Another Race Recap!

Shorter this time, I promise.  I forgot to mention this race in my catchup post.  It wasn't until I transferring my Garmin info into dailymile that I remembered.  This was the Manitoba Marathon on June 16th.  I did this race as a relay in 2009 and it was a horrible, terribly hot experience and I swore I would never register for the half or more on this race.  But here I go in my excitement to do 13 races in 2013 and I registered for the half in a moment of weakness.    After my experience at the Fargo Half, I was so dreading this race.  I was still doing it but dreading it.  Then a few days before the race, a co-worker came up to me and asked if I knew about race kit pickup.  We looked it up together and I noticed under the FAQ that that afternoon was the last chance to change events.  OMG.  I checked the forecast yet again and saw that it was supposed to be hot, humid, rainy.  Same as Fargo.  I thought about it for an hour and called and changed my race from the half to the 10km.  I instantly felt overwhelming relief.  I was now looking forward to this race.  And it turned out to be the right decision.

My speedy friend Nicole picked me up that morning and we headed across town to the race.  It started off a little gray and by the time we got there, it was bright and sunny.  This year, they only had shuttle access to the site.  We parked and the line for the shuttle was so incredible long, we weren't waiting.  We opted to walk in.  Add 3 kms.  We figured we'd take the shuttle back after.

Again, I was hoping for a personal best here.  I was actually hoping for 1:15.  I was on target to do that and then the sun hit me.  This is a flat and shadeless course.  What little bits of shade there was, I took advantage of.  The last 2 km's though was wide open and I kept getting slower and slower.  I ended up finishing in 1:21:02.  Not 1:15 but still a personal best by about 4 minutes or so.  I'm okay with that!!!  My friend Nicole finished her half in an amazing 1:42.  WTF!!!  She is such a motivator for me.  She is this totally fit, running, bike riding, spinning, weight lifting little dynamo.  She's in fantastic shape and she's earned every little bit.  Once I crossed the finish line, I made my way up to the stands and kept my eyes peeled for her so I could record her crossing the finish line.  She blew past about 6 people in the last 30 feet of the race!!  We then watched until the first female and male marathon finishers crossed.  It was actually emotional watching people cross because this race is on Father's Day every year and there's a lot of kids running with their fathers and they cross the line holding hands, arms in the air.  What a fantastic moment for the Dad and an awesome memory for the child.  We walked out to the shuttle buses and again, the lines were crazy so we actually walked back out to the car again!  Add another 3 kms!  Great day though.

Guide Runner & Blind Runner --and I could only keep up with them for the first few km's.