The Calgary Half Marathon

Beautiful day for a run. I was at Mewata Armoury shortly after 6:00, and wandered around. Mostly pacing, probably due to a little nervousness, but I was no where near as nervous as I was last year. I managed one bathroom visit soon after I got there, and then the lineups grew exponentially as people began to arrive.

I eventually got into the start area and waited while the clocked ticked down to the start time. I kept looking around for friends who were running, but no sign of them. And at 7:00 the shotgun went off (an actual shotgun, by the way).

With over five thousand people running, it took a while for the traffic to thin out. I was almost at the Stampede grounds (at 3 km) before there was enough room to maneuver. Even then, the crowd would gather and dissipate off and on.

Once through the Stampede, we made our way to Ramsay, over to 12th Street, and through the zoo. They changed that route a little this year. Last year we went past the tiger cage, and then on to some service road in the bush. This year they lead us through the North American habitat, past cougars, and bears, and bison and mountain sheep and goats. The path was really narrow at times, and that got a few people complaining when some walkers got in the way. But it was rather nice to see the exhibits.

Down that service road (no avoiding it) and under Memorial Drive to the zoo parking area, and they had a water station on St. George's Avenue, at the top of the hill, where I met with Peter-Mark. He was running the half as well, having already done two marathons this year, the Vancouver and the Ottawa. Down the hill toward 4th Avenue, and at the corner of 4th and 12th Street was the half way point, where a guy with a stop watch was counting off the seconds. He was at 62 minutes and 40-some seconds as I passed him. Not bad for a split time.

After that, we were out of the hills, and it was down 1st Avenue, and then over to Memorial by way of Edmonton Trail. Memorial was straight running until the turn around point just past Crowchild.

I found my sweet spot after that, and did the hard push for the last couple of kilometres. Up onto the 14th Street bridge, and then onto 9th avenue and the finish line. I pushed really hard on the last couple of hundred metres. Lots of people cheering and all, it was great. I crossed when the clock was at about 2:01, which is a great time for me. I should see an official time later today.

And then I got my medal, and they cut off the chip, and that's when I saw Tru cheering from the sidelines. It meant a lot to see her, and that moment entirely made my day.

Today's run:
Distance: 19.72 km. Time: 1:47:33. Average speed: 11.0 kph.
Rest distance: 1.42 km. Rest time: 11:00
Total distance: 21.14 km. Total time: 1:58:33

Weather: Sunny and 16C to start, climbing to 19C about the time I crossed the finish.