The 2014 Race Awards

2014 was a pretty amazing running year for me. I started the year without any mileage goals, but I really wanted to set personal bests in the 10K and half marathon. I got my 10K PB, but fell short in the half – so you can guess what my top goal for 2015 will be! In the end, I am proud to have totalled 1702.8 km, more than 350 more than my previous yearly best.

Along the way,  I was able to run at 14 different races and fun runs. They were all special in their own way, but some really stand out for various reasons. Here, I will highlight the best of the 2014 races I ran.

And the nominees are…

February 1 – The Blizzard Triathlon (ran as a skate/ski/run relay, I did the running leg), Saskatoon, SK – 5K
March 8 – The Red Rock Canyon Marathon (5K, half marathon, marathon), Las Vegas, NV – half marathon
April 13 – The Zoo Run, Saskatoon, SK – 5K
April 27 – The Saskatoon Police Run (5K, 10K, half marathon), Saskatoon, SK – 10K
May 4 – Wings For Life World Run (moving finish line, many simultaneous global locations), Saskatoon, SK
May 10 – SRRA Run For Women (3K, 6K), Saskatoon, SK – 3K
May 25 – Potash Corp SRRA Saskatchewan Marathon (5K, 10K, half marathon, marathon, kids marafun), Saskatoon, SK – half marathon
June 1 – Beads of Courage Colour Run (2.5K, 5K), Saskatoon, SK – about 3K
June 8 – Bridge City Boogie (2K, 5K, 10K), Saskatoon, SK – 5K
July 6 – Dirty Donkey Mud Run (6K, 10K Extreme), Saskatoon, SK – 6K
September 14 – The Heartbeat Run (1K, 5K, 10K, 3 Canadian locations), Saskatoon, SK – 10K
September 17 – school Terry Fox Run (1.5K, 3K), most Canadian schools – 1.5K with my kids
September 20 – Mogathon (1K, 5K, 10K, half marathon, 30K, 30K relay, “no-K beer run”), Saskatoon, SK – 10K
December 6 – Santa Shuffle (5K, multiple Canadian locations), Saskatoon, SK

Best Scenery – Red Rock Canyon Marathon

Saskatoon is beautiful, but it just can’t compete with the beautiful red mountains of the Nevada desert. The huge changes in elevation are worth it. This area is also home to the endangered Desert Tortoise, but I’ve yet to see this particular scenery feature. (Race review posts from 2013 and 2014.)

Photo credit vegas.com

Best Medal – Santa Shuffle

The sparkles on this snow globe shaped medal plus the wide ribbon make this medal stand out in my 2014 collection.

Honourable Mentions – Red Rock Canyon Marathon, Mogathon

Red Rock’s medal is huge for the second year in a row and also features a paw print in honour of the chosen charity for the director’s races (a big cat rescue) and a mountain silhouette. Mogathon’s medal is sparkly, and anything that sparkles gets extra points in my book.

Best Race Shirt  – The Saskatchewan Marathon

This is hands-down the best race shirt colour I’ve ever gotten. I love this colour. The adidas shirts fit well and are a lightweight technical fabric. I wear this shirt all the time. (Event reviews from 2012, 2013, 2014.)

Great shirt colour this year!

Best Race Swag – The Heartbeat Run

This is a small race, but they have finisher’s medals for everyone, age group medals (gold, silver, bronze) for every 10 year age group for men and women, discounts on next year’s race for medal winners, and door prizes like Running Room gift cards and shoes. (Race reports from 2012, 2013, and 2014.)

Honourable Mention – Mogathon

With a tech t-shirt, buff, finish line BBQ and kids’ entertainment, this event always offers a good bang for your buck.

Best Finish Line Food – Red Rock Canyon Marathon

Brownies. Cookies. Yogurt. Applesauce. Fruit. Pancakes. Other delicious carbohydrates. Hands down winner.

Honourable Mention – The Saskatoon Police Run, Mogathon, SRRA Women’s Run

Runners love pancakes. For my Saskatoon area pancake lovers, the Police Run is your race. Love BBQ? You’ll love Mogathon. d’lish by Tish restaurant sponsors delicious finish line salads for the Women’s Run, and hot dogs and hamburgers served by men earns points as well!

Most Unique Event – Wings For Life World Run

This race was run simultaneously in many global locations. Everyone started at exactly the same time (4:00 a.m. in the pitch dark for us in Canada!) and 30 minutes later a “Catcher Car” began driving at a prescribed speed. Linked with computers and all sorts of technology that took four years to organize, the cars accelerated gradually and stopped runners’ timing chips as they were passed. The last person running out of more than 35,000 runners in the world was crowned the winner. I made it 18.2 km and placed 10,565 in the world. This was televised, which made it feel pretty “big time.” I’m sad that this event will move to a more picturesque location in Canada (Niagra Falls… Saskatchewan can’t compete with that!) for 2015. (Complete 2014 summary here.)

Catcher car, another for back-up in case of technical failure in the first, plus an ambulance passing runners.

Best Untimed Fun Run – Beads of Courage Colour Run

My blog posts about this race from 2013 and 2014 will explain the details of this incredible charity and the amazing women who put this event together. My kids and I love this run, and will be back again in 2015.

Best Overall Race Experience – Mogathon

With a variety of distances, the Mogathon has something for everyone, including a “no-K beer run,” a.k.a. beer gardens. With great swag, a medal for every finisher in every distance, lively water stations (with costumes and themes!), bouncy castles and balloon animals, an amazing catered finish line BBQ, live music and chip timing, this event is second to none in Saskatoon. Here are my race reports from 2013 and 2014.

So there you have it. These races were my “best of” for 2014, and I truly enjoyed each of them. I have a few races on my 2015 calendar already, some returning favourites and a couple new ones. All the best to you and yours in 2015!

Dirty Donkey Mud Run 2014

When I got to my most recent race, this was the sight that greeted me:

Oh goodness.

I’m not a girly girl, but I’m not a messy girl either. I don’t mind working hard and getting dirty, but hard manual labour wouldn’t be my first choice, and I do like being clean and having nice hair. I heard about the Dirty Donkey Mud Run a year ago after several friends ran the inaugural event. I had gone back and forth for a year about whether or not to try it. I knew the race itself would be fun, but it was the clean-up and potential to have to drive an hour and a half home still wet and muddy that made me hesitate.

After hearing the 2014 event, held at Blackstrap Provincial Park, was partially sponsored by Powered By Chocolate Milk, I felt like I better check it out a little more. The price made me gulp – $75 for a 5K?! Well, I reasoned, it would be an expensive event to put on – obstacles, staff, insurance, park fees, clean-up, plus all the regular costs races incur – permits, food, shirts, port-o-let rentals, etc. Okay, okay, I thought, I’ll sign up and give it a try.

Then came the option to pre-purchase a race shirt. What? Why would I buy a race shirt when I’ll get one in my race kit? Maybe the runner swag wasn’t a shirt, I reasoned, but decided to hold off on the purchase until I saw what we’d get in our package. Pre-paying for park admission plus the race parking fee was also recommended. Huh. I’ve done other races in parks with admission fees before, and admission has always been either sponsored by the park, or included in the race fee (for spectators as well!). I have also never incurred an additional parking fee set out by the race itself, but what choice did I have at this point?

I arrived for race kit pick-up and waited in line for at least twenty minutes. Not a huge deal, but some better organization could have shortened the lines a lot. I got my bib – just a bib, no shirt, no coupons, no nothing. I bought a parking stub (I have a seasonal Provincial park admission pass, so I didn’t need to buy an entry permit), and briefly checked out the merchandise table. I would have loved to have a shirt, but was pretty annoyed that it would cost me an extra $20, so didn’t buy one just on principle.

Race morning was hot and humid. Because I didn’t register until the week before, I had to wait until 12:30 for my heat. My friend Mel and several of her friends were finishing their heat as I arrived, so I got a preview of what I had to look forward to!

Lookin’ good Mel!

The kids and I ate our packed lunch and visited the Powered By Chocolate Milk tent before I had to head to my starting corral. I got scanned in and the kids went to tackle the obstacles at the PBCM Contender’s Lounge. This was a pretty neat feature that kept them busy for a long time while they waited!

My Mom took some before pics for me:

Proudly Powered By Chocolate Milk!

#PBCM!

… and we checked out the final obstacle right before the finish line:

Seriously?!

I chatted with some other runners in the starting corral and met a group of runners who had done the race last year. The men were wearing gloves and that kind of scared me a bit! If their experience the previous year had made them decide they should wear gloves this year, what were my sensitive massage therapist hands in for?

The horn sounded and we were off down the trail. The first obstacle we came to was several of last year’s hay bales stacked up that we were to climb over. Last year’s hay by this time of year has mostly become moldy hay, so that was interesting. On the other side of the bales waited a mud and water pit. Might as well jump right in I decided, so I did. It wasn’t as bad as I was expecting, and then we were off down the trail again to a webbing in the trees. Under the webbing, through a slough and up the side of Blackstrap Mountain. This is a man-made mountain which is pretty tame as far as ski hills go, but pretty intense as far as running hills go!

Photo credit cbc.ca

After coming back down the mountain we came to the slip n’ slide. This is also where the front runners from our heat caught up to the back of the heat that had started a half hour before us. The slip n’ slide was a one-by-one obstacle, and the next person couldn’t start until the person in front was clear of the mud at the bottom. It was my favourite obstacle as far as being fun, but the 15-20 person line-up caused a big time delay for those of us actually hoping to get a half decent time. After waiting 10-15 minutes here, I was able to pass quite a few people at the next obstacle, a zig-zagging balance beam. Two other speedy people from my heat and I got backed up again at the vertical wall climb. We cleared the 4′ and 6′ walls easily but faced a big line up at the 8′ wall. It had foot holds to help people climb it, but right next to it was the flat 8′ wall from the more extreme version of the race, which had been run earlier in the day. We quickly decided to choose that wall instead and boosted each other over. This allowed us to pass at least another ten people and head off into the trees again.

We came to several more things, such as tunnels, more walls, a mud-filled dumpster (tokens good for Running Room gift cards at the bottom apparently. Some people spent ages searching for them!), a pallet drag and a maze.

Mud dumpster, some searching for tokens. (Photo credit Kelly Morton Photography)

The last couple of obstacles were up on the hill we’d started on. This was nice, because it gave spectators something to watch, and friends and families could see their runners complete the last few challenges and finish the race.

Semi climb

The last thing was a very wet, very muddy pit covered with chain link fencing. Before my start time, I’d watched runners hesitating for ages before this obstacle, trying to decide how to get through the pit without getting too muddy. The way I saw it, we’d already done so much, why hesitate now? I slid through on my back, holding on to the fence and just trying to keep my hair from getting too muddy. I jumped up on the other side and ran through the finish with a huge smile. Officials recorded my bib number for timing, and I was handed a Hoo Rag finisher’s award.

My daughter keeping her distance!

I went fairly quickly to the hosing off line before the mud dried and caked on. Funny, the guy running the hose didn’t seem to mind that he was getting wet and kind of muddy himself. This being a mostly female event, he seemed to be quite enjoying himself!

Muddy shoes to be cleaned and donated.

Post-race recovery with a chocolate milk!

I tossed my shoes in the donation pile and we headed down to the lake for a swim. All the finish line food was being sold from food trucks, there was no food for runners included in our fees. This again irritated me, and I was glad I had packed snacks for all of us! We sat on the beach and played in the water for a while before heading home. A huge storm had been brewing and we got out of there in the nick of time (several of the later race heats were delayed due to lightning and tornado sightings nearby!). After responding to my husband’s worried text that we were fine, we dropped my Mom off in the city and headed home.

All in all, I had fun. This was a good race to do once, but I won’t rush out to do another one. I know several friends who ran this as their first 5K or had used this as a reason to start hitting the gym more often, and that’s fantastic. I had a blast, but for me the cons outweigh the pros. The steep fee plus the additional costs for everything that is usually included in a race fee (parking, food, race shirt) annoyed me enough that I will leave this race off my calendar next year. The Hoo Rag at the finish was great, but not enough to redeem it for me.

Have you ever done a mud run or other obstacle adventure race? Would you do it again?

Boogie!

Last year, when I turned 30, I made a list of forty things to do before I turn forty. One of them was to run a 5K with my Dad. I was concerned about his health, and he’d run with me when I was in high school, so I thought it would be fun. He was less than enthused when I told him about this list item, but I suggested the 2014 Bridge City Boogie anyway, pointing out that he had over a year to prepare. Months went by without either of us mentioning it again, and I figured this list item would be one that would take a few years to cross off.

Then, early in the winter of 2013, my Dad decided to retire (again). He and my Mom dedicated themselves to improving their health and fitness and became regulars at the Saskatoon Field House. Before long, Dad was texting me several times a week to tell me of his running progress on the Field House track.

After a few months of walk/run intervals, Dad mentioned the Bridge City Boogie. The race took place just a few days after his 65th birthday, so I signed us both up as part of his birthday gift.

The course for the Bridge City Boogie had been changed this year, due to construction at the usual start/finish point. After a half mile or so the race was to move from the street onto the Meewasin Trail. The portion of the trail near Prairieland Park is unpaved, mostly sand and small gravel. I was a little taken aback that a race with 3500 runners in three distances would be run largely on an unpaved trail, but you do what you gotta do.

Race morning dawned warm and sunny, but with a threat of rain moving in in the distance. We met early to debate clothing choices (did I inherit this paranoia of choosing the wrong clothes, or has it rubbed off on him?), avoid porta potty lines and take some pictures.

A soon to be new 5K runner!

The 5K had been split into two starting waves to avoid the 2000 5K runners from all hitting that narrow trail at the same time, and we just squeezed into the first wave. It would have been nice to have people seeded by approximate pace at the start line, so the faster runners in the second wave didn’t run into so much traffic as they caught and attempted to pass the first wave runners. As we waited for the start a Zumba instructor led us all in a warm-up, and the rain that had been threatening to fall did just that. It didn’t last long, and was over by the time we were ready to run.

Start line selfie!

We set off along the same street we’d started on for the Saskatchewan Marathon just two weeks prior. My friend Glenda was running with her young son and we warned him and my Dad about the potholes we’d experienced previously, but they’d been fixed (kind of)! We passed two other entertainment groups, another Zumba group (this one led by my instructor!), and a singer/dancer group. People were spread out some by the time we went onto the trail, but it was still pretty crowded.

I had promised Dad I’d run at his pace, and I waved to friends I saw along the way. We came to a Dirty Donkey Mud Run sponsored water station, which is sponsored by Powered By Chocolate Milk. They had a PBCM sign on the side of the trail so I stopped for a quick selfie with it, promising Dad I’d catch up to him.

Powered By Chocolate Milk! #pbcm

About this time, Dad’s heart rate monitor started going off. Again. And again. And again. He said he felt fine, but was worried about the monitor and didn’t want to push it. We walked for a ways up a hill until he got mad that the walking was wrecking his pace. I commented that his heart was likely more important than his pace, but I don’t think that was the answer he was looking for. 😉

We carried on, side by side. I had this vision of those classic finish line pictures of two runners with clasped hands raised in the air in victory, and about ten metres from the finish I started to reach out to grab Dad’s hand to do just that. I was grinning ear to ear and so proud of him – and then he said “I’m going to beat you!” and took off! I was so caught off guard and shocked that he did just that. He turned around and pointed at me and said to the finish line photographer, “I beat her!” Well. I guess all that sportsmanship stuff he taught me in my younger years went out the window. Never mind that I ran with him the whole way like the supportive daughter I am, he was thrilled to be one second faster and therefore ahead of me in the results list.

We visited some of the finish line tents and had some food before heading home.

For Mizuno’s #ifeverybodyran campaign.

“Same place next year!” Dad said enthusiastically. Sure, Dad, but next year I’m going to beat you!

The 2014 Saskatchewan Marathon

The Saskatchewan Marathon is a race that I hold near and dear (but I say that about all of them, don’t I?). In 2011 it was my first 10K, then in 2012 it was my first half marathon. In 2013 I exceeded my time goal of 1:57 to finish in 1:56:26, a new PB.

My spring racing season in 2014 was a busy one, with this being my sixth of eight races spanning three months. I love racing, and couldn’t decide which ones to run, so I just did them all. That maybe wasn’t the best plan, but it was fun!

The Saskatchewan Marathon has an expo the day before, as well as a pasta dinner with guest speaker. I go to both events every year, and both get bigger and better each year. It was here that I met my running hero, Bart Yasso, in 2012 and Canadian Olympic marathoners Dylan Wykes and Reid Coolsaet in 2013. The 2014 speaker was Marc Parent, author and columnist for Runner’s World magazine. While Marc isn’t as big a name as Bart, Dylan or Reid, I knew from reading his columns that he’d be an entertaining speaker.

Great shirt colour this year!

I met my friends Glenda and Melanie for the supper. This would be Mel’s first half marathon, and possibly her last for a while after battling an injury during her training. We ate large amounts of pasta, jealously smelled the wine of the other couple at our table and went to get some dessert. Glenda tracked down an employee to ask which desserts were nut-free and made her allergy-friendly selection.

As we sat down, Marc took the stage and introduced himself. Glenda took a bite of her dessert and froze. “There’s nuts in this… yes, there are definitely nuts in this.” She immediately rooted through her purse and found some Benedryl to chew and told me she had an Epipen in her purse. “Please get it out!” I said, imagining her collapsing on the floor and me wasting precious time searching her purse. After a few minutes she decided to leave, saying she had better medication at home. After assuring Mel and I that she didn’t need us to drive her, that she’d be fine, and promising to text when she got home, she left.

Marc did not disappoint. We were not his first public speaking engagement, but it was the first time he’d spoken to runners, about running. He read from a few of his Newbie Chronicles columns, which I had read already but that was fine with me. I love hearing writers read their own writing, and both the words and his delivery were very entertaining.

Marc Parent entertaining us with his stories.

Towards the end of Marc’s speech I got worried about Glenda again. I hadn’t heard from her, so I texted her. No reply. About ten minutes later, I texted again. Still nothing. My worry heightened, and I texted her husband. He replied that he had talked to her, and she’d decided to go to the hospital as a precaution. Hospital staff had lectured her for not taking her Epipen but cleared her to run. I was a little taken aback that she still planned to run the next morning, but it takes more than a stray peanut to slow Glenda down!

The next morning was clear but cool. Perfect. I wore the lightest singlet I have, and the same shorts I always race in. I find it very difficult to find shorts I like, and the fact that these are getting pretty worn causes me some anxiety! I arrived early enough to get rock star parking next to the porta potties and found a spot on the grass to spread out my blanket and do my stretching. Mel found me via texting (“I’m the dork laying on the grass behind the food tent, stretching”), and we chatted with some other women in the bathroom line-up (“wow, people are warming up… I need that energy for later! Not wasting it warming up!” Haha). We found Glenda, confirmed for ourselves that she was alive, and went to line up at the start line. We seeded ourselves differently, so this was the last I saw of either of them until after the race.

I noticed at this point that it was warming up a lot outside. The humidity was starting to rise, and I was very comfortable at the start line in my tank and shorts. Red flag. I should be cold at the starting line! Hmmmm.

The gun went off (no national anthem? Really?), and off we went. The first street we ran down was infested with pot holes. I know that it’s spring in Saskatchewan and pot holes are inevitable, but wow. I guess it helped me keep my pace slower in the first kilometre to be dodging holes and running with my head down!

I felt fantastic. I was running at my planned pace and maintaining it easily. A volunteer at the race expo had made a recommendation about where the kids and my parents could watch me go past (easy parking, nearby bathrooms and coffee, and a quick walk to see me again just a few kms later, after the turn-around point), and they cheered enthusiastically and waved their sign. I saw them a second time and blew kisses as I ran past.

Blowing kisses to my babies!

Then we came out of the shady area of the riverbank and into the sun. Those clear skies were coming back to haunt us, and it was getting H-O-T and humid. I’ve run in hotter weather, but it hit me hard and suddenly. There was still 8 km to go, and I powered on for three, still close to my planned pace. Then I melted. Seriously. I poured sweat and no amount of water at aid stations seemed to help me feel better. I remembered a hot long run several weeks prior which had left me sick for hours and vowed to look into getting salt pills or something for the future. I eyed the building rain clouds and begged them to get here sooner. I took many walk breaks, and the sections I was able to run slowed to a shuffle. It was awful.

I struggled across the finish line in 2:00:04, still finishing a very respectable 358/936 overall, 146/724 women and 48/232 women aged 30-39, but a far cry from my 1:55 goal.

Hot and humid pity party

I got some chocolate milk and a banana from the food tent, then went and got the chocolate milk I’d brought along, just in case they didn’t have it at the finish. I had a pity party for a while, then went to see my friends finish. I managed to miss both their finishes, but saw them afterwards. We were all happy to finish, but all agreed that the heat had cost us a lot of time.

Hooray! Chocolate milk for all!

Glenda and I

Congratulations on your first half Mel!

Thumbs up: a better expo than previous years, good pre-race pasta supper and speaker, pretty shirt colour, kids Marafun event (I love that they do this, it gets so many kids active in our community! My kids will be doing this once they’re old enough!).

Thumbs down: I would rather start earlier to beat the heat (though it isn’t usually an issue at this time of year), finish line food was not very good, and the medals have been the same for the past three years. In some ways it’s neat to have a series of identical medals, but a unique finisher’s medal is a draw for me, so it’s not as exciting to get the same one I got last year and the year before.

I was toying with the idea of running the full marathon in this event next year, but I think the temperature may have convinced me not to. However, to run any race in the fall is difficult for me, and a fall full would also mean long runs through the heat of the summer. Decisions, decisions! I’ll be there next year, but in which event? Suspense… 😉

The 2014 Saskatoon Police Run

A race on the Prairies at the end of April is always a bit of a weather risk. Last year the Saskatoon Police Run featured ice, wind, and a -12C windchill. This year it was considerably better, but still felt cold! There had been nothing but rain in the week leading up to the race, with more forecast for race day. I’ve somehow managed to avoid racing in the rain through sheer luck, but it appeared my luck was about to run out.

After some wardrobe indecision (no one is surprised by that, right?), I settled on tights, a long sleeved shirt and my trusty Brooks jacket. I got the Brooks jacket at the 2012 SRRA Ultra (I just ran a leg of the relay, I’m not Ultra crazy!) and kind of rolled my eyes at it – it basically looks like a garbage bag with a zipper. But I gave it a chance, and it has become my favourite piece of gear. It’s very lightweight, but is like a little greenhouse.

The police station was open and runners huddled inside, enjoying the heat and flush toilets. My watch wasn’t picking up satellites inside, so I went outside to try there. The rain had stopped (yay!), but the wind was still pretty cold. I’m not sure if it was the tall buildings or the clouds, but others around me were having GPS problems too. When the police siren started the race I still didn’t have a satellite signal. I really wanted a PB in this race, and I felt like I really needed my watch to help pace myself properly. I have a lot of trouble pacing in the early stages of a race and go out too fast almost every time, and a watch convinces me to be a bit more conservative.

My watch did pick up a signal eventually, and I guessed I was around a kilometre into the race. However, when I glanced at it during the race it became obvious something still wasn’t right. My pace would jump from 4:40 per km (I knew I wasn’t going that fast!) to 11:20 (but I’m not walking!) in a matter of 30 seconds. When I mentioned this later to a friend at the finish line, he said he’d had the same problem. I blamed the clouds again and knew I’d have to run the race on feel alone.

I’ve mentioned in past years that I really like this course. It winds around through downtown a bit, then down River Landing, through Kinsmen Park, across the University Bridge, and back across the Broadway Bridge. There’s just enough of a downhill to the second bridge that you feel like you’re flying down it. Then you come off the bottom and it’s just a few blocks back to the police station (but it feels far after that big long downhill!).

My clothing choice worked well for the weather, but I did regret tossing my stretchy gloves at a water station. I hate having carrying things when I run, but in the future I will suck it up and put my gloves in my jacket pocket instead of getting rid of them altogether. There were several times in the second half of the race when I wished I had those gloves back!

In the end, I finished in 53:13, bettering my PB by 12 seconds. I grabbed my chocolate milk and warmer jacket out of my truck and made it back to the finish line just after Glenda finished, almost exactly a minute after I did. She was so thrilled she had someone take a picture of her holding the results page!

Glenda and I with our shiny new 10K PBs!

We went to sit inside to eat our pancakes (made by volunteer Girl Guides) and warm up before heading home. It had started raining again when we went back outside, and we felt sympathetic for the half marathon runners who had just started coming in. That’s a long time to run when it’s cold, windy and wet!

This is a fun race for me every year, and is a good warm-up for the Saskatchewan Marathon at the end of May.

The Zoo Run

The Saskatoon Zoo Society is a group who conducts environmental education programs year-round. Programs are geared towards various young age groups, and include everything from summer camps to crocus hikes and many zoo education opportunities.

On April 13 the Zoo Society hosted their annual Zoo Run 5K fundraiser. This has always sounded like a fun and worthwhile event, but I’ve been unable to run it in the past due to scheduling conflicts. I was looking forward to finally giving it a go in 2014.

My friend Glenda was running as well, and we met before the start. The morning was sunny but cool, and we were thankful to have the Forestry Farm Hall as the staging area for runners: flush toilets and heat! A co-worker of Glenda’s, here from the U.S. on a work internship was running as well. Despite arriving in Saskatchewan in January and surviving many -40C days, he was still pretty bundled up (“I actually got too warm!” he said afterwards).

We set off on a loop around the Forestry Farm park then through the zoo, passing most of the animal exhibits. The big white wolf was quite intrigued by runners passing him by and was running laps in his large enclosure.

The Red Panda was this year’s Zoo Run feature creature, but he was hiding in his enclosure and we didn’t get to see him on our run. We’ll have to go back to the zoo this summer to check him out!

Zoo Run t-shirt

Glenda and I ran at a comfortable pace. We’re both getting ready for the Saskatchewan Marathon’s half marathon at the end of May, so our training hasn’t been geared towards the speed of a fast 5K. In the end I finished in 24:00, though my watch read just 4.28 km. Glenda’s said 4.4 km, so obviously there is some margin of error in GPS! We met Glenda’s husband and two kids at the finish line and went inside for Tim Horton’s cookies, coffee and David’s Tea.

Photo courtesy of Ed Tomlinson

The door prizes were plentiful, but neither of us won anything this year. From Zoo Society memberships (free zoo admission for a year is included in a membership!) to a large bird feeder, there were some lucky door prize winning runners! Overall, this was a really fun run, and a great kick-off to the spring running season in Saskatoon.

The 2014 Red Rock Canyon Marathon

You know those races that have you wondering “what was I thinking?” at the start line and “that was amazing, I can’t wait to do it again!” at the finish line? Red Rock is that race for me.

I wrote posts in 2013 (here and here) about the tough course (huge elevation gains) and beautiful scenery at the Red Rock Canyon Marathon, and how nervous I was leading up to it. I watched this video many times to try to anticipate the course and its determination to crush a prairie runner. This year, I felt confident. I had run the course before, done relatively well, and was itching to do it again. Thanks to NASCAR Sunday in Las Vegas and being married to a motor sports fan, March 8th was able to become Half Marathon Saturday.

Then, almost exactly a month before the run, I injured my right hamstring. 14.4 km into a 17 km long run I got a sudden, searing pain near the distal end of my hamstring muscles, right above the knee joint. It was enough to take my breath away, make me scream and leap off my treadmill. (The kids were unfazed by this. After all, Tangled was on!) I stretched, rested a few minutes, walked a bit, then finished my run very slowly. (If my training plan tells me to run 17 km, I simply cannot stop at 14.4 km. I likely should have, but I just can’t. Type-A much.)

The next day, my hamstring was stiff and sore. I got out my Active Isolated Stretching (AIS) strap and stretched it out the best I could, then took the day off. The next day I attempted a run, only to have the same sudden, stabbing pain at just 2.2 km.

I booked a massage for the Wednesday that week and took a few more days off running. I’m not a person who gets injured, so I was totally blind-sided by this, and had no idea how to properly recover. A massage therapist myself, I knew massage would help, so when Jodie asked me “do you want me to work it pretty deep?” I answered without hesitation “I want you to tear it apart.” She did just that and the next day I was able to plod through a slow, careful 5 km. Friday I did speed work and Saturday I was able to do an 18 km long run. More careful runs and two more massages later I was feeling cautiously optimistic about the half. With Spider Tech Tape on my hamstring and my AIS strap in my carry-on we boarded the plane for Las Vegas.

I love running races on trips. It’s fun to have race medals from other places and it’s a great way to see places you might not otherwise see on a typical “tourist” trip. This is only my third “away race,” but there are many more on my “want to run” list.

Ready to rock Red Rock!

Red Rock Canyon Conservation Area lies just outside of Las Vegas. It is home to the endangered Desert Tortoise, and all runners must sign a “I will not harass the tortoises” waiver (my tortoise sighting count is still firmly at zero, I think it’s likely too cold for them at this time of year). Parking is very limited, so the race director arranges for shuttle buses to transport all runners and spectators to the start/finish lines. Our race entry also covers our admission cost to enter the park.

Photo credit vegas.com

There were two big changes to the event this year that were big draw backs for me. First, the start time was made significantly earlier, with a 6:45 a.m. start for the half marathon (I think last year’s start was 7:30, but I’m not 100% positive on that). I like to arrive early (bathroom strategy), so that meant boarding the shuttle by 5:30 and leaving our hotel room by 5:00 to make it to the shuttle across town. Getting up at 4 a.m. (breakfast strategy) while on holidays isn’t too exciting, especially for my night owl husband. The earlier start time allowed for the addition of a 5K event, which is great… but… sooooo early!

The second change that was a con for me was that spectators weren’t allowed at the half marathon start line. In 2013, spectators were transported with runners on the shuttles to the start, then about a half hour after the gun they loaded up all our fans and took them to the finish line. In 2014, there was a designated spectator shuttle bus, and it went straight to the finish line. This is the one and only race all year that my husband is able to accompany me to, so it was disappointing not to have him there before the start. It was so nice last year to take pictures and give my warm clothes to him right before the start, then wave when the bus passed and know he was taking more pictures. He was at the finish when I got there of course, but both would have been better.

We set off after ditching our warm clothes on a shuttle bus. The temperature was much warmer than last year, and I was comfortable in a tank top and shorts (in March! How novel!). This race takes place on the road, but it’s a one way road, so we don’t have to worry about traffic as long as we stay on the proper side of our cones. The road is marked with cones for the entire route, which is very helpful. Water stations are also very plentiful on this run, I would estimate there are around 7-8 aid stations with both water and electrolyte drink, sponsored by Hammer.

This race truly is as grueling as a road race comes. One mile flat, four miles uphill, then a few miles of big downhills (runners with knee injuries beware!), then flat again. The finish is on a slight incline, which looks like nothing, but after nearly twenty-one kilometres it’s a lot harder than it should be! Amazing panoramic views of the valley spread out before you on one side and the mountains rising high above on the other side truly make up for it though!

I had no idea how my hamstring would hold up. I had fresh spider tape on it, I stretched it, I was hydrated, I did everything I could. A motivational speaker I heard a few years ago said when you stand at the start line, don’t be nervous because you did everything you could. There’s nothing more you can do now, so there’s no use worrying. Put your training behind you and run the race.

So I did. I started out slow and conservative, sticking with a group of runners slower than I usually run. I let myself get nice and warmed up before I started picking them off. I felt strong on the hills, stronger than I did last year. I had zero pace expectations and rarely looked at my watch. The triumph I felt when I got to the top of that last big hill (pain free!) was incredible and I couldn’t help but hold my arms out in celebration. I wasn’t the only one.

Worth it. (Photo credit Lonely Planet)

Almost done!

Fuzzy finish line

In the end, my chip time for the Red Rock Canyon (half) Marathon was 2:04:31, about 45 seconds slower than last year, and my slowest half marathon to date. After an injury and a bitterly cold winter that forced me indoors for 90% of my training, I am pretty pleased with that. I was 119th out of 389 half marathoners overall and 13th out of 70 in my age group of women aged 30-39. By my search results I believe I was also the sixth Canadian overall, and the top Canadian female.

The finish line food at this race was amazing. Brownies! Coffee cake! Applesauce! Cookies! PANCAKES! I would’ve liked a bottle of water I could take along on the bus back to town instead of a paper cup, but I’m sure the cup option saved a lot of money. My maple leaf headband drew some attention at the food table, and I met fellow Canadians from across the country.

Race bling

In the end, the pros outweighed the cons, and if we return to Las Vegas for NASCAR week next year, I will set three alarms and drag a large grumbly man to the rental car at 5:00 a.m. again in 2015.

This race is organized by Joyce at Calico Racing. Her organization uses race proceeds to help fund big cat rescues. You can learn more about Calico Racing here.