PEI Marathon Weekend

We had an awesome weekend!

It started on Saturday with the Spud Run. It's a free event for kids, and they run 1 or 2 laps around the track at UPEI. They get free t-shirts and a treat-bag, and this year they added ribbons, which was an awesome addition. Little Fox had a great time!

After we got home last night (after spending all afternoon with Red Fox's family), I sat down to make my race-prep list. I like having things all gathered up in one place so that in the morning, I can just grab it and go. And I list EVERYTHING. As if I'd really forget to get my underwear, right? So as I was list-making, so many things popped into my head:

Pants - capris with blue dots on leg

Undies

Shirt - "Long or short sleeves? Check the weather? OMG what time does the race even start? *google* ok, 9 am. 12-14 degrees. Short sleeves."

Sleeves

Throw away sweater

Bra

Socks

headband - "crap... where did I put that? ok, think back... was going to wear it on my last run, but it rained so I took it off and wore a hat... downstairs, then..." (finally found it UNDER the bench)

Garmin - "thank God I plugged that in"

Sneakers

Race bib - OMG there's no pins. GET PINS

Next on the list was morning schedule. Race starts at 9, be there by 8 to find a parking spot, oh crap, there are road closures, where can I park? Where can I drive? 

This morning we left at 7, and stopped at Tim's. I got a bagel (which I ate maybe half of), and then got some gas. We let Red Fox at a friends place cause he was out last night with friends and stayed the night there. Red Fox and Little Fox had some breakfast at Cora's before the race started. 

I had 2 goal finish times: I REALLY wanted to finish in under an hour, and my almost-out-of-reach goal was 55 minutes. 

At the starting line, I found the pacer I wanted to follow. The 0:55 pace bunny. I told her I didn't think I'd be able to keep up with her, but I wanted to keep her in my sights. She was doing a continuous run, not 10:1 (run 10 minutes, walk 1 minute) and I knew I couldn't keep up a 5:30 pace for that long. I set my Garmin's virtual pacer to 5:45. The race started, and I stuck with the pace bunny for the first 3 km, and then took a walk break. I really wanted to finish in under an hour, so I only allowed myself to walk long enough to take 10 breaths. I could see the pace bunny ahead of me, and I didn't want to get too far behind so now and then I'd pick up the pace a bit to catch up, and then I'd allow myself to drift back a bit again. I think the 8th km was the hardest for me. 

There weren't as many spectators along the route as I expected. MAYBE 10 per km. There were a lot of people at the finish line, though!

Finally, I saw the finish line! I knew I'd finished in under an hour, but I was behind the pace bunny. I forgot to even look at the clock! But the Atlantic Chip page shows:

Place    Bib #       Name              City/Town                  Age group Result     Age Group   Gun Time   Chip Time     Avg. Pace

120        2276        Erin Carr         French River    PE      18/74                          F3039              56:45           55:37             5:34 

A chip time of 55:37! 120th over all, and 18th in my age group. I'm super happy with that.

No photos yet, cause Red Fox missed my big finish! But when  finish line photos are posted online, I'll post mine here. :) I saw the 55 minute pacer int eh finisher's area, and she grinned when she saw me, and congratulated me. :) I told her I stayed as close as I could, and always had her in my sight. I made sure to thank her... I didn't realize she had to carry that pace bunny sign the whole time!

After my race, I went to change, and then headed back to the finish line to watch Heather from http://girlgoesrunning.blogspot.ca/ finish her full marathon. I got some photos of both her and her husband, but I'll let them share them if they choose to! I wasn't sure if Matt was running, but Courteney said he was. I had no idea what he looked like, so I just took photos of every man wearing a marathon bib until I saw someone that looked familiar. LOL Then I watched for the bright yellow socks, and started clicking away. We finally met in person in the finisher’s chute, so we got a photo. Matt took the picture, and it's a little out of focus, but the man just ran a freaking marathon, so I was impressed that he could even hold the camera! I think they both did incredibly well, and I’m looking forward to Heather’s race recap!

I found watching at the finish line to be really emotional! I saw an entire family line up to high five the mom as she finished her half marathon. Spectators jumped and screamed for people as they ran by, especially as the marathoners started to trickle in. A daughter-and-father team grabbed hands to run across the finish line together. I saw people who were REALLY struggling, but they did it! 

Thank you to all the volunteers and organizers! Another great race weekend.