MEC # 2 Birds Hill Park Race

MEC # 2 Birds Hill Park Race
MEC #2 Birds Hill Park 2017 3rd Overall After A Sprint Finish!

Saturday, June 30, 2012

Barriere Medal, photos & video, Friday Night Mile

Finally got my medal from the Barriere Fun Run. Wes was good enough to send me a copy of the North Thompson Star Journal with my hardware. They had 3 whole pages of coverage plus a photo and blurb on the front page.
 
 

Here's the race photo page from the newspaper:


 
They have some pictures on the internet too:
In the Friday Night Mile I ran my fastest mile ever, finally breaking the 6 minute barrier with a time of 5:56.37. http://www.peninsularunners.com/events/mileseries.htm
 
First place finisher Chris Barth, who beat me by just over a minute, is also running the Rock 10K with me tomorrow. We're both a good bet to win our age groups, but we'll have to see who else shows up and how the race goes.
 
They sent me a page of my photos from the Scotiabank Half:
 
Here's a page with links to all the race photos so far:
 
 
And lastly, here's a page with photos from various races in the Lower Mainland Road Race Series. http://www.lmrrs.com/photos.htm

Tuesday, June 26, 2012

Paavo Nurmi Results

Results are up for the Paavo Nurmi event. http://vcn.bc.ca/sportvfc/paavo/RESULTS.pdf  

 There was also a 1K kids race, albeit with only 2 participants this time around. I was 6 of 26 in the 5K, 2 of 7 in my age group, with a time of 21:45. As it turned out, I ran the first 10Ks of the Scotiabank Half the next day (43:16) at a faster pace than I ran this 5K race. Go figure! They put a nice photo of the start of our 5 & 10K races up there too. http://vcn.bc.ca/sportvfc/paavo/index.html

Sunday, June 24, 2012

Scotiabank Vancouver Half Marathon

Another Sunday morning, and another day at the office, which entailed running the Scotiabank Vancouver Half Marathon this time around.

I arrived at UBC Thunderbird Stadium close to 7 AM and immediately ran into Drew Nicholson, who had been having achilles problems just recently but was feeling better today. Drew said that in spite of the elite field of Olympians and Kenyans he was hoping to finish in the top 10 overall. He then went to find a buddy and we wished each other luck.

Before I knew it it was getting on to race time, and I went down and lined up not too far from the starting line, but just before we were going to head out it seemed to fill up quite densely with runners in front of us, so it was a crowded start.

They launched us off at 7:30, and it took about 20 seconds or so just to cross the starting mat, and then we were running in a dense clump of people. One fellow jumped up onto the sidewalk to run around the plodding masses, and I followed him. It didn't take us long to get around the sluggos and soon we were back on the street, now running with a large group going at a good pace. We ran through the UBC area for a couple of kilometers and then headed out on the highway. We were now on a long straightaway, with first an uphill and then a downhill part. Up ahead was a turnaround, and we saw the first pack of about 6 elite runners go by us coming back on the other side of the highway. Then there was one other guy by himself, and next I saw Drew coming up, so I yelled "Go Drew!" really loud to give him encouragement. Others ran by and I noticed Jo Astoria heading back, and yelled "Go Jo!", and he gave me a wave.

Soon I hit the turnaround myself, and then we headed up the road in the opposite direction. By this time a horn and drum band had set up on the boulevard and was playing a lively tune for us that lifted our spirits as we legged it up the incline. I felt a hand on my shoulder and it was Greg from my club. I told him I'd been looking for him going by me on the other side when I was going up, but he said he'd been delayed going to the bathroom and started the race a minute late. I stayed behind him for a little bit but soon he pulled away. We crested the hill and now were on a decline, whizzing past the 5K point. A fellow wearing a VFAC singlet named Jim (I knew his name from spectators calling it out) was running in front of me with another guy, and they were talking, but soon this ceased and they took to concentrating on their running.

The straightaway ended and we turned right, running a couple of kilometers on the highway before hanging a left, and heading down a road that I was familiar with as it's part of some of my training runs. We were on the decline of the Spanish Banks Hill, which goes on for about one and a half kilometers, and I passed the two buddies in front of me, and then some more people as I glided down the hill. Before I knew it we were at the 9K marker, now cruising on level ground going past Lacarno Beach. People lined the roads in some spots yelling encouragement, waving signs, and even playing music for us from their cars parked in the lot.

His buddy had passed me, but Jim came up and ran beside me, and for most of the rest of the race we took turns passing each other. Close to the 13K mark we came to a somewhat brutal hill that I know from another of my training runs that goes on for about 3 or 4 hundred yards, and everyone slowed down here. Mercifully we made it to the top, and turned left onto 4th Avenue, and one of the 2 fellows with me said "Thank God for downhills!", which we were now on. We zipped by the 14K marker and then made another left, and now we had throngs of cheering supporters lining the streets.

After a few blocks we came out onto Point Grey Road at Jericho Beach, and we were now heading down to where I live. Just past the 15K point someone came up beside me and said "Hi Gordon!" It was Mark Pinckard, and I was surprised to see him as he's usually way ahead of me, I see him briefly at the beginning of a race and then at the end. I told him I'd run a 5K race the day before, and he told me he'd cycled 120 kilometers as part of his Ironman training, and I said "You got me beat!" We both agreed that this wasn't a "key" race for either of us, and for Mark more of a training run, and we were just seeing how well we'd do without worrying too much about the result. Mark took off ahead and I called after him that I'd see him at the finish line.

We went by where I live and I knew it was one kilometer to the Burrard Street Bridge. I managed to pick up the pace and when we hit the bridge and started the 600 meter ascent to the crest, I noticed Jim about 100 meters ahead of me. I actually do laps of the bridge in training, but not after I've already raced 18K, so it was a tough struggle up it. I reminded myself that I had run up this incline hundreds of times before, so I just had to suck it up and keep going. To my surprise, I actually sped up some, so much so that by the crest I was right behind Jim, and then on the 300 meter downhill I passed him, and stayed ahead of him the rest of the race.

When we got off the bridge we turned left onto Pacific Boulevard, with 2 kilometers to go. There were many people lining the streets cheering us now, and we hit Beach Avenue and the 20K mark. My legs were starting to feel a bit like lead now, and the sun was beating down on us, but I knew the end was near. I even managed to speed up a bit as there were so many people yelling encouragement now, and before I knew it I saw the 21K marker, 100 meters to go! A young woman who'd passed me early in the race and I'd kept in sight for a lot of it, suddenly stopped with about 20 meters to go and started walking, apparently having "bonked". People were yelling at her to keep going, and by the time I came up beside her she had started to jog, so I told her to keep running, she was almost there!

I looked at the clock and was shocked, as it said 1:34:35, and my personal best from the Fool's Run was 1:36:19. I had always been aiming for a 1:35:00 finish but had never come close, albeit I'd only run 4 previous half marathons. Now I was going to crush that, in a race where I wasn't expecting to run that well because of my 5K race the previous day! I ended up crossing in 1:34:44, and the young woman, Caitlin Sincalair, finished in 1:35 even, but she did it! I got my finisher's medal and congratulations from a volunteer, and then went into the park where Mason Raymond from the Canucks was up on stage talking to the crowd, and he finished and they got to business getting the 5 Kers ready for their impending race.

I'm going on too long so I'll try and just summarize the rest. For food they had Power Bar samples, and seemingly unlimited mini bagels and cookies, of which I had too many as usual, and to drink plain Gatorade, various juices, water, and Gatorade recovery drink. I ran into Cindy, who hadn't run the race but came out in support, and Greg, and he thought he may have medaled. They went off to their car as Greg wanted to change, and the results were up, so I looked and saw my time, and noticed that Drew had finished 9th overall, and Greg was 3rd in his age group. Soon Drew walked up and I told him how he did, and he asked how I did, and we congratulated each other. I met Arnold and talked to him for awhile, and then Greg and Cindy walked up and I told him he'd indeed medaled.


                                                   All pictures courtesy of Cindy.

They had the awards and impending Olympian Reid Coolsaet was 1st overall, with fellow Olympic marathoner Eric Gillis finishing 3rd. Kip Kangogo was 2nd, and I didn't realize until they called his name and he went up that he was standing right beside me. That's what's great about running, where we all get to run in the same races as the elites, and mingle with them afterward. Greg went and got his big honking medal, it's a beaut, and then it was time to call it a day.


Results are up http://www.sportstats.ca/displayResults.xhtml?racecode=102332 and I was 219th overall out of 3838, 14th of 182 in my age group, in 1:34:44. Greg was 139th overall with a time of 1:30:16, Drew was 9th overall in 1:13:30, Mark was 10th in our age group, and 156th overall in 1:31:27, and Tina Louise Harris finished in 142nd place with a smoking 1:30:23. Richard Armstrong, who I've never beat in a race before, has now been defeated, finishing 225th overall and 17th in our age group, with a time of 1:34:56. Foolish mortal! Better luck next time Richard! Ha! Ha!

My next race is on Sunday, July 1st, the Canada Day Rock 10K in White Rock, at 8 AM.

Saturday, June 23, 2012

Paavo Nurmi 5K

Today's race was the Paavo Nurmi Run 5K at Burnaby Lake Park, as part of the Scandinavian Midsummer Festival. Paavo Nurmi was a nine-time Olympic Medal winner known as the Flying Finn. There were also 3K and 10K races, with us and the 10Kers starting off at 9 AM, followed by the 3Kers 10 minutes later.

Local legend Sigge Bjorklund started us off with a five second countdown, and we were off! We headed straight out for a couple of hundred meters, and then turned right, going down a wide gravel path through the woods for a few hundred meters. A few guys blasted out really fast, and I stayed behind them for only a few seconds before slowing down a bit and settling in with the second pack. One young woman who I had seen looking very fast doing her warmups was running ahead of me, and she slowly pulled away. We ran over a very short bridge, and then made another turn onto a narrower trail, with the path meandering now through the forest.

The pack started to spread out, and another young woman passed me, but I overtook her right away, and managed to stay ahead of her. She dogged me for awhile but I gradually pulled away until I didn't hear her behind me anymore. I later found out she was running the 10K, so that's why she had slowed up, and as it turned out she won the women's 10K race!

We zigzagged through the woods and then came to a point where the races separated, with the 10K going to the right and onward, and we headed to the right and on our way back to the start/finish line. A volunteer yelled at us as we came up asking what race we were in and sent us down the appropriate path, and I heard a guy yell " 5K!" after I was a few yards down the path, so I knew someone was right on my tail. This kept me going fast and I still expected someone to pass me, but then I surmised that everyone else was just as tired as I was.

The young woman who had pulled away from me before came into view, and soon I was right behind her. I stayed back for a little bit as she sped up, but then I decided I was going fast enough that I should pass her. As I came up she stayed side by side with me for a few seconds, but then fell back. I could still hear her behind me for awhile longer, but then we turned and hit the long straightaway going back, and I pulled away for good. We had a lot of shade going through the woods, but there were some stretches where we were exposed to the sun beating down on us, and when you're already sweating up a storm this was most unpleasant. This happened a couple of times on the straightaway, so I was now just pushing on and wishing the race would be over soon! 

At last I rounded the final turn and saw the finish banner up ahead, and I legged it in and over the line. I shook hands with a couple of the race organizers and a few runners who'd finished ahead of me, and went to get some water. There was Gatorade and coffee to drink too, plus bananas, oranges, timbits, and donuts to eat. I grabbed a cup of Gatorade, and a couple of banana pieces, but since there weren't a lot of Timbits and donuts I just had one of each and left the rest for the other runners. I waited until I was cooled off before later grabbing a cup of coffee.

The young woman came in not long after I finished, the winner of the woman's 5K, and I congratulated her and she thanked me for helping her keep her pace up, and I said the same to her.

After awhile Dave Frilund came in, winner of the 10K race at 38 minutes and change, and then there was nobody else until George Sojka and a younger fellow a few minutes later. George was 3rd master behind me last year, and had kept pushing me the whole race. This time he outraced the young guy coming down the stretch, just beating him at the line. I'd already congratulated Dave and now I did the same with George.

A woman had come up after I'd finished my race and took my picture and my name. She said she was with the West Coast News, which I took to be a local paper but is actually the newsletter of the Vancouver Finlandia Club. Another woman came up and did an interview with Dave, and I went over and waited at the finish line for Rob Daniel to finish. The 10Kers had to turn right and go around a 300 meter loop before coming back and crossing the line, and I got a good shot of Rob turning the corner, plus one of him coming in to the finish.



Soon all the competitors were in, and the awards started. They had a real podium and everything! First they did the kids awards for the 3K, and then for the 5K, under 20, 20-39, and over 40 (masters). I thought maybe I'd won my category, but Mikhail Titov, who Rob and myself thought had run the 10K, had actually run the 5K, and he was the winner by about 3 minutes. Alvin Chow finished 3rd, we all shook hands, and George took a great picture of us before we stepped off the podium, happily wearing our medals..



Next up were the 10K awards, and Dave, George and the 3rd place guy were quite happy to get their medals too! So were the women!


Now it was time to wrap things up, and some went off to the festival. Everyone seemed to have had a very good time, a run well done! As I'm running a half marathon on Sunday, I said goodbye to George, Dave, Rob, and Sigge & his crew, and headed home. No results yet but I'll send them out when they're up.



My next race is the half marathon at the Scotiabank Half & 5K, tomorrow morning at 7:30 AM, starting at UBC Thunderbird Stadium and ending in Stanley Park.

Saturday, June 16, 2012

Longest Day 5K

On Friday, June 15, I ran the North Shore Credit Union Longest Day 5K, starting and finishing at UBC Thunderbird Stadium. There was also a 10K and Kids Mile, but the 5K race was the one that is part of the Lower Mainland Road Race Series plus the Timex BC Road Running Series. The entire event was in support of the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation.

We started off at 6:45 PM on the road a block down from the stadium, and rounded a couple of corners until we were on the next street over running in the opposite direction. This was a few hundred meters of downhill running, and everybody sped up and made good time on this stretch. We turned the corner and ran on a flat part for a bit before hitting a hill that wasn't super steep but went on for about 300 meters. I powered up it as fast as I could, trying not to slow up too much. My legs weren't feeling too bad after we hit the crest, and soon I sped up again.

I was running in a pack of about 8 runners now, and we ran together, zigzagging through the UBC streets until about the 3K mark, when myself and another fellow both decided to break out of the pack. There were 4 guys running side by side in front of us, however, so we had to go onto the other side of the road to get around them, but made it! He didn't look like a typical runner, about 5' 6" and stout, but he sure could run! I'd thought he was about 30 years old, and it wasn't until the race was over and we shook hands that I realized he looked to be only a little younger than myself.

There was another hill about the same as the first one, but we made it to the top, and hit a straightaway going slightly downhill, and I sped up and passed my erstwhile running mate. Now the straightaway leveled out and you could see the start banner ahead, and I just tried to keep going at a fast pace. I actually passed a number of people and then we turned a corner before the banner, heading a block down to the stadium, where we turned the corner and headed for the finishers' chute. There was a last uphill here and a young guy zoomed by me, and then I heard a guy yell "Go Gord!" from the sidelines and I legged it in and crossed the finish line.

I shook hands with the fellow who I'd been running with, plus a few other runners who I'd seen out on the course, and then went looking for my clubmates. I found Greg first, who had come in ahead of me and was with his wife Cindy, who'd come out in support. Next Louie and his friend Steve came in, and suggested we go get something to eat. We met Dean, who had his arm in a sling and came out to support us and take some pictures. He was the guy yelling encouragement to me as I ran in. Dean got some great pics and here's one of Louie after his first round through the food line, and another of myself, Louie and Steve chowing down.



They had the same massive amount of food as the year before, and before I got to the end of the line I had a big burger with fried onions and cheese, several slices of various melon type foods: cantelope, watermelon, honeydew, and cucumbers; a giant chocolate cookie, a small fruit yogurt, a Clif bar, and a coconut drink.

We found a place on the grass among the masses of other runners, and dug into our food. Dan Cumming came up and congratulated us on our race, and I finished my meal and then went over to where it looked like some results or draw prizes were posted. It was draw prizes, but they didn't have the winning bib numbers up yet. I turned around and Bill Chang was standing there with another fellow, and Bill said "He did it to us again." It turned out that the guy with him was Richard Armstrong, who'd finished ahead of Bill and myself at the Sandcastle race last Sunday. We introduced ourselves and we both agreed it was nice to finally meet, and then Richard said he had to leave but he'd see us at the next race.

I talked to Bill for a bit more and then I saw Greg heading towards the food zone again, so I said goodbye to Bill and followed him. I caught up to him and asked if he was going for seconds, and he said he was, so we showed our bib numbers to the same 2 volunteers that were there the first time, and they said to come on in. I went down the opposite side from the one I was on the first time, but Greg had gone down this one before and the woman serving the hamburgers and hotdogs recognized him. He said he was embarrassed about this, but she just laughed and gave him his burger, and got a brautwurst for me. I put some fried onions on my braut, and then grabbed some corn chips and salsa, another cookie, and another fruit yogurt, plus a Good 4 You recovery drink, and went back to sit on the grass for round number 2.

After I was done with seconds, I went back to the draw prize area where a couple of women were now writing the winning bib numbers on the board. Arnold, who'd run a few Friday night miles with me last year, came up with a friend, and we talked while we watched them put the numbers up. He hasn't been out there this year yet, but said he's planning to, and it turned out he's running quite a few races himself now. He was at the Sandcastle last week, and he's going to run the Scotiabank Half next Sunday. They finished putting the numbers up but none of us won anything. Arnold and his buddy had to leave and we said we'd see each other at the Scotia, and I headed off to look for my mates. I ran into Louie, Steve and Dean, who said that Greg and Cindy (pictured below) had just left. It was now about 8:30, and though there were still throngs of people there and 10Kers still finishing their race, we decided to call it a day too.


As we were walking out we met Rick (below with Greg) standing on the corner cheering the runners in, and we congratulated him on his race. Rick was slightly injured and was disappointed in his time. He's 10 years older than me and only beat me by 50 seconds this time, so this was a bad race for him! He also finished 2nd in his broad 60+ age group. I guess if he'd had to hop the race on one leg he might have ended up in 3rd! We cheered a few more runners in with Rick and then headed to our cars.

We all agreed it was a great time, and we'd have to pitch it with more vigor to our other club members for next year. They don't know what they're missing!

Results are up, and I finished 95th overall out of 657, and 32 of 102 in my broad 40-59 age group, with a time of 20:32. Greg was 55th overall and 21st in our AG with a time of 18:56, Rick was 71st overall and 2 of 8 in his AG with a time of 19:42, and Louie, who's still on a long injury recovery but wanted to test himself and have a good feed, was 145th overall and 43rd in our AG, with a time of 23:08. http://www.winningtime.ca/12/12ld10k/5k.txt

My next race is the 5K Paavo Nurmi race at Burnaby Lake Park, June 23rd, at 9 AM.

Sunday, June 10, 2012

Sandcastle City Classic 10K

Today I ran the Sandcastle City Classic 10K in White Rock B.C. This race is put on by my Semiahmoo Sunrunners club, and unlike last year when there were a few of us, I was the only Sunrunner in the race. Many of my clubmates were otherwise occupied doing the actual work of putting on the race: marshalling, registration & package pickup, food preparation & service, awards, race director, etc., etc..... I had done package pickup at race sponsor Peninsula Runners the day before, plus worked the B.C. Athletics booth at the Sun Run, so I was free to run it.

It was a point to point race where they shuttled us by bus from the finish line at the beach to near the start line at Crescent Park Elementary.

We took off at 9 AM sharp, running down a residential street and then looping around for a long straightaway, which was mostly a slight downhill, so myself and the other runners around me picked up some good speed here. Myself and a woman kept passing one another on the straightaway, and then we turned and hit a hill for a couple of hundred meters that slowed everyone down, and I managed to stay ahead of her for awhile after we crested the hill and then ran on level ground for awhile. A couple more uphills and longer downhills came up, and then we passed the midway point.

Many of my clubmates cheered for me as I ran past their marshalling stations, and Alan Benson was so close as I was coming up to him that I yelled "High five!", and he high fived me and told me I was doing great as I passed by him.

We hit an uphill that was a few hundred meters long, and when I finally reached the top Dee Makepeace yelled "Way to go Gord!" I said "That was a bugger!" and she and another woman marshalling with her laughed as I continued around the corner and on my way. I'd been following a woman named Sara (spectators along the route kept calling out her name) for quite awhile, and she was going at a good clip so I just tried to stay with her.

The woman I'd been dueling with had dropped back after the midway point and I never saw her again, but a guy who had been running in the same group with us originally, and who I'd passed when I went by her, now came up and went ahead of me. We hit another shorter uphill and I passed him again, plus yet another woman that had been way up ahead of us but we'd slowly gained on her until we'd reeled her in, and Sara and I both passed her now.

There was one more small uphill, and then we hit the 9K mark and it was all downhill now to the finish line. Running about 20 feet in front of me, Sara sped up, and the woman we'd reeled in passed me and went after her. Soon you could hear the crowds cheering and see the finish area up ahead at the beach, and everyone gunned it in as fast as they could go. Sara managed to finish in the head of our pack, followed by the other woman and then a young woman dashed by me right before the line and beat me by a fraction of a second, making for an exciting finish.

To eat they had cut up oranges, bananas & watermelon, plus shortbread and gingerbread cookies, pastries, and pretzels, and I had my usual fill. We milled around talking and cheering other runners in, and I had far too many conversations to detail them here, but they were all great, with people I knew well plus people I'd just met.

They announced that the preliminary results for the first 96 finishers were on the table at the Saucony booth, and I went over and discovered I'd finished 3rd in my age group. They gave out many draw prizes, including a month long boot camp (the older woman who won it was delighted with her prize), and many Timex watches. Then they got the age group awards underway, and I went up and got my medal from our club president Gary Bennett, and Greg Anslow, who'd come down to film the race, took a shot of me wearing it.



 
Next they gave away the last few Timex watches, and Lizbeth Chanona from Hemmingford, Quebec, who'd already won a medal for finishing 3rd in her age group, won one, and she was just ecstatic! Then they did the overall men's and women's awards, with 2nd and 3rd receiving medals and 1st place receiving a beautiful Sandcastle trophy. They drew for a pair of Saucony shoes, and then the grand prize, a mountain bike courtesy of Peninsula Cycles. They'd thrown everyone's winning numbers back into the draw bag for this, and they called out a couple of people who'd already gone. On the the third number they called, there wasn't quite the scream we heard when she won the watch, but it belonged to none other than Lizbeth Chanona! The only reason she wasn't as animated as she had been before appeared to be because she was in a state of happy shock. Lizbeth looked quite emotional as she was getting her picture taken standing between Gary and race director & emcee Paul Mathias, seeming almost overwhelmed by her good fortune today!

It had been almost perfect racing weather in the morning, cool and overcast with no rain, albeit we hit a few good headwinds. As soon as I'd finished the race the sun had come out however, and it was now a beautiful day, and time to head home after a great event!

Results are up, and I finished 47th overall out of 260, 3 of 12 in my age group, with a time of 42:12.87. http://www.winningtime.ca/12/12sandcastle/oall.txt

My next race is the Longest Day 5K at UBC Thunderbird Stadium, this Friday, June 15th, at 6:45 PM.

Thursday, June 7, 2012

Barriere Fun Run 5K

On Sunday morning, June 3rd, I participated in the inaugural Barriere Fun Run, which consisted of 5K and 10K races plus a 300 meter kids run. This event was the brainchild of race director Wes Kibble, who came up with the idea after Barriere got a great new bandshell in Fadear Park last year, and Wes figured it now needed events to make good use of such a fine facility, and thus the Barriere Fun Run was born.

At about 9:40 AM they had the kids run, one lap around the paved oval. The entrance fee was a non-perishable food item donation to the Barriere Food Bank, and the 10 or so young athletes all had a great time running it, and we had a great time cheering them on! They were so cute and Linda McRae of Views by Linda Photography got some great pictures of them! She was our official race photographer, and she also got great photos of everything else, and if you'd like to view them go to: http://www.viewsbylindaphotography.com/ , click Events and then click "Barriere Fun Run". For searching by bib my number is 5701.

For the 5 and 10Ks Barriere's acting mayor sent us off at 10 AM by yelling "Go!". Unlike the race in Summerland yesterday we had great running weather, overcast and fairly cool, with no rain. We headed up the path between the community garden and a playground, and then turned left between two ball diamonds. We hit a road and turned right, and then took a couple more turns and soon we were at the 1K mark, and hit a small hill which thankfully didn't take much out of me.

One fellow had taken off ahead of the rest of us at the start of the race, and he just kept getting farther and farther ahead of me, keeping up a great fast pace in spite of essentially running by himself. There was a young fellow a few feet in front of me, who looked about 15 years old, and he was going at a nice pace so I decided to just stay behind him and see what happened. We went over a bridge crossing the Barriere River and then hit another small hill, longer than the first but not too bad. 

Not long after we crested the hill we came to the point where us 5Kers turned to the left and the 10Kers kept going, and I watched as the 2 guys in front of me both continued on, and then realized I was actually leading the 5K race! 

I ran down the road just trying to keep my pace up, and there were people outside their houses, many with lawn chairs set up to watch the racers as we went by, cheering me on! I turned down a couple more roads and then came to a point where there was a road turning off, and I saw a huge white arrow on the road I was on that looked like it was pointing to go straight ahead, and then there was one hugging the turn pointing to go that way. Having to make a split second decision and not wanting to risk taking a shortcut, I turned off.

I was now in what looked like a trailer park, and I ran one block up and then the road turned in the direction I'd been going in originally. I ran down this road but then noticed as I was approaching the end of the block that it was a dead end. I stopped and looked behind me and there was another racer who'd just turned the corner coming towards me. I yelled at him that it was a dead end and I'd made a wrong turnoff. There were some people who lived there at the end of the road, and one guy told us we had to go all the way back where we'd come from and turn onto that road, but thankfully the other guys said to just cut across the grass right where we were and head toward the road we were supposed to be on. We'd already been detoured enough and figured we may have lost our race positions by now, so we didn't need to make things even worse if at all possible. My companion, Rick, said he'd thought I might be going the wrong way but he wanted to win the race fair and square, not because I'd made a wrong turn, a true sportsman!

We said thanks and headed where they told us, startling a young volunteer as we came out onto the road we should have been on all along. She'd been looking down the road for runners and then saw us come from out of nowhere behind her. We crossed another bridge and saw nobody else around so we were hopeful we hadn't been passed. A volunteer sent us down a path into the woods and we ran along a single track path and then came out into a field for some cross country running through some grass. The way was well marked here with plastic streamers hanging down from the trees.

We hit another couple of roads and then suddenly came out to where the park and finish line was, and I saw a young guy standing by a pickup truck parked across the road, and yelled to him asking which way to go. He just shrugged so I kept going straight, and then again I realized I was probably going the wrong way. I looked back and Rick was about 20 feet behind me, and I said I didn't know what was going on. He again suspected I may be going the wrong way but again stuck with me. Some people yelled for us just to run along the paved loop to the finish, which we did, approaching it from the wrong direction as it turned out.

So we finished the race without any harm done and thanks to Rick's outstanding sportsmanship I was the winner of the very first Barriere Fun Run 5K! They had water and E-load electrolyte replacement drink for us at the finish line, and Rick and myself stayed there for awhile talking and cheering the other runners coming in, and then I went to get some food.

We got a food ticket that got us an inaugural meal, as we were in a public area and they didn't want to feed the whole town for free. Additional food was very cheaply priced, however, and all proceeds went to a good cause, the North Thompson Volunteer & Information Centre, who served us the food! There were bananas & watermelon, chili, hot dogs, chili dogs and some delicious, huge muffins.

Wes apologized to us for the misdirections, and his brother went to see what happened when we were finishing. It turned out there were 2 teenage girls in that pickup truck who were the marshals, and that guy standing there was a boy chatting them up, so that's why they missed directing us the right way. We said we didn't care, things turned out okay and we actually ran more than 5k, we just didn't want to run a shorter race than we were supposed to, so it was all good!

I'd bought a shirt from race sponsor Crock of Shirt http://www.facebook.com/pages/Crock-of-Shirt/173389829431975 before the race, and I told the couple running it that I won the 5K. Crock of Shirt sells Made in Canada tshirts, and they were debuting their new running themed shirts at this event. Then I went and cheered some more runners in, and finally everyone finished and Wes got the awards underway. It turned out that he'd left the medals mistakenly in his office and thus didn't have them there, so he's going to mail them to us. We went up and got our photo op and congratulations and thanks from Wes, plus applause from the great crowd. Besides Linda there was also a woman there from the local newspaper taking all our pictures plus doing interviews for a story. There were some great draw prizes too and I ended up with a metal water bottle, and finally it was time to wrap things up.



Wes thanked us all for coming plus all the volunteers and everyone else involved. He said there will definitely be another race next year, which means I'm definitely planning to be there again! Like Wes said, there were a few glitches but it was a great start, and the goal is to make it bigger and better every year, and I look forward to seeing this happen. It was now 12:30 PM and I had to be at work at 8 PM in Surrey that night, so I said my goodbyes and headed out, happy to have participated in such a positive event.

My winning time was 21:30. There were 21 people in my race, and only myself and Rick in my age group, but I expect more competition next year. http://barrierefunrun.com/results/2012-results/ 


My next race is the Sandcastle City Classic 10K in White Rock this Sunday, June 10, at 9 AM.

Tuesday, June 5, 2012

Giant's Head 5.4K

On Saturday, June 2nd I ran the Giant's Head 5.4K race in Summerland, located between 2 of my favorite racing destinations, Kelowna and Penticton. I picked up my race kit at the Aquatic Centre, and I discovered when I was putting on my bib that they'd given me number 1, which usually goes to an elite runner. As I was walking around some people, mostly kids, kept saying "Hey, it's number 1!" and my reply was usually "Yes, and it's a lot of pressure I don't need!"
 
 
There was also the Man of Steel Triathlon that day plus a 10K race starting the same time as mine, all part of the Summerland Action Festival http://www.summerlandactionfestival.com/ . It was a fairly hot day and I was already sweating pretty well during my warmup, after which I headed a block over to the starting line as it was about 10 minutes to blastoff. There were a few hundred runners there, and a bunch of little kids were at the front on the left where the 5.4Kers were supposed to start, so I followed a young woman over to the right where it was mostly 10Kers, but far less little kids.
 
At precisely 6 PM we were off, and there was some criss crossing as the 10Kers were turning right almost immediately, while we were going to the left. After we'd turned off onto a main drag it took a little while, but eventually we got past the mob of kids. We turned up another road into a quieter area, and then hit a hill, not too steep but about 300 meters long so it slowed us up considerably. Next we got hit with a good headwind, which ironically I somewhat welcomed as at least it cooled me off a bit.
 
We zigzagged around some streets, and our little pack kept passing people until there were only 3 people in front of me, 2 guys who looked to be about 14 years old or so, and a fellow in his 20s. We hit another hill, and this one was short but pretty steep, another leg killer, after which we had a downhill which helped me speed up again. At this point the older guy took off well ahead of us, and I now had the 2 youngsters to contend with.
 
I'd passed them a couple of times earlier, but they retook the lead both times. I tried again now but they sped up too and I couldn't gain on them. They were too short to draft off of, and the heat didn't seem to bother them a bit, and I was sweating profusely. One of them took off ahead as we hit the 4K mark, and now there were just 2 of us, but I wasn't sure who was behind us because I never looked back.
 
As we approached the 5K marker we were back on the main drag and there were more and more people lining the street cheering us on. We hit the 5K point and both of us sped up as we were directed to turn right down the street for the final sprint to the finish. We saw and heard the cheering crowd up ahead and finally the huge finish banner was overhead as we zoomed in and over the line. The young gun ended up beating me by 2 seconds, but even though I was in a broad 40-59 age group, I was pretty sure I'd won it, as I hadn't seen anybody even close to my age in our initial front pack. As it turned out we were the actual frontrunners, and I not only won my age group but was 4th overall!
 
There were bananas and oranges plus juice, water and slushies for us after we'd finished our jaunt. Not the usual feast but the race fee was only $15 and you got a great race tshirt plus everything else, so this was fine! More and more people came in, and we cheered for them as they did, and soon there was a huge mass of people, both athletes and spectators, in the large finishing area, with more arriving all the time.
 
 
I headed a couple of blocks over to the park where there was a huge stage with a great rock band playing, and there was a huge selection of food to buy from the various vendors. First I had a large and very tasty beef donair, and then I had a chicken shnitzel burger followed by a beaver tail http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BeaverTails and I was full.
 
The awards were supposed to begin at 7:30, and the results weren't ready yet, but they had $2500 worth of draw prizes to give out. The band had finished up and they had set everything up on the stage, and so they started giving out the loot. There were so many people there that it usually took awhile for winners to get to the stage, but it moved along fairly quickly, with lots of cheering as people's names were announced, especially for the youngsters. Here's the original sheet with $2000 worth of prizes, but another $500 was donated, including standup paddling rentals.
 
It was almost 8 when the awards began, starting with all the entrants 8 years old or younger getting a finisher's ribbon. These were handed out by Miss Summerland and her 2 princesses standing on the ground in front of the stage. Once this was done they went back up onstage, and the medal awards started, beginning with the women's 5.4K ones. Next up were the men's and they reached my category and announced our names for the gold, silver and bronze medals and we headed around the back and then up onstage. The young women presented us with our medals, and then one of the guys said "Let's give a wave to the crowd!", so we did, just like we were in the Olympics, and got a big cheer, so that was a lot of fun!
 
 
 
We shook hands and headed offstage, and a fellow sitting on the grass with his kids said "Hey, you lived up to your number!", and I repeated my lame "It was a lot of pressure!" joke, but people were so nice they always laughed at it. I stayed until the end of the 5.4K awards, but since I had to drive to Barriere, which ended up taking 2 and a half hours, and run a race there in the morning, I decided I'd better hop in my car and get going, so off I went!
 
My final stats were 4th overall out of 401, and 1st of 34 in my age group, in a time of 23:22.