Fall Classic Race Report

Even before the mercury and snow both started falling I had low expectations for the Fall Classic half marathon. I hadn't done any timed runs since the Calgary 70.3, I'd taken a two month break from running and my most recent track workout was a gong show.

On top of this I spent the day before the race on my feet walking around the Circle Craft fair then a good four hours that evening towering over guests at Valencia's wine party in a pair of five inch heels. I only had a little wine though. A little of this wine, a little of that wine, a little of ...

Needless to say I didn't arrive at UBC on Sunday morning expecting to break any world records. The thick ice on the ground around the SRC didn't do anything to inspire me to greatness.

The race start was delayed because the organizers wanted the salt they'd put down to have some effect. They were very clear to let people know the course was slippery and to put caution above speed.

I did a warm up run with Clayton and Chris and got to the start just in time. We were told that today was not the day for a PR but to have good race and to be careful. The guy with the starting gun obviously had had his wheaties - he was wildly hyper then shot the gun at least four times just for fun. It was nice to start the race with a smile.

I took it out super easy, partly because I was worried slipping on ice but mostly because I didn't have a good feel for my pace and didn't want to start too fast then blow up.

There were lots of icy patches but the volunteers were awesome and made sure everyone knew to be careful. I didn't see anyone go down, although I'm sure people must have.

As we neared the turn around on Marine we saw the leaders coming back. Rachel and Amy we're running shoulder to shoulder, it was great to see and to cheer to them both.

I was at about 55 minutes at 10km but missed the hallway mark so I didn't get proper splits.

I finished the first loop just as the 10km race was starting so I got caught up in the chaos of the start. That was annoying but after about a km I got back into my rhythm.

As we saw the leaders of the half coming back at us I saw Rachel and Amy again, this time Rachel had about a 15 metre lead. I yelled like crazy at both of them, which seemed to annoy the runners around me. As we started seeing the 10km runners coming back at us I yelled just as loud for the people I recognized, figuring the runners around me were all 10km'ers and as I was running twice as far as them I had the right to be annoying. Not quite sure on how the logic in that works but it made sense at the time.

I was feeling good with five km to go so picked up the pace a bit and again at four. My hamstring had been tight for a good chunk of the race so I didn't want to push too hard and didn't speed up after that. I was feeing comfortable and was chatty with the other runners, which is a sign I'm in a good head space.

Coach Drew and Clayton, looking quite fresh despite having having just finished the half, were cheering at about 500m from the finish, a good push to pick it up just a bit.

I finished in1:51 according to the official results. My watch has gone on strike after an evening run in the cold, but I timed myself at 1:53. Not sure if my watch was incorrect or if the results are. Either way, I was hoping I could pull off a sub-two so I'm very happy with how I did.

I think this bodes well for the Bahamas marathon.


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