It’s true what they say about timekeeping in the mountains. There’s time and there’s Canmore time.
With registration for the Terry Fox Run starting at 8.00am I wandered over to the registration point, and no-one was there.
People wanting to register came and went. At 8:20am someone who looked vaguely like they were part of the organising team arrived, but they didn’t do registration either.
To cut a boring story short I ended up helping to set things up until I could get registered, then wandered off home for some breakfast.
10 minutes before the start there was the inevitable rush for the washrooms by a large portion of the female contingent waiting to run. Well it was a nippy morning...
Everyone then casually walked to the start point and then we were off. Having never run in a group before, or even with a running partner this was all new to me.
I sort of buried myself halfway down the pack trying to remain inconspicuous (in my black running vest with a skeleton on it), very inconspicuous.
I started a bit too fast, with exercise induced asthma I find that it takes me approximately 3km to settle down. But the sun was shining, it was cool, the perfect temperature for running. And all too soon I was turning for home.
I guess I’d been passed by about a dozen people (3 on bikes) along the entire route. But as the finish line came into view I put the pedal to the metal and found there was still some gas in the tank.
Crossing the finish line my husband kindly pointed out that he been waiting there for 16 minutes and hadn’t seen the front runners come in... speedy gits!
But I did it, and knocked 8 minutes off my 10km time. Must have been the power of the chase.
It was fun, the training was worth it, and would I do it again? You betcha!
