It was awesome!
Back in March I wrote about my plans to run the Ottawa Race Weekend 10K, and my hope that I could come in with a sub-50-minute time.
I DID IT!
And it was fun. Fun, fun, fun.
It was, bar none, the most fun 10K I have ever run in my life.
I had wings! In fact, for the first 8K I was actually worried. This is too easy, I thought. What if I finish and it still feels too easy, and then I’ll be afraid I didn’t give it my all?
Don’t worry.
I did, indeed, hit the proverbial wall. Or, in this case, the Pretoria Bridge. I had stopped having much fun by the time the course took us across the canal over the Pretoria Bridge. But by then I knew I could do it. Knew it was just about one-and-a-half kilometres to the finish. Reasoned anybody can do anything for 1,500 metres if they really have to.
So, my stats (these are good for me – not good for super-serious runners, but good for me). I finished in 47:40. Yay! Well below 50:00. I ran the second 5K faster than the first 5K. I was about 1,300th out of 13,125 runners at the 5K mark and, by the end I finished in 1,030 overall. So I passed nearly 300 people in the second 5K (it didn’t feel like it). I ended up 18th out of 1225 people in my category (age, gender). So, it was awesome!
I ran the 5K race at 4:00 p.m. with my eleven-year-old and that was eye-opening for me. For anyone who hasn’t run a big road race, you start in corrals, correlated to your expected finish time. Since it was my son’s first 5K I had registered us in the second-last corral. This meant we were about three-quarters of the way back in a field of 10,700 people. The race goes off in waves – every two minutes – so we didn’t cross the start line until 4:20 p.m. The winners were finishing as we were starting!
There was lots of hustle and bustle and many bodies, but my son did so well. He kept his cool, ran the whole way, passed people the entire time, and finished in just over thirty minutes. I just ran behind him and kept an eye on him. He definitely earned his medal.
Then, my family went home for dinner and I stayed downtown and got in my corral for the 10K race at 6:30 p.m. Even though this race was bigger, I started at the very front so it felt much smaller to me. I went in the second wave to cross the start line. It was a completely different experience.
Both were great. Both were fun. The 10K is my personal favourite, but the 5K taught my son so much.
If you’re thinking of running a race, I highly recommend Ottawa Race Weekend. There’s truly something for everyone, from the 2K to the Marathon. The course is beautiful – spectacular even – set, as it is in Ottawa’s beautiful neighbourhoods and along the Ottawa River and the Rideau Canal (a Unesco World Heritage site). The spectators are vocal and encouraging, and the signs are funny. Some I remember:
– “Smile if you’re not wearing underwear.”
– “Your butt hurts because you’re kicking ass.”
– “This is a lot of work for a free banana.”
My son loved the signs and he loved his free banana. In fact, walking through the recovery area, helping himself to free food, his eyes were huge. I chafed at the wait to file out of the recovery pen while he gnawed on a bagel and said, “This isn’t so bad …”
Seriously, there aren’t many competitions your average person can just decide to enter, but running races are an exception. You pay your entry fee, do some training (hopefully), show up on the day, and get treated like a hero.
It’s good and it’s fun.
After my 10K I walked through the quiet downtown streets heading for our pre-arranged pick-up area. I was wearing my medal, my racing bib, and a huge smile.
I told a friend I was the happiest person in Ottawa. I think it was probably true … it’s a feeling to hold onto.
