YMCA Gatorade Half-Marathon, Peterborough
Sunday, February 23, 2003Race report from Una...
Date: Mon Feb 24, 2003
Subject: Race Report... Gatorade Peterborough Half Marathon. Long. So very long.
First off... I can't believe the flurry of greetings waiting for me after I got home today! You are all so amazing!! Thank you! I couldn't believe it!!! And Lucie... how sweet of you to call me on my cell! I kept leaving it in the car though... Well, as you all know... I did it. I became a true Canadian runner. I ran the Gatorade/Peterborough Half Marathon. What was I thinking....
When I left the house at 7AM ish I took a peek at the weather channel. When the local forecast came on, well, there was only the winter storm warning red screen. Stay off the roads it said. I don't need no stinkin' weather channel, I said. Hopped in the car and motored. Honestly the roads weren't that bad... lots of wind and snow. What should have been a 3.5 hour drive became a 4.5 hour drive. Cars in the ditch, plows out... my car in 4x4. :)
I arrived at 11 ish and picked up my race kit, long sleeved navy blue shirt - quite nice actually. I am number 37. Hmmm. I won't be 37 until next year. Bad omen?
I lined up at the start, and bumped into my friend from the half mary clinic, Marie-Claude, and her boyfriend Phil. Chatted with them for a bit, but couldn't find any of my current clinic members. That would be because they cancelled the buses to the race from Ottawa. Weenies!!
I found out after the race that the weather was -16C (3.2F) with windchill -23C (-9F). There were some pretty hefty windgusts that were awfully demoralizing out there too. Anyway, the race began, off we went. I quickly linked up with Amanda from Kanata who'd lost 80 lbs over the past year. She was running exactly my pace, and Pat, took your advice and stayed on her heels. She was a very tall girl, not fat in the least, but big enough to shield the wind a little!
We were told the race had 'character building' hills. I expect the character they had in mind was Hercules. Una visited the alps yesterday, or so it felt. After the first 3 km my strategy became walk the hills, and run the downhills. I wished there were straightaways to run, but sadly there were none until the last 5km of the race. I now appreciate the term rolling hills. Whaaa!
I met up with Phil at the 8k mark, he was looking really rough, stomach troubles, he said his race was over he was waiting for the aid vehicle. I offered to walk with him, but he really wanted to be alone. There were many behind us still anyway, so I knew he'd have someone around should he need them. A few minutes later, he waved from the ambulance.
I hooked up with some other runners, Susan and Danielle, who both ran halves in the 2:20 range, so they were in pace with me. It was comforting to know that they were struggling too, at 10k we had clocked 1:20. This was going to be a long one for us. I proudly proclaimed I was going to be last today, and I truly wanted to be. I figured it was going to happen one day!
More aid vehicles went by, and more runners were in them. Yikes!! At the 13k mark a woman asked us if we were part of a walk-a-thon LOL. Guess that summed it up! LOL
My newfound friends were very upset about this whole thing, and really wanted to go home. I
refused to let them bring me down. Each time the aid bus or ambulance would creep up beside us, I'd call out "bring out your dead"! I broke into a rendition of "Bright side of life" and got those around me in the spirit.I danced with the traffic marshals and cops, hugged the very cold volunteers handing out Gatorade "sorry ma'am, but it's frozen". LOL My Gatorade had frozen in my bottle by the 10k mark after only drinking about 8oz, so I went dry the rest of the race. Oh well!
Susan and Danielle picked up their pace, they wanted this race over with. I wanted to be last. So I turned around walked back a block to chat with Linda. She was more than a little surprised that I came back for her, but glad for the company. We talked weight loss, kids, anything but the weather. We stopped talking when we couldn't see for the blowing snow. I again put my neck gaiter over my nose and mouth and concentrated on getting through. 13k-18k the road wasn't plowed at all. It was impossible to run with the ice underneath. Linda ran it though! I was stumbling all over the place. This was by far the toughest part of the race.
At 18k I met up with Brian and Kris. They were really struggling from leg cramps. I decided to walk them in. I looked behind us and sure enough there was the ambulance. I turned back to chat with the driver, and yes, we were last. We started to dance to our impromptu version of 'we're not the first, we're not the first'. I think the driver wanted to run us over at that point. We carried on. The last water station was gone, the road cones were gone, the km markers were gone!! OK PEOPLE. WE'RE COLD, WE'RE TIRED, AND WE DON'T KNOW HOW FAR IT IS TO THE FINISH!!! UGH. Lo and behold, there it was. I tried to get Brian and Kris running, but they just couldn't. So we walked it in. We were actually pushing each other across the finish, because we all wanted to be last! I opted to skip like a schoolgirl across the finish mats, to the strains of YMCA.
They took off our chips, gave us our medals, and we walked toward our cars. There was no one left to cheer us on. We were hugged by those 3 volunteers, and the ambulance driver. The Gatorade sponsor asked us if we wanted some. We said "sure!" He gave us each a can of Gatorade powder and told us we'd have to make it ourselves because there was none left pre-made. We were thrilled!! The first place folks don't get CANS of Gatorade!!! LOL
Sadly, I was not last I discovered while I checked my stats today.
562/564 Runners
196/198 Women
55/55 Women 35-39
Gun time: 3:11:05.5
Chip time: 3:10:19.7
9:04/km - 14:32/mileI stretched at the car, checked all the calls I'd missed on my cell, the 6 text messages from Steve. On the hunt for some food, I was starving, and most importantly something to drink. Wendy's fit the bill. Fries, a burger (no meat please but extra tomatoes and pickles!) and an extra large diet coke. Oh Momma that was good.
Back on the highway to Toronto now, lots of ditched cars, flipped over cars, and plows. What the heck was I doing out on a day like this!!
Got to Toronto, drank a litre of water, another litre of diet coke, half a litre of chocolate milk, and a half litre of white cranberry juice over the course of the evening. Man was I thirsty!! Ate a sub from Quiznos and chocolate chip cookies. Steve thought I was going to explode!! Took a very long shower, discovered 3 black toenails (now that's attractive), and received a well deserved massage.
Went to the Dundas Grill for breakfast, hoovered eggs Florentine with hashbrowns and Steve's toast. Poor guy was afraid I'd bite him if he went near them. Drank a large glass of tomato juice, followed by a large glass of orange juice. Stopped on the highway for MORE FOOD and drank another 1.5 litres of water. I guess I was a little dehydrated (blush!). I think I'm finally full though!
I hope this will stand as the most difficult and the worst race of my life. I must say though, it was the most fun I've ever had at a race, in my life. I will never do Peterborough again though.
Una :)
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