(photo care of Gary Robbins)
I've said it before and I'll say it again, this race rocks!
This year I decided to go for the 10km instead of the half marathon. I still haven't done any distance (race wise) over 15km so I didn't think I should start now. Not to mention, I had some ITB tightness going on last weekend at Around the Lake Giv'r take around the 12km mark, which forced me to pull out. 10km was an excellent choice and would serve as some good speed training.
My friend Shauna got back into town yesterday and I convinced her to grab her best thong, throw it over some tights, and head over to my place. When I did this race 3 years ago I wore hot pink tights and a black thong. This year however, I decided to switch it up, black tights and a hot pink thong. I do beleive that the thing gives me super human powers and propels me to run at high speeds.
My other friend, Tom Skinner, sent an email out that morning saying he was too sick to come. Once I told him we were dressing up in thongs he was game and made the trek out from Vancouver. However, Tom, being Tom, took the thong thing to a whole other level and asked me whether or not he should forgo the tights and just rock the thong. I said to him, "If you've got the balls, and I know you have the balls, to just wear the thong, then just wear the thong!"...and so he did and it may have been the funniest thing I have ever seen. He ran ahead of me for the first km or so and I literally was keeled over laughing while running. I had to pass him or my race would have been in jeopardy! (see blurry pic above for peep show of Tom. If you look closely I am wearing a white hat keeled over on the far right because I am laughing so hard))
The course starts at the Jaycee house by Capilano College. From there it heads up passed the cemetery, along Lillooet road, and you dive into Diamond trail heading towards the Baden Powell trail. Once I was on the flats in Diamond I passed a whack of people and while everyone skirted around the mud and puddles, I just plowed on through. This is wear my strengths come in because for the next 15 minutes or so, it's flat and downhill. My main competition was a friend of mine, Marieve. She is awesome and is a fairly new mother. She wasn't too far back and is a daemon on the hills. She started gaining on me as we crested up towards the suspension bridge. There were a few flights of stairs and I could see her getting closer.
My main goal was to run all the hills and stairs. When I did this race 3 years ago I walked every single stair. Now that I am a little bit tougher and not as much of a pansy ass I ran up them relentlessly. My legs were burning but I knew once I got to the top, the lactic acid burn would subside and I would get my stride back once again. I knew that if I could hold her off until we routed back to Diamond trail that I had the win in the bag. We were pretty much side by side at the Gazebo but I opened up a gap pretty quick as we headed back down twin falls towards the suspension bridge. I knew from there, we only had one more climb and then it was home free.
I passed by all the other 10km runners as they headed up twin falls and I tried to cheer on as many as I could. I worked hard up the hill doing a combination of power hiking and running. I gave mike (who is normally dressed in a cow costume) a high five and headed towards diamond trail. This trail is the reason I do this race. It's flat, technical, and a lot of fun. If I were to do speed intervals anywhere, I would do them on this trail because it has so much variety and changes directions a lot. There was one guy ahead of me but he was holding a steady enough pace that it took me a while to get close to him. I always seem to pick up speed in the final km and in doing so I managed to pass him and sprint to the finish to hold him off.
I finished in 48min and change and couldn't have been happier. My man (the race director)was there to congratulate me and I jumped up, took hold, and planted a big wet kiss on him. It is such a fun race and I encourage all to come out and join in the festivities next year. More pics can be found at the Run the North Shore website.
I am really enjoying the shorter distance races. They are over quick and the suffering is over with in under an hour! I think Peter and I are going to head over to Powell River next weekend and Tom told me there is a 10km in Cumberland which is just a short Ferry ride away. Awesome!
See you in the trails!
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