First place in Masters division in 1:15:23. This was my first time running this race, and I really enjoyed it. In fact, this was my first trip to Vancouver. It wasn’t as bad with traffic and crowds as I had expected. Race results here.
I had a good race – went out fairly hard and kept it up most of the way. I didn’t wear a watch, so I have no idea what my splits were.
About 30 minutes into the race, it started raining. It was around 10 degrees when we started, pretty perfect with just a light wind. When the rain came, I tightened up a bit as it got colder.
I ran with a guy for 8-10 km, but as we approached Stanley Park, I couldn’t quite keep up. There is a long hill at about 13 km into the race, and I felt really strong up this hill. I caught up to this guy again at the top. Then, on the long downhill, I had no chance to keep up and fell back 20 seconds or so.
I maintained what I could to the finish, hoping that the guy in front of me would be younger than me. As I approached the finish, I heard the speaker announce me as the top Masters runner of the day. Picked up $300 for that – sometimes it’s nice to get old! If I could only stay 40 forever now…
Karly did her first half-marathon, and did really well in 1:51. I was honestly a little worried, since she’s been having some issues with a foot for a while, but all went well. Great job Karly!
Denise also ran the half, and she enjoyed it very much too. She took some photos along the way and didn’t worry about her time.
Amalia didn’t run the half-marathon, since she’s only 6. However, there was a “Marafun” run for kids, and she ran it like the wind, with the rest of us hobbling along, doing our best to keep up with her.
I definitely recommend this race to anyone considering it. It was well organized and it was a nice course. The only complaint I have is that the exit out of the kids finishing area was a disaster. 1,600 or so kids in the race, and the exit was a small opening in the fence, which meant waiting and waiting to get out of there. It probably took 20 minutes to leave this area, due to the line up. Also, since this clogged up the finishing area with people, Amalia didn’t receive the bag all kids were supposed to get at the end, because we never saw anyone handing anything out. At least she got her medal, so she was happy.
