Canadian International Marathon (Toronto, Ont.)
Sunday, October 15, 2000

Race report for Maureen's first marathon...
Date: Mon Oct 16, 2000
Subject: Maureen's marathon post
 

Glenn, Tony (Mau's husband), Maureen, Liesha and Kelly.

 

Hi, everyone. This is a very special day for me, because it's the first day after I ran my first marathon! Yesterday I raced in Toronto's International Marathon. I have never really considered myself to be a "runner." Most of the running I have done has been to stay fit for rowing, which is my primary sport. Because it is so time consuming, I decided to retire from rowing competition this year and do more fun stuff, like running. I have always felt that the ability to run a marathon was something which was entirely outside my grasp. When I met Kelly Ambrose, all that changed. Kelly, as you guys know, works in IT. She works at UCC, where my husband also works, as the Head Coach of the rowing programme. One morning, coming home from rowing, Tony and I went to our favourite breakfast spot. He recognized a woman sitting at a table with another woman. They had just come back from a run. Tony introduced me to Kelly and I mentioned that I was interested in becoming part of a running group. That was how I got involved with the Penguins. We went on some runs together and I began to think maybe running a marathon wasn't so unrealistic after all. Over the last few months, many of you have been instrumental in helping me reach that goal, but more about that later.... The run itself was every bit as much fun as I hoped it would be. I arrived at Mel Lastman square at 8h00, having picked up my race kit the previous day. I stretched a bit, but mostly waited in line at the port-o-potties, which were terribly few in number. I kept to myself mostly, just savouring the whole experience. At 8h30, we listened to a young man sing "O Canada" and then watched and cheered as the half-marathoners ran by us. Their start was a little earlier and a little further north, so that they ran right by us. The announcer said there were 22 countries being represented at today's races! I felt very small. When the time came to start the race, I walked to the back of the crowd, knowing that I would be slow and would far rather later pass people than be passed by everyone just off the start. The horn blew and I started my run. My plan was to run 14 minutes, and walk for 1, and also to walk through the water stops. I had my water belt on, so I figured I would use my minutes of walking to rehydrate. I knew I was well hydrated, because I had to step into the bush just after 10K to relieve my bladder. Sometimes, I thought to myself, it must be nice to be a man. I saw one woman actually pull down her pants while running along Steeles and just pee on the sidewalk!! My modesty precluded me from doing the same, so I lost a bit of time finding a well sheltered place (I'm sure no one wants to hear anymore about this!!). The first 10 K went by smoothly, ending just after a beautiful run through a park in North York. I met a French Canadian from my own home town and the two of us mourned the fact that Montreal has not had a marathon in 7 years. No sponsorship! I also met a very interesting (if mentally unstable) man, who was running his 99th marathon!!! Of course, this was Glenn's friend Jose, but I didn't know it at the time. He was keeping a nice, slow pace, much like mine. He said the first marathon was always magical and I should savour it. I am still taking is advice on that count!   Multi-marathoner Jose centres Glenn and Liesha. I got to the half-way mark and thought to myself, "I can do this!" I was feeling a bit tired, but not too bad. Jose and I traded places a few times along the way, but mostly he was ahead of me, and I could almost always see the maple leaf on his running shorts and the print on his tank top which said he had run a marathon in every U.S. state, plus D.C. At about 22K, I passed a woman who was walking. I muttered some words of encouragement as I passed her, and she got very upset. She had gone out too fast and hit the wall. I offered her a couple of gels, but she said all she wanted was to get off the course and go home. I helped her find an aid person and then continued on, telling her she had nevertheless done a great job to get so far. I had a bit of a low period myself from 23-28K. I had been eating a gel every hour, but I was still feeling faint. I started to drink Powerade at the water stations at that point, and that gave me a second wind. All of a sudden, everything got easier! Duh? At about 28K, I turned off Yonge onto Chaplin Cres. Some wonderful person or group had put up a bunch of signs to encourage the runners. When I saw the one that read, "Don't look now, you're inspiring someone," I got really choked up! It was incredible to think that I could do that for someone, even remembering all the people who have done it for me (and you know who you are, Penguins!). The best part of the race came at 29K, when I saw not only my husband on Spadina, but also Liesha, with her bike. Tony walked through the next water station with me, jogging a bit to keep up (ha, ha), but he was wearing a suit and dress shoes, having just come from Church. That drew a few good natured jibes from the volunteers about proper running attire! Liesha, bless her heart, rode her bike alongside me for the rest of the way. On that lonely section through Rosedale Valley Road and Bayview it made all  the difference in the world. Her words of encouragement and easy conversation got me through the last 10 miles like nothing else could have!

At one mile to go, I passed Jose. He said, "Ah, I knew you would pass me at some point!" The last 500m or so, I heard my wonderful husband's voice again, encouraging me, but also Kelly's delightful cheers of "Wow, you look fantastic!" What a good liar she is!!! When I was close to the finish line, I heard Glenn cheering me on and tooting his horn. I smiled, as happy as I could imagine being at that moment. When I passed Glenn, I thought, "My God, I have really done this! I have just run a marathon!!" Once again, I got very emotional, so much so that it interfered with my breathing! Only stern intellectual thoughts let me get the last 20 m to the finish line without choking on my tears. The first person I hugged was Jose, who came in shortly after I did.

There are so many people to thank for this. Kelly, thanks for running the Hamilton 30K with me. I thought of that often during the marathon. At the end of Hamilton, I went up to the ladies' room and vomited up all the Gatorade that I had consumed during that race, feeling positively nauseated. At the end of the marathon, I felt great! But only because the 30K made me realize that I really had to train for this event (OK, Liesha, NOT the Pecknold training method, but REAL training!). Most of my real training was with Liesha and Darryl, occasionally Kelly (before Nathan got too big), Glenn, Tracy and the Jo's. But all of you have been tremendously inspiring to me. Glenn, thank you a million times for everything you do to make the Penguins a remarkably cohesive group. Of course, the volunteers and the policemen who gave their time were also tremendously helpful. I would like to be a volunteer at one of these events now, to help repay them for their kindnesses, by passing along my help in turn. Now, the torch passes to Liesha, Darryl and Katherine..... Waddle on, friends!

 

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