Runway Run Recap

This morning was the Fly PEI Runway Run 5k. Also this morning? The arrival of Andrea the Storm. It was raining pretty heavily when I woke up, but it wasn't too windy. I packed a change of clothes, and we all piled into the truck.

We were the first ones to arrive. Which is pretty typical for me. If I'm not at least 10 minutes early, I feel like I'm late. I'd rather leave early and arrive early than leave on time and have something happen (get lost) on the way and arrive late. It helps keep my pre-race anxiety a bit lower.

We got there, found the hangar, got my race kit, and then Little Fox found some kid's stuff at the back of the hangar. They had toy planes, Frisbees, colouring, etc. I found the bathroom. We milled around for a bit, I went to the bathroom again... and then went again! The race was on a RUNWAY, no where to hide out there if you have to pee! The race shirts are awesome. It's my favorite race shirt yet. I don't typically wear the shirt AT the race, since to me, I haven't earned it til I finish... however, this was basically a race in a hurricane, so I figured I earned it just by showing up! I pulled it on over my rain jacket, and ended up looking like a stuffed sausage, but, oh well!

The turn-out was amazing actually. WAY more people than I expected, which is great because the race was a fundraiser for Habitat for Humanity.

One thing I was surprised at was the number of people who kept talking while the race coordinator was discussing course safety. I mean, he's talking about med-evacs people... stop talking and listen! Not to mention that it was a bit rude... (stepping off soap-box now).

Finally, it was time to start. Everyone went outside, into the rain and wind, and off we went. It was WET. I splashed right though the first puddle, since I knew I'd be soaked by the end anyway! I wish it hadn't been quite so windy... I wanted to be able to look around (I love love love airports... have I said that already), but I knew if I looked up, the wind would blow the rain onto my glasses and then I'd be running blind. So, head down and run. The race was an "out and back", obviously, since it was a runway.

My calves and shins cramped up quite badly during this race. I don't usually have problems with muscles cramping, but it was cold, and my sneakers were soaked and HEAVY. My goal was to not stop during this race (I have yet to finish a race without a walk break, to my frustration), but I had to stop I think 4 times to stretch my legs.  There was a water station at the 2.5k turn-around, but I had enough rain in my mouth and nose to keep me going! By this time, my sneakers were like bricks. I picked 2 girls in front of me, and used them as pacers. When there was just over 1k left, I kicked it up a notch, and pulled ahead. I think one of the girls was coaching the other, and she was super supportive and encouraging! Nice job, pink-jacket-girls! (You can see them behind me in the photo below)

I was hoping for a sub-30 minute finish. As I turned off of the runway and toward the hangar, I couldn't see the numbers on the clock because of the rain drops on my glasses and on the plastic covering the clock... as I got closer, I saw that it said 28:20-ish, and I finished in 28:40.

Photo courtesy of Janet Norman-Bain, who comes to almost all of the races and takes thousands of photos!

This one was taken by Red Fox. Thanks for standing in the rain for me!

After the race, they had Tim's coffee and muffins! Awesome! I really needed a coffee (I never drink coffee before a race... even without it I had to pee 3 times before this mornings race!) and it was nice to have something warm on a day like today! They said that over $5000 dollars was raised for Habitat for Humanity! I'm so glad I brought a change of clothes... I was SOAKED. When I got home, I had to wring out my race shirt before hanging it to dry!

On the way home, we stopped at the Island Preserve Company, where they make and sell teas, jams, jellies, spice mixes and all kinds of delicious things. They have a restaurant, so we had lunch there. I had the fish chowder (Red Fox doesn't like it, so I never get to make it at home), and we split an order of their tea/scones/jams/cheese. Little Fox had a pb&j, and Red Fox had a blt. It was a really nice way to relax and get warmed up after a chilly race!