Vancouver Sun Run

The Vancouver Sun Run was today. I’m in the yellow group, which isn’t the fastest group. (That’s the blue group.) I’m in the group that should be done in 44 to 48 minutes. They put you in the appropriate group so that the fastest people run first, and aren’t blocked by slower people. Considering there are sometimes 50,000 people running, this is necessary. The race starts at 9:00 in the morning. But the last racers don’t start until after ten; they are expected to take nearly two hours to complete. i.e. They walk.
Last year, I ran with the Fraser Street Run Club; they are the run group I usually join for my group runs with the Running Room. The problem with them is that they are all very fast, so I didn’t help their statistics. I ran my fastest 10km ever, but I wasn’t even in the top ten of the group. So this year I ran with my company; I figure I’ll place better in a group full of computer programmers. There may be more of them, but I think I’m more competitive.
Last year, I ran it in about 42 minutes. Technically I could have been in the blue group this year but I haven’t been feeling that my legs are in the best condition. So I was worried I would embarrass myself if I couldn’t make the time my group wanted.
I had three differing goals this year. At minimum I wanted to finish in 48 minutes. Better would be to finish in below 44 minutes so I can justify going in the fast group next year. My stretch goal was to beat 40 minutes.
I finished in forty minutes and eleven seconds. Not quite my stretch, but pretty close. It gives me something to shoot for next year. And I think I can cut off 12 seconds. Especially since I was slow at the start because I had to dodge the crowds of people going slower than me. That wouldn’t happen in the blue group; I would be the slow person they would need to dodge.
I pushed hard this year. Unfortunately, I think I ate too much for breakfast. My stomach felt queasy at points in the race, but it usually just caused burps. Embarrassing but not slowing.
The weather was good too. Not hot. Partly cloudy so there was occasional sun.
At the end, Catalina was as the finish line cheering me on. She even got a video of me running. We then went into the stadium and checked out the after run party. Basically vendors, food, and occasional free stuff. The advantage of finishing fast is that lineups haven’t had a chance to form yet.
We left the arena at about 10:45 to see the worst hailstorm I’ve ever seen in B.C. Hail that was big enough to hurt as you were hit by it. I sheltered my head with a bag, but it still hurt my fingers. And there were probably lots of runners/walkers still on the course at that time. And there is absolutely no shelter anywhere on the course, unless you leave it. I’m glad I was fast.