Yesterday’s race in Red Deer was wonderful – perfect weather & temperature, and a lot of runners came out for this great event. We didn’t even notice many mosquitos (they have been a living nightmare in Camrose for a couple of weeks now).
The Marathon and Half-Marathon both had winners from Camrose. I managed to out-kick my friend Andy to take 1st place in 1:16:03, and my training buddy Brendan Lunty won the Marathon in 2:42. This was my first race for the season, so I am extremely happy with how this day went. My time was about 25 seconds slower than my 3rd place finish last year, although the course was a bit different that time.
My wife did really good on the half-marathon, and our daughter Karly had a great race, and finished 4th among the women on the 10 km race. She is only 17 years old.
A big thanks to Red Deer Marathon organizers and volunteers – this race is one of the best ones in the province, without hesitation! I try to make it down to this race every year. I don’t know how many times I’ve run this race, but it has to be 6 or 7 times. This is the first time I’ve placed first – I have many top 2-4 finishes here.
There were a lot of runners from Camrose this day, great to see. Our friends Erin, Mary, Lori, Alvin, Paddi, Kathi, Neil, Wade were there, but there were actually many more people from the City of Camrose.
This turned out to be an extra lucky day for me, because I also won one of the grand draw prizes – a 1 year family pass to the Canyon Ski Resort in Red Deer. Yipppee!
My own training has been pretty good the last few weeks, but I got started later this year than I usually do, so I’m a bit behind on speed and endurance. However, I’m injury free and keen on training, so I’m hoping to get in good shape for the summer’s races. Northlands Mile Race, K-100, Sinister 7, Canada Day 15 km are some of the races I plan to do.
Happy Running, everyone!
