When I ran the race last year, I absolutely loved the course enough to do it again this year. Last year, the weather was hot and I didn’t run my best time, so I definitely wanted to come back this year to try to PR and redeem myself.
I arrived in Vancouver on Saturday and went straight from the ferry to the Expo. The Expo was great! I think it was organized very well and I was able to pick up my race package without having to wait in line too long. There were a lot of great vendors and that’s where I got to renew my Canadian Running Magazine subscription at a great price.
After I left the Expo, I met up with my friend Kara and we went out for Pasta. I absolutely LOVE the thought of eating a lot of pasta the night before a race. I’m a huge fan of carbs and I’m happy to admit it. 🙂
I woke up feeling refreshed after a good night’s sleep and had no problem getting up early on race day. In fact, every time I race, I’m thrilled to be getting up as early as necessary to get to the start line on time. As soon as I got up, I ate 2 bananas and downed an energy drink.
Even though it was raining, I still opted for the Public Myth racer back tank and workout shorts. I knew that if I wore more clothes to the race, then I would be feeling overheated by around 25km. I also made sure that my Garmin was charged and ready to go at the race.
Waiting for the race to start was a little bit cold and wet, but I was too excited to care about the weather. Also, the volunteers and the other runners made the waiting so much more enjoyable. The crowd was AWESOME! 🙂
I just stood there, patiently waiting, knowing that I trusted my training and that the weather is not something that I have any control over. I was ready for anything.
I decided to run a conservative first half. The first 5k in felt great and easy and the next thing I knew, I was already going up the 9km-10km hill and that felt great.
Then, I settled into a comfortable pace and crossed the halfway point in 1:36:52. It was definitely faster than I used to be able to do a half marathon two years ago. In fact, two years ago, I would be happy to finish a half marathon in under 1:40.
I decided to slow it down just a little bit because although sub 1:37 half didn’t feel fast, I was questioning whether I actually did my first half too fast.
Therefore, for the next 9k, I was VERY conservative and crossed the 30k mark in 2:22:31. In training, the longest run I’ve done was 30km.
Above: Kara tried to take a photo of me at around the 30km mark, but I was too fast (just kidding…haha), so she only got me from the back. I’m really trying to catch that guy in front of me. 🙂
The next 12km were going to be a bit more challenging, but I held a really great pace until 40km. With only 2.2km left, out of nowhere, this wall, that marathon runners talk about, appeared right in front of me and I hit it.
Despite that, when I looked at my Garmin, I was still on pace for a personal best so I kept going, although a little slower than I would have liked.
Then, with only 1km left to go, there was a big crowd of spectators on both sides of the street heading towards the finish line.
Then, as I kept going, I heard the finish line announcer in the distance and I knew it was getting closer and closer. With only 200m left before the finish line, I picked it up as much as I could.
I crossed the finish line in 3:23:10, which is a 2+ minute personal best for me. My average pace was 4:49 per km (or 7:45 per mile for my American friends). I finished 4th/137 in my age group and 56th/2117 women. Overall, I was 345th/4933.
You can check the rest of the results here.
I never would have thought that I would be running a marathon at a faster pace than when I did a 10k about 3.5 years ago (at that time, my 10k time was over 1 hour). I strive for improvement. Always.
I was pleased with my performance this year, but I’m already looking forward to new personal bests.
Big congratulations to Berhanu Mekonnen for being the first man across the finish line and Kimberley Doerksen for winning the women’s side!
Overall, I really enjoyed the race. It was well-organized and a lot of fun. The volunteers and spectators were awesome. I definitely want to come back and do it again next year. 🙂