Running Wild

Race officiating provides different perspective to run

Rain seems to be the prescription for a lot of big races this year.
We’ve had an unusually wet, spring.
I had the pleasure of volunteering as a route marshal at the Hartwell Challenge in Aurora last Sunday and what a great experience it was despite the weather challenge.
A route marshal essentially makes sure that the runners are obeying the road rules and staying on the race course.
We are also charged with keeping an eye on things in general, overseeing our part of the race course.
There’s no other place I would rather be than on the course when I’m not running.
You get to encourage participants see the speedsters and be a part of things.
In a turn from the hot, sunny day Saturday, we woke up Sunday morning at 5:30 a.m. to windy, rainy weather.
Not exactly for runners and walkers, but it could have been worse, believe me.
Despite the couple of serious downpours, there were some stellar times in all events and some newly marked first time goals completed successfully.
Being stationed as a marshal at the 19K mark of the half marathon and at the 2.5K turnaround for the 5K walk and run was a lot fun, mostly because I always like watching and I loved the enthusiasm of the volunteers from Aurora High School who were working the water station beside me.
I can’t think of something less appealing than sitting out in the pouring rain without an umbrella holding water for roughly three hours.
These Grade 10 students came out and did it with an enthusiasm that surprised me.
As soon as they saw how invaluable they were to both the runners and walkers, they carefully planned out where to stand on the route to make sure they were accessible with their cups of Gatorade and water.
They could have just stood there with a sullen expression on their face wracking up their community volunteer hours and itching to get out of there.
On the contrary they took their jobs seriously and even cheered the runners in as they came in for their last two kilometres.
Without volunteers such as these students, these races would not be successful.
When I ran the Niagara Marathon, it was high school students who kept me upbeat until I got to the end.
They cheered and encouraged me all the way and these volunteers did the same on Sunday.
Congratulations to all the runners and walkers who accomplished their goals last weekend.

No obstacle too great for Ball

Some people give you enough inspiration to last a lifetime.
Rick Ball is that type of guy.
I’ve written about Rick before, but in case you didn’t read those posts, Rick lost his leg in a motorcycle accident years ago.
About a year and a half ago, he took up running.
But he didn’t only take up running.
He has broken through any barrier set before him.
He ran his first marathon in 3:17:38.
For those of you who don’t know, that is an amazing time by anyone’s standard one leg or two.
If that wasn’t impressive enough he ran his second marathon in 3:10:11.
When he dropped by Thornhill in February to speak about his running with my marathon clinic, he said he was chasing the world record for a marathon run by an amputee.
The record was 3:04:16 held by multiple record holder Amy Palmiero-Winters who ran that in the Chicago Marathon in 2006.
When he spoke I have to admit I can be a bit of a sceptic, but something about how relaxed he was made me believe him.
In fact, I would have been surprised if he didn’t do it.
He was on my mind during the day, as I was wondered how he was doing.
The Boston Marathon is the most prestigious marathons you can run in. It’s the only one you need to qualify with a certain time to get into and when you get there its not an easy marathon route.
The best of the best go there and Rick joined them for the first time on Monday.
And of course he broke the world record with an amazing run at 3:01:50.
To give you an idea about the kind of guy Rick is, he dropped me an e-mail after someone found the first blog I wrote about him.
He thanked me for writing about him.
He values everyone’s kind words, almost a little surprised at how inspiring he is to all of us.
The thing about Rick is that he is real. He didn’t candy coat the race. He was suffering with cramps, he was dizzy and he ended up in a wheel chair where he almost passed out.
He admitted it was the hardest thing he’s ever done.
He left it all out there on the roads in Boston.
It’s something to be admired. How could you not be inspired after seeing that effort?
I heard him on the radio this morning being interviewed and typically as each goal he sets, he meets, he’s already got another.
He wants to go to compete at the Olympic level in London, England in 2012.
He also wants to break the three hour mark in his next marathon.
I couldn’t think of better goals to aim for than that.
In case you’re reading Rick, congrats on a race result well deserved.

Male runners help set pace

I’m almost through my marathon training now and, for the past few weeks, there’s been something different about my training.
At first, I couldn’t put my finger on it, but I figured it out a few weeks back.
I’ve been running with guys.
Now, there are plenty of men and women in my marathon clinic; in fact, if I were to guess at a raw number, I think it’s probably close to an even split.
But as with any group of runners we inevitably split up into groups that match our paces.
A few weeks back, I looked around on one of our Sunday long runs and I thought, hey where are all the girls?
Usually, there are a couple of us, but as the training wore on it became me and the guys as a fixture.
I have to say there’s a pretty big difference, I’ve noticed.
Among my girlfriends when I run, there’s usually one level-headed person who says, “hey our pace is a little fast for a training run”.
There are flashes of rational thinking among this group of guys, but it is faint and definitely not the norm.
There’s an undercurrent of competitiveness.
But I have to admit I like it.
It’s actually kind of motivating.
It’s like running with a bunch of big brothers.
And there’s a certain sense of satisfaction at being able to hold my own with this group.
There are all kinds of statistics about how much stronger men are then women due to their physical make up.
I won’t lie.
At the outset of training, I didn’t think I would still be hanging around during the long distances.
I thought once it got into 25k and up I’d be too tired to keep up, but I’m still here.
It’s funny when you run for this many weeks with a group you start to notice patterns.
Paul is our pacer, depending on what mood he’s in, sometimes he’ll push us other times he’ll keep us steady.
Lee stays behind to start and then ramps it up at about 10 or 12k into the run. When he’s in ramp mode he’s miles ahead.
Hassan is forever disappearing, taking a short cut and then reappearing somewhere else on the route.
Tony is strong and steady and the silent pace setter of the group.
He’ll argue otherwise of course. He’ll blame me for whatever speed we’re going.
Tony is strong and steady and the silent pace setter of the group.
He’ll argue otherwise of course. He’ll blame me for whatever speed we’re going.
 John Lang our fearless leader comes with a smile and pleasant demeanour but always manages to ramp up the pace without anyone noticing.
And then there’s the other John, steady as ever rounding out the group always the conversationalist even when we’re having a tough run.
These little habits have become my Sunday norm.

Pre-race jitters starting early

It’s happening.
The paranoia that often sets in a few weeks before any of my marathons, is starting early this year.
Sometimes, it strikes me two weeks out, other times three weeks out, mostly it’s just the last week or so, that I start thinking that every time I walk there’s a pain in my foot, or an ache in my back.
Many of these symptoms are psychosomatic. I’ve grown to realize this as have those around me, who know it’s just me talking out loud wondering if that little pinch in my calve really means anything.
It starts to creep up on you. All those Sundays when everyone is having a nice quiet breakfast as the wind howls outside and you put on running shoes regardless of the weather because you have to get in your training.
You see it in the faces of the drivers who go past you on those January mornings when only those walking their beloved pets are out there.
It’s the feeling of having trudged through winter unhindered, training like there was no tomorrow and the simple realization that all the work was coming down to a few hours a few days from now.
I’m forever in fear of hot weather.
Whenever someone says, “What a beautiful day out here,” I’m always the one who says, “I wish it was a touch cooler.”
Perhaps this comes partially from being traumatized at the 2007 Chicago Marathon where it was canceled due to heat or maybe it’s because my body doesn’t react well to the heat.
So, this morning, I thought I would check the weather forecast in Cincinnati and I almost had a heart attack.
By the end of the week, the high is going to be around 21 degrees.
Checking the weather is the worst thing I could have done.
I promptly went to the website to see photographs from last year to check out what people were wearing.
Of course, it was shorts and tank tops.
Shorts and tank tops are my greatest fear.
That means hot weather.
So I’m trying to make myself feel better by thinking about the nice early 6:30 a.m. start that should give me at least a couple of hours of cool time before the heat starts up.
I’m just plain ignoring the heat illness survey on the race website.
So I guess it’s safe to say the race paranoia has set in roughly about 19 days, 17 hours, 28 minutes and one second before race day.

Always listen to your body when competing

I feel it’s my duty to post a link up here to a story that ran in the Toronto Star this week.
http://www.thestar.com/article/610631
I always read the stories related to the health risks of doing marathons or triathlons. I always read them because there is always a good tip or two on something to look out for.
I agree with some of what this article says in that the popularity of running and doing triathlons has grown rapidly in the past 10 years, with all types of people trying.
While the statistics may seem alarming,  I’m a big advocate of everybody trying these sports out, provided they are healthy enough to do so.
I also take a lot of studies with a grain of salt, as everybody is different and the effects of a race are often left in your control.
For example, if you aren’t feeling well during a race, it is your responsibility to ensure that you slow down and take stock of what you’re feeling.
Despite that,  I thought I would post this just as information for any of you wannabe or continuing triathletes out there.
Have a good weekend.
Happy trains.
Good luck to Paul who is in Dearborn, Mich. running the Martian Marathon Sunday.

Singing in the rain, I'm singing in the rain

Remember when you were young and you loved to run and play in the rain?
Well, the adult version of that childhood memory happened this weekend at the Around the Bay road race in Hamilton.
In the days leading up the to the race, I monitored the weather forecast diligently, hoping that maybe for once technology wasn’t spot on with predictions.
When I woke up Sunday morning and saw the rain and heard the wind howling, I wasn’t thrilled.
OK, I admit, I was cursing.
In all my years of running, I’ve never had to endure constant rain. Well once, many moons ago at the first-ever Toronto Zoo race.
That wasn’t really a good gauge though, because it was only 10K.
Around the Bay is 30K and I have to say I was a little concerned about chafing with the wet weather promising to be brutal. Trying to figure out what to wear was a challenge, but I knew to stay away form overdressing.
I still have nightmares of that first 10K partially because it was before I discovered dry fit.
Anyway, I have to say I look forward to this race every year. There’s a sense of accomplishment finishing this race that I haven’t really felt in other races other than marathons.
Designed to kill you at the end, the first 19K is flat and then the rolling hills start and as you hit the 26K mark there is one unsightly hill you have to climb up.
This was the third year I ran the race and this year I will admit was the first time I walked up parts of that hill.
My planning for the race was a little less than stellar this year.
OK, it was downright unorganized.
I wanted my running mate, Paul, to pace me to just beat the three-hour mark.
He has paced us on our long runs and has done a great job, keeping us in check when we need it and pushing us when he wants to challenge us.
Well, I didn’t think to get his phone number so that we could meet up before the race.
This will be important later.
As we drove there, the rain pelted down on the car and, inside, I was miserable at the prospect of running for that long in the rain. I was picturing the welts and cuts I would endure in the shower later if my clothes rubbed me the wrong way.
On the outside, I was a picture of positivity as I was riding there with two first time Around the Bay racers. I wanted them to be as positive as ever as they took to the start line.
So, we hid in Copps Coliseum still watching the rain pelt down.
We hid as long as we could and then got down to the start line with two minutes to the start gun.
When I realized the time, I freaked out ran up the line hoping to catch a glimpse of the red and black jacket that Paul wears, but with thousands of runners, this was an impossible feat.
So I found a part of the crowd where I saw some familiar if not very fast faces and made a snap decision.
With no watch, and no Paul I decided to take the words of advice my friend Les had for me at the start line.
“Just relax and run. You’ll probably have your best race.”
Little did I know that Les was clairvoyant too.
I ran and ran and ran. I stepped in puddles, my arms were freezing, my cotton gloves were wet and I was chilled to the point of shivering at times.
But I love that race.
Love it.
It is a well organized and a historic race, older than the prestigious Boston Marathon.
I figured this year there would be less crowd support, but there was still a really strong showing, even a lady with a Kleenex box for our runny noses.
In the end, I finished with a personal best by 12 minutes and was thrilled when I saw the clock. With a quick fist pump I crossed the finished and hugged my running mate Tony, who also ran a PB.
If you’re on the fence about running Around the Bay, don’t be.
I don’t have a bad thing to say about it.
They just need a  weather machine next year.