Penguin World Conference IV
Toronto, Canada
May 24 to 27, 2002The first international Penguin encounter and the first encounter outside of the United States
PWC IV Report from Cheryl Coto of Reston, Va...
Date: Fri May 31, 2002
Subject: PWC and Burlington 1/2
Hello Penguins! I decided to join this email list AGAIN since 1) I continuously reap the rewards of penguin-hood via Terri (Dr. Dolphin) at races and functions and 2) b/c I really want to keep in touch w/ my newfound friends and this is the best way to do it! :o) .. So, here is my impression of PWC Toronto and my race report for the Rock & Roll ½ in Burlington: First, let me start off w/ an insight of traveling w/ Terri. I usually get a phone call a couple days before the travel day just to make sure I’m on track. It just so happens that I was fast asleep when I got the call for this trip. … Frankly, I’m surprised that I was even able to find the airline tickets to tell her my arrival time or form a complete sentence for that matter (see Dr.D’s race report)
I get up Friday morning, pack, and drive up to BWI airport for my 1:05pm direct flight to Buffalo, NY, where I was meeting up w/ Terri. Our plan was to arrive in Buffalo at roughly the same time, pick up a car rental, and drive the short distance to Toronto. It should have taken 2 ½ hours total, which would have given us plenty of time to register and participate in the Ethic Night dinner. RIIIIIIIIIGT?! … uh, yeah, sure …. Anyway, Terri and I really didn’t go over where we were meeting at the airport. I figured that the car rental would be the safest bet, but I wasn’t sure what time she was getting in. Worst-case scenario though – I had her cell phone (unfortunately, I didn’t realize she didn’t have it w/ her) … As soon as I exit off the plane w/ my carry on in tow, I hear my name over the intercom “Cheryl Coto, Please Report to Baggage Claim”. So, instead of making a bee line to baggage claim to look for Terri as originally planned I decided to make a pit stop now since I know where she must be. Smart thinking, huh?! … Eventually, I made it to baggage claim and realized that Terri thought I arrived at 2:10pm! Oops! Lucky for me, Terri already had the rental car ready to go so we took off w/o even having to pay for terminal parking! Woohooo!
I’m not going to relive the driving from Buffalo to NY experience in detail! So here’s the short and sweet version: two accidents, non-moving traffic, bad navigator (that would be me), upset driver (that would be Terri), frantic search for hotel number, frantic search for pay phone, frantic search for Canadian money for pay phone, frantic call to Glen, etc. Amazingly, we finally made it to the hotel around 8 and decided to eat and just meet up w/ folks the next day!
The next day: Got up before the alarm b/c was having serious female issues. However, I dragged my butt out anyway for a short run w/ fellow Penguins. After which, I decided that a hot bath and drugs were needed so I told Terri I’d meet her at the YMCA and proceeded to miss the first workshop. Once the drugs set in and I stopped rolling around on the floor like a big baby, I made my way over to the YMCA. Since the first workshop wasn’t over for 10 mins, I chit-chatted w/ some Toronto Penguins and bought myself a left over Blue Jays ticket for the afternoon. Did I luck out or what?! Then the workshops ended and tons-of-people filled into the room for snack time! Yummy! Of course, I had already been sampling the merchandise! … After the break, I made my way to John’s workshop and after about 40 mins I realized that I’ve been doing everything wrong w/ regards to my training program! Oops! .. So, back to the drawing board for me! :o)
That afternoon I met up w/ Tonya, Kecia, Bruce, Todd, and Mr. Boston Marathon qualifier in the hotel lobby to subway over to the Blue Jays game, which happens to be in a domed stadium. Never seen a game in one of those before! On our way over, Tonya, Kecia, and I spied some men in kilts and being curious loudly wondered what they were wearing underneath. To our surprise, we got mooned – TWICE (I missed it the first time!) Then curiosity overcame us and we asked them to flip the front, which they did! (don’t worry folks –
it was strictly PG-13 thanks to some very conspicuous shirt tails) … After that little highlight, we made our way to the stadium and I proceeded to make a complete fool out of myself by screaming at the top of my lungs, which surprising made me stick out like a sore thumb. Who knew! … After the game, Glen, Bruce, Todd, Tonya, and I hiked around Toronto’s underground mall system, which is very similar to Crystal City where I come from. I’m not sure excessive walking was a great idea the day before a race, but I thoroughly enjoyed myself. Then we made our way to dinner, where I won a whoopee cushion and was able to purchase John’s latest book from a fellow Toronto Penguin! That night, slept like a log.Race Day: Got up at the crack of dawn to make sure that my butt was on the bus at 6am b/c I was already warned ahead of time that it wasn’t waiting for stragglers! At exactly 6am, we headed out to Burlington. This race was a little different then all the other races I’ve ever been in b/c the half marathoner started before the full marathoners, which meant that back-of-the-packers were lapped by elites! .. But I’m getting ahead of myself, Terri and I started out together – making a big loop, which brought us back to the start. Unfortunately, the signs for our turn weren’t very good. So, we asked a race organizer where we had to go. She proceeded to tell us that we’re late and then pointed us to the full marathon start! Luckily, we caught on pretty quickly that we were given the wrong directions and finally found the ½ turn off that we were looking for. At which point, my knee was starting to bother me.
My knee actually started bothering me at the Disney ½ in Jan – thanks to the wrong shoes. Of course, I thought it was b/c I didn’t train hard enough. Then I attempted to run Washington Marathon, but I pulled out at 15 miles b/c of my knee (I count this as a ½!) Then I ran CM ½ and once again my knee started bothering me so I finally figured out that it’s probably my shoes! What can I say, I’m dense!! Now I have the right shoes, but I think I must have pulled something while running in my old ones. Anyway, after the first couple of km at Burlington, I realized that my knee was going to be a problem so I told Terri to run ahead while I walked for a while. Eventually, Tonya and Todd, who were running the full, caught up w/ me and I tried to keep up w/ them for a bit. That didn’t last long though! Todd was kind enough to hang out w/ me and it was nice passing the time w/ a fellow penguin. After he left, I decide to try running again and I ended up doing that for almost the rest of the race w/ a race coordinator following me via car and a truck picking up the cones behind him! We were quite the parade! Lol. …
Eventually, the ½ met up with the full course and I was passed by elite runners for the 2nd time! I’d like to think that I was ahead of them for a while at least! … about 2 km away from the finish I passed the most wonderful penguin water stop w/ cow bells ringing and everything! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! … Then, I saw Terri in the distance and started screaming for her! Can you BELIEVE that I finally caught up?! I must have been booking it! … We ended up finishing the race together and I made a complete spectacle of myself crossing the finish line. Why couldn’t I have this abundance of energy on the course?!
Another interesting aspect of this race was that everyone got different medals and it wasn’t based on what time you came in. Terri and I received black and silver ones – very sophisticated. … Also, most of the water stations ran out of water (except for our Penguin water stop) and I was even offered pepsi at one, which was a new experience for me. It’s a good thing I bring my own sports drink!
After we got back from Burlington, we took a nap and then doll-ed ourselves up. It’s amazing how different we look when we’re not in our running clothes, sweating and out of breath! lol. …. The banquet was located on an island, which meant we had to take a water taxi over. However, only 40 people or so were able to board at the same time. This arrangement became really interesting on the way back when we all piled out to leave! … As for dinner itself, it was wonderful – of course. First time I tried a butter tart! Whoooo! Imagine what it would be like to eat an entire stick of butter!! …
One of the most memorable/moving moments at dinner was when Todd gave his “spirit award” to Tonya. Todd received the award for being one of the last marathon runners to finish, but he gave it to Tonia b/c even though she didn’t finish this time, she still exemplified what being a penguin is all about. Of course, the water works start flowing for me and I realize how important it is to have Penguin support! So, thank you for a very enjoyable weekend and I hope to lend myself to you all as you’ve continuously done for me in my non-penguin status! :o)
Cheryl Coto
Reston, VA
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