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Friday July 30 2010
 

Ottawa Marathon - Race Report

Printer friendly version Posted on: Monday May 25 07:45:43 PM
 
Cam & Daddyo at the end of the 5K Ottawa Race weekend was a blast. We drove there with our fearless pal Duff. Sarah stayed at home to 'rest' for her 1500m track city final. Josh and his friend Ryan were in tow and we didn't see them all weekend as they spent time in Ottawa with friends. We met up with Rob and Anne from the marathon clinic as well as my neighbor Matt who was in our previous clinic. The 7 of us rented a big cabin (luxurious!) and it was a busy weekend. We were about 35 minutes away from downtown Ottawa and it was worth the drive. It was a 5 bedroom 'cottage' with radiant floor heating, huge windows, a view of the gorgeous lake and a massive kitchen dining area very suitable for post race bbq & brews!

Saturday was the 5 and 10K races. Cam had been looking forward to the 5k for a while. Due to the size of the 5k race (8500) I decided to run it with him as he was hoping to do well in the 8 + under Age Group. It was run at 5pm Saturday before Sunday's marathon. It was hot as hell, and after a congested start we managed to get free and run it in 23:03 - not his PR but good enough for 1st of 79. Very impressive from this durable little guy. As happy as I was to run it with him, it did leave me a bit spent and worried for Sunday's duties as 3:50 Pace rabbit. That of course did not stop me from enjoying a few glasses of wine back at our palace on the lake.

It was hot again Sunday but I felt good. I donned my pace rabbit shirt & hat complete with pink ears and our goal time on it. And my sign with our pace on it so people could follow me from behind. The 1st km saw us already 20 seconds behind but mainly due to the congested start. We got back on track and actually got a bit ahead of pace 8km. This is where I had to pee, real bad, mainly because I did not go before the race due to the fact I was supposed to be in my coral with my 3:50 sign for runners to find me. So I had one of the runners hold the sign while I jumped into a porta potty line. After a bit of wait and them what seemed like the longest pee ever, I got back out with no signs of my group. I think I burned up some valuable energy catching up with the group almost 5 minutes later!

Pace Bunny DavePacing this marathon was a blast, I had a group that varied from 12-20 runners as people joined and dropped or moved ahead. I shouted words of encouragement, tried to amuse them with some joking around with crowds, got all the busier sections to roar as we ran by and even ran ahead and stopped to dance with the belly dancers.

I had a good group that included Matt and Ron from the Running Room as familiar faces and they helped me to remember to get the walk breaks on schedule. We were diligent with thanking the spectators, volunteers as well as Ottawa's finest.

As jovial as the first half was, it quieted down and became all business by about 30K. Actually, right after I got the group to cheer themselves through the 30k checkpoint, it really got serious. I talked to people who needed encouragement and some even said they'd be dropping back as sub 4:00 was their ultimate goal. By the time we got to 34K I was down to 6 runners. By the time we got to 40K it was me + 4. I lost 2 more in the last km as I kept on pace but they couldn't quite hold on. Let me tell you, this was tough for me. I started to really tire around 35k in a part of the course that has beat me up the last 2 years. Despite being on a pace 30 minutes slower than 2 weeks ago, the fact it was only 2 weeks of recovery, the heat, and the 23 minute 5k the night before (along with the wine....oh, the wine) I did manage to get the job done bringing in my group at 3:49:52. Keeping the pace over the final 5 minutes was a killer!  So the 2 runners that finished with me moved ahead in the chute as I waited to see how my others finished. I managed to find about 8 of them and they were all ecstatic with their sub 4:00, sub 3:55 PRs. I got a lot of compliments and thank you's and it made it all that much more enjoyable. I'd do it again definitely!

Anita and her crewOn a different side of things, Anita was a guide runner in the 10K race. She backed off from the marathon a while back due to a nagging hamstring injury so an easy 10k was all she was up for. Our good friend Duff is associated with the Achilles Track club (info on Achilles) and he was able to hook her up with a visually impaired woman who needed another guide. Needless to say this made her 10k much more interesting and we're both looking forward to doing it again including local runs with the Achilles Tack club on Saturdays. The runners need more help than just at the races - if you're interested in helping, contact me!

I am stoked, proud and exhausted - all in all pretty much happy to be a runner and a running family!

The gathering of the rabbits before our Saturday morning meet the rabbits fun run

The gathering of the rabbits

 

I leave you with this photo I took from the bridge at 200m from the finish, which I love.
It is Rick Ball, from Orillia, on his way in to set the record for 10K single leg amputee with a wicked time of 37:57!

Rick Ball on his way to 10K world record

Until next time - happy running!

~D


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 COMMENT 
 Posted by Dave on: Monday May 25 07:45:43 PM

Comments:

comment bubble Duffman
 
Another positive race report from Dave. Amazing what  a BQ will do to your mind set. Well done, man.
You are an amazing runner, not  to mention a converted Pace Bunny where everybody (who follows you, really appreciates your sacrifice of running their pace and making them better runners).
This shows you can run a decent time and still have fun.

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Posted on: Wednesday June 03 06:49 PM