Race Report: Bluenose 5k

I've been meaning to write a race report all week but life's been even more hectic than usual - for reasons I really have no time to get into today. In a few short hours, I'm scheduled to be on the road headed for Cape Breton to participate in my second Cabot Trail Relay. I'm excited because I had such an awesome time last year but also completely terrified. I'm signed up to run leg 12 - one of the "middle of the night" legs - and have no idea how I'm going to pull it off. Fingers crossed that I'm well enough trained to run on autopilot if I fall asleep. :-)

In any case, back to the Bluenose: My 5k race on Sunday went pretty well all things considered. Despite giving me so much grief in Fredericton the weekend before, my knee held up just fine and I finished the race in a chip time of just under 27 minutes. I also came 6th in my class (women 50-59) which was pretty cool.

I'm quite sure I could have run it faster if I'd been a little more strategic though. I ran so hard up Citadel Hill I felt nauseous at the top and had to slow down for a km or so while my tummy settled. I'm not sure why I made such a silly mistake. It was something about watching all those runners ahead of me tackling the challenge with gusto. I suddenly found myself hollering "Give'er!" and picking up the pace as I launched myself up the hill. In short, my excitement got the better of me.

In any case, given how sick I'd been in the weeks leading up to the race, and how tough the course was, I was fine with 26:57 and it felt great to be part of the 10th anniversary celebration of the event.  I've now run all four Bluenose races - the 5k, 10k, half and full marathon - so I treated myself to the fancy pants "Finished 'er" jacket I wanted (see photo above) which made it all worthwhile.

My friend Janet had a great race too, as did a bunch of other friends and colleagues, and nearly 14,000 people participated in various events over the weekend so it was a big success all around.

As good as my run was, the high point of the day was volunteering afterwards. As soon as I'd picked up my finisher's medal and jacket, I hightailed it back to the car, drove to Point Pleasant Park and hiked to the top of the hill to join Team in Training's fabulous volunteers. I spent the first 90 minutes handing out water and Gatorade to runners passing the 16k mark of the half marathon and 36k of the full marathon, then took up my post as a course marshal nearer the waterfront where I cheered my little heart out for another two hours. Talk about inspiring! There's nothing quite like watching a bunch of marathoners do their thing and was especially moving given events in Boston a month ago.

Oops. It's time I signed off and got going.  Lots to do before I hit the road this afternoon. Full report on CTR early next week when I'm recovered enough to write it. :-)

Happy running and writing, friends.