Forzani Mother's Day 10K

If you've been reading this blog for a bit you've probably figured out that I love entering races - as evidenced by my crazy schedule these past few weekends! A couple of months ago someone mentioned that the race expo for the Sport Check Mother's Day 10K was the place to get running gear for cheap so I figured I should sign up for the race. The race expo definitely did not disappoint on the gear side (at least for the women...there was a ton of gear for us, probably less for the men). I picked up a pair of Sugoi capris for hiking, an Asics Thermopolis half zip top and a Sugoi tank. There were discounted shoes, Fuel Belts, socks, hats...all kinds of stuff. I also have to give a major kudos to the race - everyone gets a one use only timing chip so that they don't have back ups at the finish line trying to get them removed. After the race you can give your chip back and $1 gets donated to the NICU and special care nurseries at the local hospitals. What a terrific idea, eh? Spolumbo's Sausages were having a cookout at the expo as well - $5 got you a fantastic Spolumbo's sausage, a bag of chips and a pop with all proceeds going to charity.

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There were about 13,600 participants for this 5K and 10K event. With a generous time limit before opening the roads up this event is walker friendly. All walkers were asked to start at the back with reminders that thanks to your chip your official time wouldn't start until you crossed the start mat. There were folks holding pace signs up so you could seed yourself accordingly. It drives people here nuts, but I do all my running thinking in miles so it took me a second to decide which km pace group I should be in... The first 2K of the race was spent dodging the large groups of walkers who apparently didn't get the memo about starting in the back. Definitely frustrating. I had absolutely no goal in mind (remember I ran hill repeats the day before?) so I just wanted to run at a pace I felt was easy and have fun. I felt like I was going pretty slow...say an 11:30/mile, so imagine my surprise when my Garmin was telling me I was running a 9:45/mi. I just kept running though with minimal thoughts. I only stopped to walk during the two water stops mostly so I could make sure the water actually made it into my mouth. The course had some pretty good hills, but luckily the last 3 to 4K were pretty well downhill. I was concerned about what would happen when the 5K folks merged with the 10K folks for the last couple K. It was so well managed though as they were kept to the left side of the street so the 10K folks could run unimpeded to the finish line. It was a really well organized race. The final result?

1:02:14

1381 out of 2220

Females 20 - 29: 176/332

Wow...I cut almost a minute off from the Vancouver Sun Run when I was actually trying... Apparently this "no goal" thing works for me, eh? After the race a great lunch was in order, followed by an 18.5 mi bike ride. I was pretty wiped after all that, but it was a fabulous day!

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Also, that was my final race in the F**-29 age category!