Breast Cancer 5km

I headed out to the Valley this weekend for a quick family visit and to run the Breast Cancer 5km in Abbotsford with Mum and her team - Sue's Crew.

The visit was short but fun, we mostly had a lazy Saturday. We hit the honey store and I borrowed my Dad's bike, riding a mountain bike for the first time in about 4 years as we dropped off race packs to various team members who were joining us on Sunday.

We got to the run early this year so Mum could be in the survivors parade. I managed to miss seeing the parade as I was warming up, poor planning on my part.

I was the sole runner of the group, the rest of the team; Mum's friends from the complex, golf, Probis, and Prince George; were walkers.

I forgot to check my previous 5km times before the race so had no idea what I was aiming for. As there are no km markers I don't think knowing the time I was aiming for would help me in the slightest! Turns out my best 5km is 23:11 set at a track workout in the spring.

The run felt shorter this year, probably because the weather wasn't absolutely miserable. I finished in 23:28, a little off the 5km time from May but running on a track (flat, easy to measure splits) is very different from running on the road.

There was a WTF moment near the end when we were passing the 1km walkers. A woman doing the walk was smoking. Smoking while participating in a charity run for CANCER! I looked back after passing her and the guy running behind me was shaking his head, obviously as shocked as I was.

My post-race cool down was to back track to find my Mum then walk the remaining course with her. Apres run was at ABC Family Restaurant for the buffet (brunch, Fraser Valley style). The team tried to get me the seniors' discount but apparently I didn't look the part.