Running for L'Arche in March

[Mar 22 2014]

On March 22 I ran my 4th Half-Marathon. It was the annual Run for L'Arche, along the Bow River from downtown Calgary to Bowness and back. Even though I ran a respectable 1h37min (compared to 1h40min in this same race last year), it was the first time I ran a race where I didn't get faster, which was a bit depressing. It was also pretty cold and windy outside, which was a bit freezing.

I went out of the gates at the pace I raced my previous Half, figuring that I might as well go for broke, even though it was only the first race of the season. I maintained the pace for the outbound leg to Bowness, but then I turned around and realized I'd had a pretty stiff wind at my back all the way, and there was no way I was going to keep it together for another 40+ minutes. Each km was a little slower than the last, except the final 500m, where I managed a pretty impressive sprint to the finish. My fans were snuggled up warm at home, but they called me on my headset at about the 14km mark and cheered me on, which was very nice. There were some people dressed as superheroes who also cheered me along the way. Or maybe they were real superheroes. Now I'm not sure.



My friend Troy was in the race, so I shivered and shook at the finish line until he came through. He and I are going to face off in a triathlon in June, and it appears I have a leg up for the running, but his history as an Australian life guard means that I will have my work cut out for me.



My sister-in-law Karla ran her first-ever Half Marathon. She had a great race. About 2 seconds after she crossed the finish line I chattered out, "Hey, how about we go inside and eat some pancakes?" There was a free pancake breakfast provided, which I think is one of the best things about this race. She said she wasn't too hungry for pancakes, but once she got a minute to collect herself, she couldn't resist.



If you don't have any Saturday breakfast plans next March, you should consider running this race. I can't promise sunny skies, but I can promise scrambled eggs.