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, April 27, 2013

Sunshine Coast April Fool's Run

Sunday, April 7th was the day of the Sunshine Coast April Fool's Run, a point to point half marathon starting in Gibsons and ending in Sechelt.
 
I arrived at the Gibsons & Area Community Centre about 20 minutes before the 9:30 AM race start. I went in and ran into Rob Daniel, who still had his shiner from last week's race but otherwise was good as new again. He asked why I was so late getting there, and I told him that I'd been in no hurry this morning because for a half marathon I didn't need much of a warmup. With that we wished each other good luck and before we knew it we were at the starting line, about 300 meters up the road from the community centre. I joined Larry Doan a few rows from the front, and we'd barely exchanged pleasantries before the race marshal gave the countdown and we were off just past 9:30 AM.
 
After running on level ground for about 100 meters we hit an incline for 300 meters or so, slowing me up a bit but not too badly. We turned left down another road and things were fairly level until we got past the 1K marker, hitting a nice downhill that lasted for a few hundred meters before the course became flat again. A fellow who looked to be in his 30s came up and ran beside me just before the 2K point. We talked a bit and found out that it was the 2nd year doing this race for both of us. He said he was shotting for 1:35, about a 4:30/K pace, and I told him I was doing the same, but anything under 1:40 would be just fine. We wished each other a good race and he surged ahead.
 
A couple of minutes later I heard "Go Flett go! Go Flett go!" from behind me, and a guy wearing a Gingerbread Man costume came running by me. He said "It's Tilman!", and I said "Hey Tilman, way to go!", and he ran up ahead. The fellow who I'd been talking to was about 10 meters in front of me, and I watched as Tilman slowly overtook him. It was amusing to see his surprised face as the Gingerbread Man went by him, but after recovering from his shock he smiled and yelled some words of encouragement.
 

 
A kilometer later we were directed to turn right, and I caught a surge of energy, speeding up to pass the guy still in front of me and then Tilman. We hit another hill just before the 5K marker, and then things leveled out for the most part, and we even had a couple of nice downhills as we continued to run along the road. Spectators lined the route in places, yelling encouragement, clanging cowbells, and holding up signs. Many of them were families that lived along the course, and some children were dressed up in costumes and had their faces painted like it was Halloween.
 
Near the 14K mark there was a junction with lots of cheering spectators which picked everyone's spirits up. After we ran by them and turned the corner, however, there was an uphill about 800 meters long greeting us, and I wasn't halfway up it before my legs felt like they were made of lead.
 
It took me almost another kilometer after cresting the hill before I was able to get some speed going again, but thankfully for the rest of the race there were only a couple of minor inclines, and a few nice downhill portions to help me toward the finish line. There were about 6 Ks to go when Robin from the Holiday Hustle came up alongside me, and we chatted for a bit. Then he picked up the pace, said he'd see me later, and ran ahead.
 
With 5K to go I pulled out one of my tricks I use to help get me to the finish line sometimes, singing "99 Bottles of Beer on the Wall" in my head. I ran out of beers with 2K to go, switched to counting every 4 paces in my head, and reached 200 with about 1K left. I stopped counting and sped up as well as I could, anxiously awaiting the sight of the sign I remembered from last year. Suddenly there it was: "400 METERS TO GO!". I raced past it, and soon could hear cheering and saw a small bridge directly ahead. A fellow standing on the other side of the street yelled "Way to go! After you cross the bridge turn left and you're there!" I yelled thanks and crossed the bridge, turned into a park, and headed down the finishers' chute and across the line!
 
A volunteer congratulated me and placed a finisher's medal around my neck. I stayed near the line cheering runners in, and only a few minutes later Tilman came in wearing his Gingerbread Man costume! A guy handing out Muscle Milk took our picture, and then I went to the bag check. I got my bag, put on my jacket as I was now cooling down, and saw that they had some results posted already. I finished in 1:39:37, under 1:40 so happy with that all things considered. Robin finished in 1:37:22 and 2nd in his age group, and I told him that was awesome! Tilman finished in 1:43:20, also awesome, and he said it was a personal best in that costume!
 
Dan and Judy Cumming, who I rode over on the ferry with me the day before, just like last year, were volunteering at the race again. Dan came over and congratulated me, and then I headed for the food tables where Judy was serving delicious burritos. They also had small fruit yogurts and I grabbed one of these and a couple of cookies, and later went back for a cup of tasty fresh made tomato soup.
 
They presented the awards, and Nicholas Browne was the overall winner, with VFAC clubmate David Palermo, last year's champion, still managing an impressive second place finish. Lisa Brooking won the women's race, and was 11th overall out of everyone!
 
Next up was the top costume award, and Tilman won, collecting a $100 gift certificate. I can't recall what it was for, I just remember him saying "Hey, a hundred bucks is a hundred bucks!"  I wandered about mingling with the other runners, and finally ran into Rob Daniel, who finished the race with no problems in spite of getting banged up pretty good when he took a spill at the MEC race the week before.
 
It was a great event again, exceptionally well organized by Teresa and Larry Nightingale, with a fantastic job done by the army of volunteers that made it all possible.
 
Having to work that night, it was time for me to make the short walk to the beach and take the shuttle bus back to my car, then heading to the ferry terminal to catch the 3 PM to Horseshoe Bay.
 
From the website race report:
 
"Donations to the Sunshine Coast Food Bank were accepted during registration and package pickup, with $370 in cash and a large box of food generously provided by participants. In addition, several boxes of leftover fresh food were collected by food bank volunteers at the conclusion of the event, after runners and volunteers enjoyed a feast of soup & scones from Ty's Bistro, burritos from Today's Entree, coffee, tea & cookies from Wheatberries, and fruit, yogourt and bagels from MarketPlace IGA.
A large box of ladies' shoes and some handbags were donated for the Ruby Slipper Fund, which raises money for local palliative care programs. Their annual auction evening was the night before the race, so this year's Fool's Run donations will kick off the collection for the 2014 auction evening."
For videos, results, photos, reports, etc., it's all here:
 
My next race was the Oliver 10K on April 14, but before that on April 12 I ran part of the Terry Fox Tribute with Linda Wong and friends: https://www.facebook.com/events/358390490936239/
 
And lastly, here's some more photos from the March 30th MEC race: http://www.flickr.com/photos/photos_at_mec/sets/72157633218634731/

Saturday, April 6, 2013

MEC North Vancouver Race Two 10K

Last year Mountain Equipment Co-op hosted a few low cost ($15 entry fee) races in Greater Vancouver, and this year they've stepped it up and will be holding several. The second one presented by the North Vancouver MEC was on Saturday, March 30th. The descriptively named MEC North Vancouver Race Two was held at Inter River Park, with the 10K starting at 9 AM, followed by the 5K at 9:15.
 
I saw Vas when I got there, and Rob Daniel arrived soon after. It was easily warm enough to just wear a singlet, about 12 degrees or so when we started, so I ran my first race of the year without another shirt underneath it. I saw Ingo as I approached the start line when my race was about to begin, but he was heading toward the facilities so I assumed he was running the 5K.
 
We took off at 9 AM under sunny skies, and the first 100 meters were flat as we ran through the parking lot, but as soon as we hit the road that I'd driven down to get there, it was all fairly steep uphill for a couple of hundred meters. I slowed down immediately and some better (and younger) hill climbers passed me. We finished our climb and hit the road, and the next three kilometers featured several sight uphills followed by level ground. Then it flattened out for about a kilometer, and I just tried to keep pace with a group of four runners in front of me.
 
I passed Vas at about the 4K mark, and soon after this we were directed to our right to run through a gravel lot, over a bunch of small rocks at the end of it, and then into the woods. As I approached the end of the lot the race leaders were already coming back, and I made sure to stay to the right of the path as anyone ahead of me would be coming back toward me in the opposite direction.
 
I hit the turnaround and started back, and exchanged greetings with Vas as he came towards me soon after. There was a bit of undulation when we were in the woods, and it was tricky running over the rocks, but after this it was all flat ground and everyone seemed to pick up speed as we headed back. At about the 7K mark we were started hitting what were now downhills for us, and it was a speedy run heading in.
 
With about a kilometer and a half to go I heard someone behind me and gaining, and this inspired me to pick up the pace. The person persisted in not only staying with me, but slowly gaining, and with about a kilometer to go Vas came up beside me. I said "Way to go, you caught up to me!" and he said he'd really been able to pick up the speed going downhill. Soon we were turning into where we'd come from, but instead of going down the road we'd run up from the lot, we were directed to run around through another lot and around to a downhill path to the finish line. Vas was already ahead of me and now he really picked it up, and I couldn't make any headway on him, but concentrated on trying to keep up with the woman who'd just passed me.
 
Soon I was across the line, fairly close behind the woman who I would later discover finished in 3rd place in her gender. Vas was waiting, we congratulated each other on a good race, and after grabbing some water and a couple of small chocolate Easter eggs I headed to my car to get my camera. I went back to where Vas was and he got a fellow to take our picture with his camera, which I later scooped off Facebook.
 
 
 
I went and got some more Easter eggs and a banana. They had the ones with a hard candy shell on them, and regular ones wrapped in foil. I went and got some pictures at the finish line while cheering for the incoming racers, while Vas went to his car to put on warmer clothes.
 
 
 
He came back and then Ingo came up to talk to us, he thought the 5K was more like 6K, but he didn't mind.
 
 
 
Finally Rob Daniel had come in, and he was the last one. He'd taken a tumble and had some cuts on his shoulders and lip plus he had a black eye. They looked after him in the First Aid tent, and after being sure he was okay Vas said he had to get going. Rob looked like hell, but he's tough and finished the race in spite of his injuries. Ingo noticed they were pouring some more of the foil wrapped eggs in the bowl, we'd thought they were all gone. The 3 of us went over and talked while peeling and eating our eggs and Rob and myself grabbed a coffee. There was another MEC event at Burnaby Lake in a week, and they said they were going to run it. A woman volunteer overheard us and came and gave me a brochure.
 
I told them I was running the Fool's Run Half Marathon on the Sunday, so I probably wouldn't want to run that the day before, but I'd see. I'd already had to get away from the egg table, those things are addictive, and the volunteers were packing everything up, so I decided to head home. Rob looked way better by the now, and he laughed and said they'd be seeing me on Saturday at Burnaby Lake. I've thought about it since but I decided it was best to just go do the Fool's Run, that would be enough racing for the upcoming weekend.
 
Here's the results, I finished 22 of 58 overall, with a time of 44:44. There weren't any age groups. Vas beat me by 15 seconds, the 3rd place woman, Devon Miller, was 4 seconds ahead of me, and thankfully I finished ahead of the person behind me, listed as Glen "Fatty" Richie. They had medals for top 3 male and female in each race, and we saw people with medals on, but it must have been a quiet awards ceremony because we somehow missed it.
 
 
So my next race is the Sunshine Coast April Fool's Run on Sunday, April 7 at 9:30 AM. We start in Gibsons and run the 21.1 Ks to the beach at Sechelt, and then from 11:30 to 1:20 they shuttlebus us back. Rob never mentioned he was doing the race, but I noticed he's signed up online, so hopefully I'll see him there.

Thursday, April 4, 2013

The Vancouver Spring Run-Off 8K

On March 24 I ran the Vancouver Spring Run-Off 8K. We started out from right beside the Stanley Park Pavilion, instead of on the road like we did at the St. Patrick's Day race. As I came up to the starting line about 10 minutes before gun time, there was a fence bordering it on both sides. It went a long way back and was filled with people, so I had to enter at the back and make my way up closer to the starting line. I made it to where Ingo was, still about 15 rows from the front, but good enough!
 
At 10 AM the marshall did a five second countdown, and we took off, running down the gravel paths and through the trees, where we hit a slight uphill that leveled out fairly quickly. We hit the concrete paths now, and after a kilometer we were running past Lost Lagoon. It wasn't nearly as crowded as the St. Paddy's race, so passing people and letting them go by was a lot easier. Just past the 2K point we hit the seawall, and people were strung out more, and I was running with a small pack of runners travelling at a similar pace.
 
After we passed Second Beach a couple of kilometers later our pack had mostly dissolved, as some runners had raced ahead, while others had dropped back. A man and woman were running about 30 meters ahead of me, and they passed someone who'd slowed up a bit. A couple of minutes later I came up behind him, and it was Vas! We exchanged greetings and ran together for a few hundred meters, but then I slowly pulled away from him.
 
 
 
With a kilometer to go you could already hear the announcer at the finish line. It seemed like everyone was speeding up, suddenly realizing the end was near. We turned off of the seawall with about 300 meters to go, and there was one last slight uphill climb, and then as we turned a corner the finish arches were in view! It was a bit confusing as there were 2 arches, and I just kept going until I was past the second one to make sure I was over the line.
 
 
 
Vas came in 30 seconds after me, and we grabbed some water and headed around the back to where the food tables were. I ran into Tina-Louise Harris, who told me she actually had to stop and walk a couple of time, as she has chronic pain right now and couldn't get in to see her physiotherapist this week. She said a bunch of women passed her near the end, so she wasn't sure how well she placed. As it turned out, those women were in her old age group, in her new 45-49 AG she finished 2nd, just ahead of the 3rd place woman.
 
 

 
Next I hit the food tables, and volunteers were inviting us to try chocolate chip, double chocolate and oatmeal cookies, bagels, bananas, and oranges. I ended up eating quite a few cookies, plus some Power Bar pieces that they had on a table out front.
 
Arnold Sikhakhane walked up and I congratulated him on finishing 2nd overall in the Green Sock Half & Shamrockin' Race 5K at Burnaby Lake a week ago.
 
 
 
 
He said it was really cool, they treated him like a VIP at the award ceremonies, and he had his finisher's medal on too so there was quite a bit of bling hanging around his neck.
 
The St. Patrick's Day race was also the provincial 5K road race championship this year, and Vas finished 3rd in his age group and they sent him a really cool ribbon.
 
 
The 3 of us hung around and talked for awhile, and I told them about the 10K race that Mountain Equipment Co-op was putting on in North Vancouver on Saturday, and that registration was only $15. Vas said he'd probably see me there, but Arnold had to work that day, so he'd have to miss it. With that we said our goodbyes and headed home, another fun race in the books!
 
I ended up finishing 4 of 32 in my age group, 106 of 879 overall, with a time of 35:50.
 
 
 
 
For a more varied perspective here's the race organizer's report:
 
Here's my photos, plus you can look at them all:
 
My finish video:
 
My next race was the MEC North Vancouver Race # 2, at Inter Urban Park, on Saturday, March 30 at 9 AM.

Wednesday, April 3, 2013

The River's Spring Run-Off 10K

On Sunday, March 17, I ran the River's Spring Run-Off 10K in Kamloops. I talked to Dave Coneybeare in the gym before the race and then he said he had to go get his racing clothes on. I thought it would be standard racing fare, but turned out to be a Gumbie costume! Good thing for Dave it was only a couple of degrees above zero, it could get pretty hot in that thing. I was standing with Dave at the starting line and remarked that I'd seen Wes Kibble's name on the confirmation list, but I hadn't seen Wes, so maybe he couldn't make it. Dave said "Wes is here, here he comes now!"  I thought I'd seen a chunky woman wearing a tutu and green fright wig warming up in the distance, but now as the person ran up I saw it was Wes. I told Dave "I should have known!"  Soon after Wes' arrival the race director gave us a ten second countdown, and we were on our way!
 
It was 10 AM as we took off from beside Arthur Stevenson School, racing straight ahead down a residential street for about 3 Ks until we hit a cul-de-sac and a turnaround. After rounding the cone we headed back for a few blocks before turning right, heading over a couple of blocks, and then going left again and onto a main drag.
 
We had spectators with signs and cowbells cheering us on as we ran down this road. A guy passsed me and I just locked on and tried to keep up to him, and then a woman came up beside me, and a fellow on the sidelines told her "You're second, you'll have to give it on the dike!" Not long after this we turned left and a couple of blocks later we were directed to turn up onto the aforementioned dike. We ran down a gravel path for about a kilometer and a half until we hit another turnaround and headed back to the road. As I approached the road I saw Dave running towards me in his Gumbie costume. I yelled "Way to go Dave!", he yelled "Good race Gord!", and we high fived going by each other.
 
We hit the road and there were only a few hundred meters to go, the announcer was already audible at the finish line. As I ran along the slightly meandering residential street, the cheering got louder and louder, as not far ahead of me the two women's leaders were running a photo finish in to the finish line. The woman who had been number two ended up that way, by a fraction of a second. After them the third place woman, from London England, crossed, then another guy, and finally I hit the finish chute and sprinted across as best I could.
 
I went into the gym and found I was one of the first in there. I gave them the ticket I got with package pickup for my piece of pizza. The idea was to have pizza for everyone, and I told Wes and Dave they were doing me a favour by doing this. As it ended up though, they had plenty and were later asking people to take more, so eventually I ended up eating 4. I went to take a picture of Wes and Dave with my camera, but it wasn't working, so Wes got a friend to take one of us with his phone.
 
 
 
They also had cheese and crackers, muffins, bagels, fruit and various baked goods to eat, plus coffee and water. On a table at the front there were draw prizes with people's names on them. Lo and behold I'd won a shoe drying kit from race sponsor The Runner's Sole, which is owned by Wayne Richardson, a great guy who used to be a member of my club.
 
They posted some unofficial results, and I discovered that in spite of a slow time of 45:04, I'd finished 3rd in my age group. As I put it to Wes, I'd weaseled out a medal!
 
When they got the awards started they gave out the best costume ones first. Wes won, Dave was second and a woman dressed like a leprechaun was third, and they all got nice prize baskets full of various gourmet goodies.
 
A very nice woman chatted with me as they presented the awards, she obviously knew everyone and said nice things about them as they went up to get their medals. She was a little surprised as many people who'd won and who lived right in Kamloops had gone home before the awards. I told her I had to be in Surrey that night to work, but there was no way I wasn't staying to get mine. I went up and got my nice Shamrock medal, and she'd heard my time and told me I'd run very fast. Then they came to her age group, 70-74, and called out Liz Borrett as first in a time of 51:53. She said "That's me." and went up and received her medal to rousing applause. She'd told me that my time was fast and she finished only a few minutes behind me. I told her that was incredible! No surprise she was tops in the race in the age graded results.
 
I dropped my medal showing it off at work that night. We'd thought it might be made of wood, but I found out the hard way that it's ceramic. It broke into 4 big pieces with some tiny ones chipping off too. With the power of crazy glue it is now intact, and the paint I bought to cover the chips didn't quite match, but I went with it anyway. The way I'm looking at it, my very unique medal is now even better, it's one of a kind!
 
 
 
With the ceremonies over it was time to head back to Vancouver, so I said goodbye to Liz, Wes, and Rick from the Barriere Fun Run, and went on my way. Had to go through a snow storm on the way back, but everyone was driving pretty carefully, and then there was heavy rain later on that washed all the crap off my car, so I didn't have to do it myself!
 
 
Also a nice race report from Rick Jenkner:
 
My next race was the Vancouver Spring Run Off 8K on March 24 at 10 AM, in Stanley Park.