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Saturday May 19 2012
 

Labour Day Half Marathon - Race Report

Printer friendly version Posted on: Wednesday September 03 10:46:00 AM
Labour Day Half Marathon - Race Report Race: Oakville Labour Day Half Marathon: September 1st

Woke up to beautiful sunshine! We started the day off getting up pretty early and meeting Matt from the clinic for the ride out there. By the time we parked and got to the race however, we didn't have as much time as I hoped we would. I managed to get a short warm up run in, long enough to tell me however it was not going to be an easy day. I could feel the lingering fatigue from the 30K race 2 weeks earlier and the tiredness of training.

The atmosphere was nice though and everyone seemed friendly and smiley which is a nice way to start any race. We also met up with Jason another one of our running friends but as we got to the starting line a bit late I couldn't work my way up to meet up with another buddy, Dave, who I planned to pace with. No worries, I figured I would try to catch him and run with him. (This didn't happen until about 18k when his nasty cold finally slowed him down).

We were lucky enough to run in shady tree lined streets of Oakville, but it was still pretty hot (24° at the start and 27° at the finish) - if you know me, you know I do not like hot weather races!

The first 5k for me went fast, a little over 22 minutes and I was already realizing I would not be able to hold that pace and meet my incredibly  huge goal of 1:30 ish but maybe my sub goal of 1:35 was still attainable.

At the half way point I was at 47:30, still on track for a 1:35 but...BUT....there was no way in hell I had the guts to maintain that pace. I mentally didn't have the threshold for pain and decided to try to enjoy the 2nd half. Even slowing my pace slightly was rough and I ended up dropping about 5 minutes on the 2nd half. So much for an even paced run. I guess every race can't be a personal record. And on this day, I was happy to see each of the final km markers go by and was quite happy to cross the finish under 1:40 (1:39:51). I do wish however I was more contientious of time in the final 5k because I am sure I could have toughened up enough to shave a minute and a half off to get under my previous best half marathon time. Nonetheless, I did enjoy the race despite the toughness of it and of course, the heat. I am really looking forward to this autumn's racing temps!

Anita's race went well finishing a bit behind her personal best but not bad considering she is still nursing her lingering hamstring issues. And as always, she finished with a big smile. (See pics below). Perhaps she would like to comment on thsi post with her own race report? :)

The race was won by our friend, Predrag Mladenovic in 1:07:12. It was nice to see him win again after a hiatus with foot arch issues. Congratulations Predrag!

Post race festivities were nice. Good food (and lot's of it!) and a nice setting in Oakville's Confederation park. A one man band provided music for the hoards of people resting on the lawn. The major flaw of this race though was the water at the water stations. Hose water, stored in garbage bag lined garbage pails! Yes, seriously. A strongly worded email needs to be sent to the race director for this loser decision at a not so cheap event.

All in all though, it was a nice day, and always nice to spend it with the mrs. I wish we had the kids out for this race too (there was a 10k as well). they would have enjoyed it. Thet are back to the races this weekend with a 5k in Brampton where Anita and I will sit out but we are volunteering again for the great VRPro people.

Here are a few snaps of the race.

Anita, looking strong and smiley.Anita looking great at the finish as always!
Daddyo, hanging tough near the finishA tough finsih, and an almost smile

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 Posted by Dave on: Wednesday September 03 10:46:00 AM

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