I wanted to do well in this one. It is my fourth time running it, so I know the course and know what to expect. So a lot of the anxiety of "Is there ANOTHER big hill coming?" is somewhat eliminated. And I was looking forward because many of my Spartan running friends were running it too. Even a bigger bonus - we were planning our own post race party afterwards at the bars downtown.
To start - the weather was PERFECT! around 50 degrees and little wind. As usual there was huge porta potty lines. They never have enough, but I can't fault them for it. The race is to raise money for the local YMCA and it has the cheapest entry fee around. Oktoberfest is this weekend too, so there are tons of porta potties scattered around for parade goers. I thought I had spotted some with no line. I should have known better. My group and I high tailed it over there only to find they were locked. Thankfully the guy took pity on us and unlocked to for us. I am guessing he regretted it because as soon as other runners saw us standing there, they flocked over too. Needless to say we gave him a HUGE thank you.
On to the start. It is always hard to hear at this race. Not big enough speakers. We realized they were singing the National Anthem about half way through and didn't know the gun had gone off until the people in front of us started moving forward. Not a huge deal. It is part of what makes it Maple Leaf.
The funny (in a weird, not ha ha kind of way) is that although you run down the Oktoberfest parade route and there are tons of people sitting out, reserving their spot, waiting for the parade to begin - they rarely cheer you on. We are a nuisance or something to endure before the parade starts. It is kind of how I felt as a child as I had to sit through Hee Haw and Wild Kingdom before Disney's Wonderful World of Magic. This year we started to count how many people, who were not race volunteers, cheered for us. We were pretty close to finishing the 2nd mile (and almost of the parade route) when we got our first cheer. We got more cheers off the parade route then on. On the way back we you have to watch out for parade watchers crossing in front of you.
So, the race felt good. I tried taking a Gu Octane before the race. As a result I was a little worried about my stomach and digestive system since it did not seem to happy as we were waiting for the start. Speaking of waiting for the start - here are some pics:
We are a eager looking group aren't we? The race felt good. As I said the weather was perfect and the hills that are in the course are gradual. The one thing they do wrong every year is to have the gu at the half way point after the water. It needs to be reversed. Very few people can get gu down without water, plus it is supposed to be taken with water.
Looking back at my splits, I got faster each mile. My overall pace was 8:35 which meant I finished with a 1:52:31. I wanted to be under 1:53 since the last two time I have run it, that is the time I got. Little did I realize that is my second best half time ever. My best was 1:51. So, I am very happy with that and it felt good too!
All in all a GREAT race on a BEAUTIFUL day with FANTASTIC friends. A post race celebration seemed more than appropriate!
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