Running accomplishments

Andrew and I ran our first official 1/2 marathon race, which we took part in on Sunday morning in Calgary. Our race started at 7:00 a.m., meaning we had to get up at 5:30 a.m. We left our friend Michelle's place at 6:00 a.m. and head over to the nearest LRT station. All runners participating in the various races that day were given permission to ride Calgary transit for free. By the time we reached the stop for the starting line the train cars were packed with runners. The race started pretty much on time. Approximately 4,000 people participated in the half and full marathon race and so it took us 5 1/2 minutes after the starting tone went off before we even crossed the starting line (each runner is timed by a RFD chip attached to their shoe, so even though it took us a while to start the race, it didn't affect our time).

We spent a lot of the first part of the race dodging people (a number of participants sign up just to walk) and trying to get into a spot where we could run at our regular speed. We actually spent much of the course passing people (which made me feel good) and we weren't passed too much by other runners. The weather was wonderful for the run. The sky was clear and sunny and there was very little wind. I had started out wearing a long sleeved top under my vest, but managed to wriggle out of it (my bib was pinned across my vest over the zipper) when I got too hot. The course at Calgary was pretty flat, which made the running fairly easy. In Edmonton we train on a course involving 2 enormous hills. Around the 15 km mark I was getting a little worried that I was going to burn out, but I managed to keep on going. Our goal was to complete the 21.1 km course in under 2 hours and our official finishing time was 1:57.19.

Interesting things along the way:
Early on in the race (maybe 1 km in) while running up a major road we came along a couple of cars that had some how managed to turn onto the course. I'm not quite sure how they missed the 1,000s of runners on the road or how they got past the road blocks, but there they were, quite unable to move. Musicians were stationed along the route including: a Celtic fiddler, an accordionist, a drum core, a steel drum band and an Elvis impersonator—I think he was the first one I'd ever seen live (he was singing "I can't help falling in love" as we ran by).

Our official stats:
Andrew: finished 991/2836 overall, 612/1114 men, 100/163 men between 25-29 yrs, finish time 1:57:19, averaged 5.34 min/km
Andrea: finished 992/2836 overall, 380/1722 women, 101/334 women between 25-29 yrs, finish time 1:57:19, averaged 5.34 min/km



Ciao,

Andrea

Why I run

I wish I could say I run because I love it. That it makes me feel free and gives me a rush of exhilaration, but that's not true. Simply, I run because it's an easy way to exercise. You don't have to go to a gym to run, you just need a pair of shoes, and it gives you a chance to spend some time outside. I do feel better after a run, largely because I then believe myself justified to eat desert if I want to. Plus, I generally feel exhausted, especially after a Saturday morning run. I also run (at increasingly longer distances) because it's something that most of the rest of my family wouldn't do.

Today, Andrew and I are driving down to Calgary. We're going to visit Michelle while we're there, but on Sunday morning we're going to participate in the Calgary Half Marathon. That's 21.2 km of running, which will probably take us slightly less than 2 hours (we expect to run at approximately 10.75 km/hour). I'm hoping to finish in about the middle of the pack of the half marathon participants. According to the Calgary Marathon website they expect approximately 8,000 people to compete in the event tomorrow morning, although I don't know how many are running the same distance we are. This will be our second official road race. Last summer we ran in the Edmonton Canada Day Fun Race, which was a 15 km route. We completed the course, including 2 enormous hills, in 1 hour 29 minutes.

We hope that one day we might be able to run the Boston Marathon; however, you have to meet a qualifying time to participate. The current standard is 3 hours 40 minutes for woman and 3 hours 10 minutes for men of our age group. The winning time this year for the men's division was 2 hours 8 minutes. After this weekend our plans are to continue to run our training course (of approximately 20 km) throughout the summer and work on getting our speed up. On the flat track at Butterdome I can run over 11 km/hour, but only for about 20 minutes before I burn out. This is going to take some work, especially for me since I'm not really a natural runner (Andrew could run a much faster time if he ran on his own); however I've already seen a huge increase in my speed and endurance from when I started running 3 years ago.

I will report on our experience after we get home, and possible have a picture to put up.

Ciao,

Andrea