Around the Bay: report on the run

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The 112th Annual Around The Bay 30km Race

6:45am
Boarding the school bus at the Pickering Recreation Center. I was glad to see two things when I boarded the bus. 1. There was a bathroom on the bus, 2. That the bus was almost full to capacity and that everyone made it on time and without incident (sometimes runners can be a little scatter brained that early in the morning).
7:03am
Off we went to Hamilton. The chatter on the bus was pretty intense for so early in the morning, I guess everyone was just excited to be up and ready to race. It was nice to catch up with some runners that I hadn't seen in a while. It was good to see that even though people have their own lives and own schedules, that we could all come together on one day and take part in an event like this one.
approx. 8:15am
We arrive in Hamilton and find the same parking lot that we have parked in the past few years. Some racers take off out of the bus to survey the surroundings, others (like me) take a more relaxed approach, slowly acclimating and deciding what to wear for the race.
9:00am
Switch between tights and shorts a couple of times and now I am finally ready to make the walk over to Copp's and get ready for the race to begin. I have gone to the bathroom twice since we arrived. I am hydrated, I have all my gels ready. Just have to warm up, stretch, tie my shoes and line up to race.
9:15
Warm up run completed. Make my way over to the start line. I am looking for Dan, my pace bunny. I hear a "There's Ken!" I have found Chuck and his family, they are looking for the rest of the RiffRaff. He soon meets up with Miriam and Rob.

The Race
9:30
I am squeezed into what seems like a couple of hundred people in the space of 3 parking spots. I guess it wasn't a great idea for the organizers to have people come to the start line from the head-on direction, as everyone was just piling into the front ranks as soon as they could. There were a lot of people near the front of the pack who were clearly (from the way they were over-dressed and over-geared) going to be over the 3 hour mark for the 30km. I was so tightly packed in that I had to ask the person next to me to turn sideways so that I could double lace my shoes. As I was crouched down to tie my shoes, someone thought that I was an open space and ended up almost standing on top of me. I Couldn't hear the starter talking, the next thing I heard was the siren marking the start, and off we went.
Started my watch okay, now it was time to make my way over to the pace bunny for 2:15 and lock into that group. I then found three Team RF guys running together, but they ended up taking off like rabbits. The three of them must have done a sub 4, 1st km. Yikes! I actually found two 2:15 pace bunnies, not sure why that was. Danny Cross from Whitby was my choice for pace bunny, especially since the other Rabbit was soon ahead of us by about 50 yards before the 2 km mark.

The weather was perfect for the race. It was only in a few exposed sections that you could feel the wind on our faces. The first 8km was just a blur. The cheering crowd was pretty consistent throughout the race and it was great to see the locals out cheering instead of grumbling about it. The Older ladies of "Tin Pan Alley" always make me smile when I pass them down on Beach Blvd. My pace bunny kept us at a consistent 4:25 pace each km, the only drawback was that everytime he saw that a km marker (large banners on the right side of the road) was coming up, he would pick up the pace for the last 100m so that we would be well below the needed lap time.

The time clocks came up fairly quickly as well. The 10 km relay station and timing mat was right on the 10km mark, where as the following 2 stations vs mats were a bit more spread out. I went thru the 10km mat at just under 44:30. The next clock would be just before the bridge at 15km. The Relay station and spectator crowd at this point was fantastic, it really pumped me up and kept me moving. I went through the half way clock at 1:07, so I felt like I was in perfect pace and position to succeed. The next marker was the funny one for the race. Our lap time for the 16th km was 4:10?, we had sped up by 20 seconds with no real change in our tempo. The 17th km showed me where I had gotten my energy burst from, my lap time there was 4:58. It was at this point that my pace bunny almost suffered a breakdown. For the next km, we had a discussion with the 10 or so people around us about how off the markers were. This was serious to some of these guys. I on the other hand, stuck to my garmin and tried to keep up with them.

The Hills came soon enough. Every year you hear the same talk about the "Valley Inn" Hill. But nobody really talks about the 5 km stretch of rolling agony that is along Northshore Blvd. I really enjoyed this part of the race. The locals really come out to support the runners on this stretch. There were even a couple of home made aid stations giving out sliced fruit and dixie cups of water. This is what makes for a great running experience. The hills rolled by, I high-fived Stan the Man, and paced myself to get up the big hill.

After cresting the hill, I grabbed some water at the aid station, it was at this point that I finally caught up to one of the three Team Running Free guys that I had started with. He and I had both faded pretty badly on the uphill and it was just a matter of holding on for the last 4 km. Looking at my watch and pace band, I knew that it was going to be tight in finishing.

The best thing about the last three km of the Around the bay race is that it is a straight, slightly downhill road to the finish. You can see Copps coliseum from at least 2 km away. I could also see my 2:15 pace bunny slowly pulling away from me. Time to bear down and push to the finish.

The finish line this year was on center ice of Copps coliseum. This meant that we would be running down a ramp and into a somewhat darkened environment for the final push. The first thing that surprised me was that we had to run to the other end of Copp's in order to get to the entrance. This didn't seem far this morning when I walked it, but it felt like ages to get there now. I turned the corner okay, sprinted down the ramp, looked for footing in the dark, was surprised by the Ramp that you had to go up. The last thing I remember was craning my eyes to find the time clock. I had missed my goal time by 20 seconds, I was a little disappointed but not upset about it. It was a great finish and I can't wait until next year.

The refreshments afterwards were a little tight, apparently I was one of the lucky ones because I received an assortment of food as well as a spoon to eat it with. Where was the free beer as in year's past??? All in all the race was a success, the organizers did a great job in accommodating such a huge number of participants. Unfortunately, due to logistical errors, they ran out of food, water and finisher's medals. They have issued apologies and the promise to make the event even better next year.