Firstly, let me thank all of you who have supported this running endeavour. It has been amazing how many people have sent congratulatory notes, etc. We are enjoying this ride together.
The TC10k kicked off the racing season. It was quite a good field and going in I was given race number 10- surely I can finish ahead of this I thought – but it is definitely nice to be an underdog. The lead pack quickly separated from the rest of the field and five of us ran together for roughly the first six kilometers. The pace was perhaps a little too slow as I always find that the best 10ks are the ones where you feel like dropping out numerous times. At 6k, cheered on by the crowd I made a move to separate the field. It worked, but perhaps not ideally. The Kenyans soon pulled away and the second placed Canadian fell off the pace. This is a tricky time in a race as it is easy to lose focus, so although I realised it was not going to be an outstanding performance, I thought I might as well finish strong. The running community here in Victoria has given me so much, so giving my best always feels necessary. Finished behind the Kenyans - 1st Canadian in exactly 30 minutes (30:00).
The Sun Run over in Vancouver is a big race. In fact, with 55000 people it is the largest 10k race in North America. While this is quite amazing, consider this: if the same amount of Vancouverites per capita participated in the Sun Run as do Victorians in the TC there would be a field of around 130,000. This highlights how remarkable the attendance is in the TC10k.
The race itself attracted a stronger field than the TC10k with numerous National Team athletes and former National Champions in attendance. I was ranked 12th. The race always goes out at a fast pace and typically one by one runners start falling back off the pace. Things started to get interesting upon ascending to the Burrard st bridge. It's a quick, hard uphill and quite soon it was whittled down to a pack of 10 runners. I fell back probably 20m behind the lead pack going up the up the bridge but closed it up on the downhill. It was a now or never point- either make sure I'm in there with a fighting chance or find myself gapped to the point of no return. Soon a couple of the runners dropped back off the pace and I found myself in a group of 3. On the uphill onto the Cambie St bridge I pushed the pace, and finding little resistance, ran the last 800m solo. Was closing in on the 3rd place Kenyan but ran out of road. Finished in 4th again, this time a little faster than in the TC10k- 29:33.
In hard efforts like this it is easy to want to slow down, but the pain is transient an the memories last forever. I'm always telling patients that sometimes they must feel some short term pain for long term gain- the least I can do is practice what I preach. Thanks again for all the support. Now back to my day job!
