The 2018 VIRA Island Race Series Comox Valley RV Half Marathon will be taking place on March 18th. It’s the longest race of the series.
The Comox Valley RV Half Marathon is a beautiful, rural out and back course with stunning views of Mt. Washington, Forbidden Pleateau and Tsolum and Puntledge Rivers.
Runners of all levels are welcome to come out. Early start is available for those who plan to take longer than 2.5 hours to complete the race.
If you have never ran a half marathon before, then you should do this. This race is ideal for first-time half marathoners who are looking for a non-intimidating environment as well a seasoned runners who are shooting for a personal best.
This is a great race. If I remember correctly, I’ve run this race three times now. Each time was a completely different experience for me.
However, I’m proud to say that in 2015, I ran my half marathon personal best, which was 1:28:15, on this course. That was a great year.
That was a great day. The year I ran a Half Marathon PB.
I remember being so pleasantly surprised by my result. It was a great experience because I felt true joy in my heart. This joy came from being able to see the rewards of my extremely hard work that I’ve been putting into running.
In 2014, I also had a decent result on this course. My time was 1:31:34. In 2016, after a series of unfortunate events plagued my life, I ran it in 1:46. Then I didn’t run in 2017 because I could not do the distance, unfortunately. I was very sad to miss it in 2017.
This year, I’m interested to see what I can do on this course. The results I got during my recent half marathon were definitely promising and gave me hope. However, I believe that this is still too early for a shot at a personal best. One day.
The day I break 1:25 in a half marathon will be a great day. I don’t expect it to happen next week though.
What the course is like:
From what I remember, there are no significant elevation gains in this race. Additionally, I don’t recall there being any super challenging nor overwhelming hill climbs. There are a few small rolling hills but nothing terrible.
This course is not too turny, which I like. However, there are enough corners where you will need to run the tangents. Here is a great article in Competitor Magazine about running the tangents.
In a half marathon, it’s very important that you follow the line that’s closest to the corner to avoid running a longer distance than you need to. I once added over 2km to my half marathon because I didn’t run my corners properly.
As we all know, 21km is already long enough, so why add more distance?
Leading up to the turnaround there is a very small elevation gain and primarily some rolling hills. If you run the first 7k conservatively, you should not notice it that much.
Once you reach the 7k mark, you can speed up a little bit but keep in mind that you will be forced to slow down at the turnaround point.
After the turnaround, it turns into a gradual net downhill course. Every time I’ve reached the turnaround point, with the exception of the 2016 race (where I walked at least 5k after the turnaround), I felt great.
However, what happened to me in 2016 has nothing to do with the race nor the course, it was all me and the circumstances surrounding my situation at that time.
If you didn’t run the first 14km too fast, the last 7km should not feel too hard. When I ran my fastest half ever, I was running sub 4 min kms for at least 3 of the last 7k.
Other things to consider:
*Set a realistic goal for this race because it is long. It’s still relatively early in the year, but if you’ve been training consistently over the past few months, you should get good results. This will be a good test of your fitness, especially if you are shooting for a later spring marathon.
*Don’t start too fast. If the person you are trying to catch is in front of you-let them be. After all, you have 21.1km to catch up to whoever it is that you are trying to beat. Chances are, they will start too fast and when you reach that magic turnaround point-you will pass them.
*The turnaround point is your clue to speed up a bit. However, I would wait until you get to the 16k mark (Dove Creek Road) before speeding up significantly.
*You can run a negative split on this course. This is how I got my PB in 2015. If I got a PB here before, trust me, so can you!
*A half marathon on average allows you to burn over 1000 calories. This means that if you eat 2 or 3 pieces of pizza after the race (depending on their size, crust, toppings and other factors), you will not blow your caloric budget for the day. 🙂
Just for fun:
What do you think my time will be this year? I personally have no idea, but I need a number to keep in my head, just for fun!
For every person who takes a guess on this one (in the comments that I can see), I will donate $1 to the Victoria Hospitals Foundation (up to $100). Your guess must be submitted before the race on March 18, 2018.
Hope to see you there!