bring along a cap and that'll have to do. I wore my RR jacket and a tech shirt underneath, along with the track pants I bought last week at the Toronto Marathon expo.
Got in a quick 10 minute warm-up run before making it back to the start line. This is a small race, which consisted of 16 walkers and 238 runners. The walkers started at 8:30 am and the runners at 9:00 am.
The route is mainly along the Ajax waterfront. It reminds me of running at the waterfront in the Toronto Islands! The sun did make an appearance and then it became overcast again. The fall colours gave it an even better view. The first half we ran with the wind to our backs. There were quite a few uphills and downhills, although the majority of the course was flat. For each half of the race, there were 3 fluid stations, with only 2 of them providing Powerade (the other fluid station only had water -- this is the first and last station on the route). The distance markers were by 2.5 K. I liked that during the route, you could see runners on the opposite side of the road. The 1st place runner finished with a time 10 minutes better than the 2nd place runner. It's a good thing it didn't rain today (it did rain last night as there were some puddles) as running could have been difficult.
Overall, I enjoyed this low-key race. It was organized and thoughtfully put together. The post-food was bagels; bananas; and apples. There was no pizza as advertised (but it did say 10:30 the pizza would be served -- maybe people have to pay?). The challenging part was the 2nd half of the race and having to run into the wind. I had to stop several times to grab my breath. I also walked up some of the hills. It wasn't a piece of cake (considering I haven't run since last week's half marathon and still battling a cold). I need to really think about winter running... I did finish strong with the final 1.5 K without stops. I did give it my all.
My gun time is 2:03:11, while my chip time is 2:03:00 [PB]. I'm a bit werry about this PB as my Garmin said I covered 20.60 K. It is always the case that my Garmin puts me over the 21.1 K. No complaints as I'll take the PB. One day, I hope to run a half marathon in under 2 hours. Had the wind not been so strong and there were fewer uphills, I might have gotten under 2 hours. I placed 117 out of 238 overall; 23 out of 35 in age group; and 84 out of 114 in gender. One the first few kilometres were run, the runners broke off and there was plenty of room to run.
Overall, it was worth the $35.00 I paid. My only suggestions would be increasing the number of fluid stations (I did bring my own water), including Powerade at all stations, and being sure the K markers are located in the correct spot (and have each K marked; actually, the 12.5 K was facing the wrong direction). The positives were indeed the route, the enthusiastic volunteers who braved the winds, and the organization of this first year event.
I doubt I will run this race next year as I've planned 2 "A" races (Mississauga full marathon; Toronto Waterfront full marathon). I want to run the Angus Glen half marathon in early November 2009 (as this will be enough time to recover from running the marathon in late September).
Here's a photo of finisher's medal #20 in my collection: (it's not a spectacular medal, but it is a medal)
I hope to resume runs this Wednesday. My final race this year is the Resolution Run in late December.
This week = 22.04 K
YTD = 1063.58 K
