Saturday, February 27, 2016
Time: 4:35:49
Overall Place: 214/374
Flight was nice, made it to Calgary pretty much on time. I only had 58 minutes to grab the next flight and I had to get through customs and security which normally would be enough time, except that there were a lot of flights going through Calgary that morning. Made it through customs and was in line for security with fifteen minutes to go. This was going to be tight. Next thing I know an Air Canada agent was looking for anyone going to Phoenix. We got hustled through security the rest of the way and made it to a waiting plane. Our plane was part of the Air Canada fleet known as Rouge. I had the same plane going to Fort Lauderdale so I was ready this time to fly with the sardines. It was actually a great flight because I talked to a lady from Medicine Hat the entire three hours. I got to Phoenix right on time. Interestingly enough this flight was filled with Canadians going for vacation to Phoenix. Hmmm, country can't be suffering too badly.
The plan was to get picked up at the airport by my
cousin Viola and her husband Peter.
They were actually staying in Tucson in their trailer and
moved it up to Mesa for the weekend so that I would have a place to stay. Viola was also
planning on running the half marathon.
What a generous offer to put me up and cart me around for
the weekend. I texted Peter where I was and waited for a response. Next thing I see is
Viola coming into the doors looking for me. What timing. We drove to Mesa where
the trailer park was. My first experience in a big RV.
Temperature in Mesa, which is a suburb of Phoenix,
was around 28 Celsius. Was it nice! The plan for today was to just kick back and relax by the pool and go
for a short run in the evening. I did some sun tanning ginger kid style by the pool watching a rousing
game of volleyball in one pool and Aquacising (exercising in the pool) in the
other pool. This was a 55 plus resort so not a lot young families. Just a lot of
experience. We also hit a weekend they were having a festival so there was lots of
dancing to old familiar tunes and free drinks. Ah paradise. This was going to
be great weekend.
The plan for today was to do as little as possible. This is quite
different from what I am used to which is to sight see until I drop.
After breakfast we went to the Expo which was in a different part of Mesa and it was also the site of the finish area for the race. This area was also the location for the bus shuttle to take us to the start lines in the morning. The Expo was not super big but it was a nice size and there was a lot to see with lots of free giveaways.
After all, who doesn't
like something for free even if you don’t need it, it's still free. After the Expo we had decided to drive over to Scottsdale to see the
home where my mom used to live for 13 years. When we got there. the security
guard wouldn't let us through the gates but we could still see her place. It was nice to see and
not much had changed, it was still as beautiful as ever. We ate lunch across
the street in the parking lot of the golf course, picnic style. We drove back to the trailer and the rest of afternoon we just lazed
around the pool enjoying the sunshine and drinking pop.
We
ran through a lot of residential areas and only hit one minor uphill section. The rest of the course
was pretty much downhill. I still was not feeling the greatest from getting sick a couple of
weeks back. Mostly affected my lungs. About a third into the race I met Melissa
again and we pretty much ran the rest of the way together. At about the half
way point it started to get warm and we ended finishing the race with a
temperature of plus 27 C. Never underestimate the effect of heat in a race. It slows the time down
and if a runner doesn't hydrate properly, they can find themselves on the side
of the road attached to an IV bag.
I enjoyed the race and under the
circumstances did alright. Viola on the other hand killed the half marathon finishing at 2:02. Best part of the event was
the post-race meal where they were serving Famous Dave's. As I’ve mentioned before I can’t really eat
after a race, but I love their food and I found a way to make room for a pulled pork
sandwich. In
terms of overall race experience I would have to rank this one right at the
top. You
don't need to have thousands of runners at an event to make it great, you just
need to look after the little details and make it a great race experience for
the runners.
Wendy drove us to the airport on her way to work and we
arrived early enough to go straight to work.
Temperature in Mesa, which is a suburb of Phoenix,
was around 28 Celsius. Was it nice! The plan for today was to just kick back and relax by the pool and go
for a short run in the evening. I did some sun tanning ginger kid style by the pool watching a rousing
game of volleyball in one pool and Aquacising (exercising in the pool) in the
other pool. This was a 55 plus resort so not a lot young families. Just a lot of
experience. We also hit a weekend they were having a festival so there was lots of
dancing to old familiar tunes and free drinks. Ah paradise. This was going to
be great weekend.
Friday, February 26, 2016
How nice it is to wake up in the morning to bright
beautiful sunshine and warm temperatures. No need for the winter clothing, just
shorts and a light shirt. 
The plan for today was to do as little as possible. This is quite
different from what I am used to which is to sight see until I drop. After breakfast we went to the Expo which was in a different part of Mesa and it was also the site of the finish area for the race. This area was also the location for the bus shuttle to take us to the start lines in the morning. The Expo was not super big but it was a nice size and there was a lot to see with lots of free giveaways.
 |
| My moms house was nestled in the trees where the car is parked |
For supper I wanted to take Peter and Viola to a
place that was very special to me.
My mom had taken me there for a couple of birthdays and I
had great memories of it. It is a place called Organ Stop Pizza. It is not just your
ordinary pizza joint. This place actually has a real organ that comes out of the ground to
stage level and we are entertained while eating our pizza. This is no ordinary
organ and you really have to experience it to really appreciate it.
After staying for a
couple of hours we returned back to the trailer. I went for a little
walk to pick up some bananas and bagels. The air was still very
comfortable and I appreciated having the opportunity to be here and not in
Winnipeg. Off
to sleep for an early morning start.
The day started at 3:30 in the morning for us because we needed to get down to the shuttle
area and out to the start line for 6:30. It was an early start for the race because any later and it meant
running in the heat.
We got to our shuttle pickup point and I got on my
bus. Viola had to go to another drop off
point to be shuttled out to the Half Marathon start. It must have taken
about 35-40 minutes to drive up into the Usury Mountains. When we got there they had heating
stations and fire pits because it was so cold. Temperature was around
plus 13 C. We had to wait for about an hour before the start of the race so I
found a piece of pavement to sit on by a fire. I met this really nice
lady from Las Vegas who was running her second marathon. I love meeting new
people and getting to know their stories. Anyways, her name was
Melissa and later on I would meet her again. 
The rest of the day was spent, you guessed it,
hanging around the pool and enjoying some more of Peters wonderful cooking. It was truly a
remarkable day.
Sunday, February 28, 2016
My last day in paradise relaxing by the pool in the
morning and a short little run. My
flight wasn’t scheduled to leave till 3:05 so I had a good part of the day just
to hang around and relax. This is great
after running a marathon. Not to mention
that I got to sleep in quite long. We
left for the airport at about 1:15 and I checked in and passed through security
and made my way to the gate. This flight
was a little unusual because I was flying through Calgary with an eleven hour
layover, and before you think that is crazy I have to say that I did it on
purpose. Wendy lives in Calgary and
about two weeks before I had arranged for Heidi to meet me in Calgary so we
could fly home together the next morning.
The plane was on time getting into Calgary and I got picked up by Wendy
and Heidi and we spent the evening together.
What a great way to end a great trip.
The next morning 
No comments:
Post a Comment