Since participating in the 25th annual Vancouver Sun Run for the first time last year, I vowed to continue running for years to come in the world’s second largest timed 10k run. This year, I had Clayton to run with me. With minimal training before the run, we both questioned ourselves on our ability to do well. I had only one goal which was to beat my previous personal best of 1:18:52.
This year’s run took place on Mother’s Day so a special acknowledgement was made to mothers all over when the gun went off at 900. Clayton and I were at the head of the line in the white bibs waiting for our wave to go after the large group of green bibs which had four or five waves alone! It wasn’t until about fifty minutes after the gun went off that we were able to go.
Set on a beautiful day, a skunk ran us from a distance while cutting through Stanley Park, probably thinking that it might be best to run the herd. A heard of 51,419 people all running in the same direction must be for good reason!
While running our course, we kept each other in check and paced ourselves, having to only break from our continual run about four times in all. And our good work paid off!
My new personal best is now 1:10:21.
My legs felt like jelly and I was nearly dying of thirst. Thankfully, there were people handing out Red Bull shots for runners just after crossing the finish line along with packs of weetabix, Oasis juices, bananas and oranges inside the outdoor pavilion.
It was strange to see the large air-supported dome which covered the BC Place Stadium for over twenty-five years gone. That marshmallow roof which the world saw during the Olympic games was an iconic part of Vancouver’s skyline. Half a billion dollars later, we’ll have a new retractable roof!
I thought you were a Mac Addict, WHAT HAPPENED?
ReplyDeleteI still am a Mac user, but I fail to see what your comment have to do with this Sun Run post.
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely nothing, just saying hey. How's the family by the way? It's been much too long. If you are so anal that this comment needs to be Sun Run related, alright.
ReplyDeleteI still do not run, my recollections of past Sun Runs have been ones of both envy and indifference. It all depends on what mood I'm in.
Oh sure the Sun Run is for everybody but if you recall I wasn't some well built track star like Usain Bolt or Asafa Powell (The latter my brother knows by the way). My carriage was something you and various friends had often made fun of back in Fleetwood Park Secondary but of coarse I gave as good as I got.
Not much has changed. The Sun Run is this constant reminder of my indifference toward physical activity but one activity does inspire me to change. MMA.
The comment about Mac was based on a Hotmail account I thought you were using but then again you probably are not so that is my bad. Sticking the comment in your last post for your blog seemed the correct way to reconnect, I didn't mean to mess up your post and I do hope I did not embarrass you by posting something that was NOT related to your blog post.
I know how neat and organized you are and prefer things to be.
Take care now.