Another awesome medal for the wall!
What a race!
Canada's largest city was divided in two for the better part of Sunday morning while 5,186 runners took to the world's longest street. It was bitterly cold and windy - far below the average temperature for this time of year. Thankfully, my Mum came out to support me, so I was able to stay warm in the car until the race started.
I made my way to the "Blue" corral where the other sub-55 minute runners had lined up. If I could actually stick with the pace, I would hit a new milestone in my short running career. By some miracle, the 55-minute pace bunny lined up right beside me. That was perfect as I was hoping to run a 55min race.
The 25km/hr gusting winds were at our back and we were about to embark on a fast, downhill run along Yonge Street. The gun went off to great cheers and encouragement from the crowd. For a brief minute, I thought I was going to lose the pacer, but he slowed down a bit as the 55ers pulled ahead of the slower runners. I kept reminding myself to keep breathing through my nose so I wouldn't lose my breath. After 2K, I felt pretty good and I seemed to be handling the 5.5 minute pace OK. As we hit the first of two short uphills, some runners started to drop off and slow a bit. I tucked in right behind the pace bunny and refused to let myself slow down.
After we crested the hill and started the decent, I remember thinking, "I feel fast today!" This could have been for all the downhills I was running, but why try to justify the awesome feeling?! All I could envision was hitting the 6K mark at Yonge & Dundas Square. It is my favourite intersection in the city of Toronto - always full of thousands of people and alive with energy. But, this time, I wouldn't be walking crossways through the intersection! I ran just off the pacer's right shoulder and sent silent messages to him: "I'm counting on you to pace me to a PB!" and "Just get me to the finish line in 55 minutes!"
As we rounded the corner at Richmond, everyone squeezed over to the inside of the turn. It seems Toronto doesn't pay enough taxes, because the ruts, cracks and potholes were brutal at that intersection! There was a massive cheering section with at least 40 people holding signs and cheering thunderously. It was incredibly encouraging and invigorating. At that point I realized we were 7K in with only 3K left to go.
Negotiating the streetcar tracks on Richmond was a challenge: I was trying to stick with the pacer, avoid other runners and watch out for the tracks. And since a race wouldn't be a race for me if I didn't roll my ankle somewhere, this was as good a place as any!
We made the next turn onto Peter and kept motoring towards Front Street and Old Fort York. Our pacer gave an encouraging call to all of us following behind him. I knew my Mum was going to be waiting for me at the 9K point at Front and Bathurst. I checked my watch and wondered if she had made it through traffic and got to the intersection in time - I was, afterall, feeling very fast! LOL
At the 8.75K mark, I realized I still had enough energy to kick it up a notch and hopefully finish faster than I intended and as I rounded the corner onto Bathurst, I saw my Mum waiting for me, camera in hand. I have no idea what she yelled, but I could hear her cheering as I took off for the last 300 yards to the finish. Then I went into attack mode. I started targeting runners ahead of me and picking them off. First Lulu-girl in purple, then the guy in Vibrams. I knew I would be close to running sub-55, but I didn't want to check my watch for fear of slowing myself down.
As I crossed the finish line and hit the stop button on my watch, I looked down and saw 54:45 staring back at me! A sub-55 and a huge personal best! Officially, my chip time was 54:42.2. Definitely a great race and an awesome course for a PB.
I may have to run this again next year so TW2 can run with me!
Happy trails, fellow runners!
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