Ottawa Marathon Race #4

                                                                                                           
Ottawa, Ontario
May 24, 2015
Time:     4:34:55
Overall Place 3433/4665

 

 

You are going to hear me say this a lot, but I was really looking forward to this race on a number of levels.  I know I really look forward to every race and even though I just finished this race I can’t wait for the next one.  This race however was special to me because I was able to re-connect with my very special cousin Irene and we were able to spend the entire weekend together.  We grew up together and even though the years and miles have left a lot of distance there is always a bond.  The Ottawa Marathon gave me a great reason to come and spend the weekend with her and her husband David.  It is a weekend I will never forget.

 

This marathon is one of the largest in Canada and is also sanctioned by the IAAF which is the international governing body which sanctions races.  One of the criteria is that there must be a number of world class runners so I got to see, or at least be in the same race as the winner who posted a 2:08:13 for the men and a 2:25:29 for the women both of whom were from Ethiopia.  The men’s winner could have finished the race twice and had time to wait at Starbucks for me to finish.  I keep telling everyone I can get a better time if I just run a little faster.  I just need to find a way how.  Another reason why this race is so nice is because they have about 48,000 runners registered for all the events over the two days.  Nothing but a sea of runners is very exciting and this organization is doing something right for everyone wanting to come to this race.  In fact I checked the registration list and saw that there were 33 runners from Winnipeg alone in all the events.  There may have even been more outside of Winnipeg, but I couldn’t see those numbers. 

I arrived in Ottawa on Friday morning after leaving Winnipeg at 5:25.  We passed through Toronto on the way and touched down at about 11:20.  From there we went straight to the Expo in the downtown area.  The Expo and the race start and finish were all close to each other around the City Hall, which is also close to Parliament Hill.  A highlight of the Expo was meeting John Stanton again and getting a picture with him.  In case you don’t know who that is, he is the owner of the Running Room, which is where I buy most of my running stuff.  John is a very nice down to earth man, quite willing to take the time and meet people and talk about running, so it was nice to spend a few minutes with him.  I also picked up a sporty new jacket from the race.

The next morning we got up and headed downtown again, this time for the Running Room Friendship run.  This is something that I enjoy attending whenever Running Room is a sponsor at the race.  John spends a few minutes giving some knowledge of what to expect at the marathon and yes I have heard it about six times already, but this has become a tradition for me.  One of these races he will actually remember my name.  Won’t that be something?  At this time they also introduce the pace bunnies and we all go out for a 3K run just to loosen up the legs a bit.  At the end there are some refreshments and we all head our different ways.In the afternoon they host the mini marathon for the kids, a very short race with a big time feel because they finish at the same finish line.  This is followed by the 5K and then the 10K which was also the Canadian 10K championship.  Here again the organizers bring in some very fast talent and the times are around the 28:00 minute mark for the men and 30:00 minute mark for the women, very, very fast.  My cousin and her daughter also participated along with just over 13,000 other runners. 

The next day was Sunday, RACE DAY, again.  I woke up about 5:00 and did my usual routine which is eating and stretching and getting dressed.  We left for the race and arrived rather quickly as there are not a lot of people traveling on a Sunday morning.  The temperature in the morning was about 12 C which is nice.  I am beginning to realize that I like my running temperature somewhere between 8 C and 13 C.  This is what I have been running in all spring and because of this I don’t cramp at all.  This marathon however, would see that temperature get much higher.  More on that later.  I found the Porto Potty for one last visit and headed for the start line.  At the start line I found my Coral and met some really nice people which included a lady from St. Louis who like me just came down for the weekend marathon.  They call us weekend warriors.  She was also a Marathon Maniac and a Fifty States club member, which means she has run or is running in every state.  Yes I am going for that someday as well.

The National Anthem was sung by a member of the RCMP and after a few opening words, the gun went off.  It took about 4 minutes for me to cross the start line because my coral was further back.  My plan for this race was to follow the 4:30 pace bunny because I wanted to take it a little slower at the beginning and then finish strong with a negative split.  What is a negative split you ask?  This is the goal for a lot of runners.  The idea is to finish with a faster second half of the race then a first half.  Most runners will go out too fast at the beginning and then fade throughout the race, and when I say fade I mean die.  Better to save some energy for the end and finish strong.

I reached the 16K mark of the race feeling strong and comfortable and met my cousin’s daughter Fran.
 

 

Got some pictures and a hug and carried on.  At the 20K mark we cross the Ottawa River and headed in Gatineau Quebec for about 5K.  I was feeling very French at this part of the race.  At 25K we entered Ottawa again and headed for the last 17.2 K.  At about the 30K mark we headed up a little bit of an incline and I had taken a Gel, so I was feeling very good, but this lasted for only about 5K and I really started to weaken.  It was a combination of the warmer temperatures and the climb that took a lot of my energy.  At about 5K to go I lost the pace bunny and struggled to keep any kind of pace going.  At about 1.5K to go I got a cramp in my right hamstring.  It went away after a little bit of fluid from a water station and I managed to run in smiling. To me it didn’t seem too warm but when I came through the last 2K I saw a number of runners lying on the side of the road, some with an IV in their arm because they were dehydrated.  I realized between the humidity and the warmer temperatures this had a greater impact on me then I thought.  I will need to train more in the warmer temperatures so that it doesn’t impact me quite so much.  All in all it was a great race.  The course was beautiful and very scenic running along the Ottawa River and the Rideau Canal as well as passing the Parliament Building.  The water stations were well stocked and taken care of by very friendly and encouraging people.

 A couple of things that stood out in my mind, one was a runner who was carrying a boom box singing as he ran.  Not only that but he had everyone around him singing as well.  It was very entertaining and very funny.  Another thing was running through New Edinburgh, a little community near the end of the race.  There was a water station that was being serviced by men and women wearing red dresses.  Sometimes this deep into a race one might start hallucinating, but no, they were real.  The last interesting thought I have is near the end of the race.  A man came running up beside me which was another Marathon Maniac.  We exchanged pleasantries, he gave me his Maniac number and he kept going.  I was able to look up this fellow maniac as we have a pretty comprehensive website.  Turns out he was running his 498^th marathon in Ottawa and it was amazing what he has accomplished.  Yes there are lots of us crazy running types out there, and I use that term very affectionately.

Well, I collected my fourth medal of this journey and headed home. 

 Another race is done and I can start looking forward to the next one on June 21, the Manitoba Marathon. 

I was reminded today of why I am doing this.  I had heard from someone who had made a sizable contribution to Siloam Mission and realized that I was inspiring someone who believed in my cause and the effort I was putting into running all of these marathons.  It was a good reminder that with my running I can make a difference in an organization that looks to help those in need in our city.  Thank you to all those that have contributed to Siloam Mission.

 Now to rest like my good buddy in the rocking chair until the next race.

A new cultural experience, something I've never had before