I, on the other hand, will spend the majority of my day bidding farewell to the beach and high in the air on my way home. Hopefully my bloggy friends will have some recaps or updates up by the time I land in Toronto for my stop over ;).
I have run this event every year since I started running. In 2010, I registered for it as my very first 5k (though Mothers Day Run 2 weeks earlier ended up being that) I did set a new PR at Calgary and earned the medal that started my medalwhoredom.
In 2011, I met Coach Jenny Hadfield
and ran the 10k to an astonishingly fast time (for me) of 1:00:02...it would take me two more years to best that PR!
2012 - I ran the 10k again to try to beat my 2012 time and, sadly, came in 25 seconds later than the previous year...but still loved this race with all of my heart! This was the first year where it was staged out of the Stampede Grounds. That grandstand finish was spectacular!
In 2013 the race was run on my daughter's actual birthdays. Perhaps it was knowing I needed to rush home after to get a party ready, but I had my speedy shoes on and redemption was mine! Once again, I ran the 10k and this time, had a bloggy friend along for the ride. Nicole and I raced that sucker with everything we had and both ended with sub 1-hr PRs in the process! Perhaps even more astonishing was that Nicole was pregnant with her son at the time (though I didn't know that until much later)
This year, I had every intention of running the full marathon to celebrate the 50th year. I was ready to register when I got the invitation for my cousin's destination wedding and discovered the group rate meant I would be on an airplane today. I tried to shift our arrival and departure times but the cost of the vacation would have gone up by a couple thousand dollars (SERIOUSLY!!!). So, family won this time. Honestly - family wins every time. And, as it turns out, I wouldn't have been running it anyway, since I am laid up with this stupid stress fracture!
But Nikki IS trying to convince me to do the full with her next year. I guess we'll see how I do at my comeback once I can finally run again. Even if I don't do the full - I know that I will run one of the events because THIS is my hometown race and I wouldn't miss it again for all the world!
To everyone running today - enjoy every moment! You are running a historic race and they have done so much to make it incredibly special! When they put those huge, shiny medals over your head in front of the grandstand full of cheering people - you are going to feel like you have just won the race! Then you can go - eat, drink and be merry. Celebrate our city. Celebrate your PRs and ring that gong at the finish line. Celebrate your struggles. Celebrate YOU! Not everyone can walk or run a race - you are a hero to many and you don't even know it!
I wish I were there, but I want you all to run a little bit harder for me so I can live vicariously when I read all of the marvelous blog recaps that are sure to come!