Calgary Burnco Marathon

I finished! And not only did I finish, I smoked it. Unofficial time is something under 4:17. Right now I'm pooped, and I have blisters on my blisters. I started way back, near the 4:30 pace bunny, but after I got through all the traffic near the beginning, I was on my own.

I loved running down 8th Avenue. Some early risers, and a few partyers still going, cheered us. It seemed like no time at all that we were at the Stampede grounds, and there were tons of early risers cheering us on. At the south end of the grounds was a huge band, one of the many acts that were placed along the route. My favs were the band, the belly dancers at 17 km, and the woodwind group at 28 km.

After we left the Stampede we trundled through Ramsay and Inglewood, then across the river to the zoo. I was looking for animals, but all I saw were a dozen flamingoes and a lone tiger. Then we got directed to some service backroad which took us away from the animals and under Memorial Drive. After that, through Bridgeland, and down to Memorial Drive for the nittygritty.

Most of the run went really well. For some reason the loop around Bowness Park was hard, but after that, it got better again.

It was the last 4 km that were the toughest. Past the 38 km marker was were I was starting to wonder what the heck I'd gotten myself into. Then waiting for the 39 km marker to appear was hard. But I must have missed it, cuz the next one I got to was 40, so that was actually kinda cool.

My last rest walk was at about half a kilometre from the finish, so I didn't take it. And then I was running this gauntlet of all these cheering people. At that point I was pretty much alone on the course, with other runners way ahead or way behind, so they were all cheering for ME! That was kind of emotional.

The last 100 m, I saw that clock sitting at 4:16 and change, so I suddenly put everything I had into it and sprinted to the end. Got a lot of comments about my strong finish.

Once an official took the timing chip off my shoe, that was when my legs stopped cooperating. I hobbled out of the finish area, found some water and banana, and sat on the grass for awhile. Then I hobbled off to my car and drove home. Wish I would have parked a lot closer.

Today's run:
Distance: 40.17 km. Time: 3:51:20. Average speed: 10.4 kph.
Rest distance: 2.68 km. Rest time: 25:00.
Total distance: 42.85 km. Total time: 4:14:20.

My time includes wandering around in a daze for a few minutes after crossing the finish line, and doesn't include three or four potty breaks.

Weather: Sunny and 10C to start, climbing to 17C at the end.

This is the 41st running of the Calgary marathon, and it's billed as Canada's longest running marathon.