Aaaaaargh!!!! Maritime Race Weekend

Kim and I decided to head to Nova Scotia for a Canadian destination race series. Built into our first family vacation in 17 years, we toured about Nova Scotia for a few days before the race festival began. Friday night featured a 5K while Saturday morning saw the 10K, half and full marathons run.

With lobster hats to celebrate Maritime Race Weekend

We picked up our race kits Friday before the race - they were awesome! The theme of the race was pirates! A pirate eye-patch, gold hoop earrings, a Maritime Race Weekend mug, a T-shirt for each of the two races and a personalized bib indicating our participation in the Tartan Twosome (the 5K on Friday and one of the Saturday races).

Some of our fellow runners in awesome pirate-inspired costumes

The race was extremely well-organized, had a consistent, well-implemented theme and awesome swag and bling! Runners really got into the pirate spirit with elaborate costumes and wigs. The race organizers also had volunteers in spectacular pirate costumes circulating through the runners.

In the starting corral with some of our pirate friends! 
(I think he had just flogged me with his whip when this was taken)

The course was absolutely beautiful. Starting in Fisherman's Cove in Eastern Passage, Nova Scotia, we wound our way along the seashore for an out-and-back 5K. The race started with the sound of a cannon firing, which somehow my Mum got a picture of (and it was in focus!).

And we're off!

Kim and I raced the first 1.5K together and then split off to run our own race. I was having a fairly solid race by the 4K mark. My shin splints weren't bothering me and I was managing to maintain a 5 min/km pace. Two women started to pass me going into the final kilometer, so I joked that it was a no-passing zone. The three of us ended up running the last leg together. As I rounded the corner for the finish line, I could see the official clock in the 24-minute range. I had a strong kick and wound up shattering my old PB by over a minute, coming in to clock a super-fantastic 24:53!  Kim wasn't far behind, killing her previous PB from two weeks ago in 26:11. We were so excited for each other's awesome races. I've been trying to run under 25 minutes since April. Best of all, my last kilometer was my fastest of the five!

With kick-ass medals to cap off totally awesome 5K races!

The 10K started at 7:30am, 12 hours after Friday's 5K. We weren't entirely sure how we'd feel given we'd just pumped out a strong race the night before. The fog started rolling in as the cannon went off. We paced out at a 5.5min/km pace. Again, we split off to run our own races somewhere around the 3K mark. I ran with two older guys who were ultra-marathoners. Those guys are really crazy! We joked and laughed as we ran and even broke into a horrible rendition of Beyonce's "Irreplaceable" as we passed signs urging half- and full-marathoners to merge "to the left."

We passed a pirate bunny pacing out a group of new runners. Seeing their enthusiasm and dedication was pretty cool. By the 5K mark, Kim had caught up to me and we ran a while together. I hit the turnaround at the 6K mark feeling remarkably good. Thankfully, the final 1.5K is downhill, so I started picking up my pace and choosing runners ahead of me to pick off. I managed to get past 4 runners to finish in a final time of 56:02. Not too bad for racing twice in 12 hours!

(From L to R) Medals for the 10K, 5K and the Tartan Twosome Challenge 

This is definitely a race I would recommend to other runners. Great post-race refreshments including chocolate milk, free ice cream cones, and vitamin water along with your usual post-race food. The larger medals are a whopping 4" in diameter and weigh a ton. Walking through the runners' village after the race hearing the Tartan Twosome finishers clanging around like oxen was hilarious!

 Good job, United By Running!

On the wharf at Halifax Harbour with my best haul of medals to date!

Happy trails, fellow runners!