My First Official Race Report! Island Girl - Toronto

WE DID IT!!

I have a great story to share about my first 5k race. And some pictures too!

We flew to Toronto on Friday night, and walked around our old neighbourhood. Stopped at Alexandros for take-out Greek food, and did about a 5k walk up Yonge Street and back down Bay Street about 11pm local time.

On Saturday morning we were up and on our way up the subway line to Queens Park at Bloor Street to pick up our race kits. Excitement was building as we checked out our loot bags and got our personalized race bibs:

For those of you that don't know, that's the shy friend who I convinced to take on this task with me.

We spent the rest of Saturday (de) hydrating and walking the city. My best estimate of our walk from Queen's Park to Yonge Street and then all the way down to Queens Quay puts it at about a 10km day. We did head to bed relatively early to prepare for our big day on Sunday.

We were up bright and early to catch the 7:30am ferry to Centre Island:

Poor Todd is taking the picture, so you can't see him!

There was a lot of spirit on the ferry, and teams dressed for the half marathon relay (or who were doing the half marathon together). We enjoyed the ride over and got off the boat ready to take on this challenge.

After getting situated with our running gear on, we were given lai's and our timing chips. I considered sending the timing chip on someone else's leg, but figured that was probably an illegal tactic at an official race.

Once we were ready it was time to join the crowd in the starting chute to do the ten minute warm-up routine:

The warm-up was a lot of fun, and went by pretty quickly. Almost too quickly. I'm sure there was a look of terror on my face as we waited for the 2 minute countdown to the start to end.

At this point, I was scoping out what individual I could surely beat to avoid last place in this race. There had to be one....

Before I could figure it out the gun went and it was time to run. My favorite picture is at the beginning of the race. We look like runners in this photo:

Granted we are running at the tail end of this thing, but nonetheless you can't dispute the fact that we look like we know what we are doing.

The first minute of the race was fast as everyone took off to prove to the spectators that they were all real athletes. I went a little faster than my usual slow pace and after about 90 seconds thought I should assess the situation to see how much I could slow down. When I turned my head to count the people behind me, it was a rude awakening to see that there was NO ONE there. Needless to say, I kept on running faster than my usual slow pace.

The race starts over a bridge that connects to the road on the island. So you run up one side of the bridge and down the other, around a pretty fountain and then away down the road. About three minutes in several ladies started to walk, and I finally got to move up from last place. I passed about five people during that first kilometer, and then started in on my steady pace for about three minutes.

After passing the 1k sign, Pretty Vegas came on and I picked up my speed again. I passed about four more people (including Michelle) and continued on my merry way. The first two kilometers of this race were the fastest kilometers I have ever run. 7:13 on the 1st and 7:37 on the second.

I made it to the 2.5k mark and the water station before goofing up. On most race reports I have read, the volunteers at the water station pass you a glass of water that you drink and toss as you continue running. I took my water and drank it, went to toss it and the next volunteer said "No, no - you have to put it in the garbage can over there."

So I had to backtrack about ten feet and cross the road to put my glass in the garbage.

I went back and continued on, and next thing I knew the guy was yelling at my again and Michelle was laughing at me. Apparently this was where you were supposed to turn around. So you were supposed to take the water, drink it while you made the turning loop, and then toss it in the garbage.

I'm pretty sure I lost at least a minute at the water station just screwing up where I was supposed to be going.

After that point, Michelle and I ran together for a few minutes, passing by several people who were quite a piece behind us. It was comforting to know that other people run as slow as I do, too!

We FINALLY reached the 3k mark and I was pretty sure I was never going to see 5k. My legs were sore, my ankles hurt, and I was thirsty from breathing through my mouth. That was all partly due to my lack of training for the last four weeks, due to my injury. Fortunately the ibuprofen and the physio had helped enough to dull the extreme pain that I had in the beginning.

Michelle and I played cat and mouse through the fourth kilometer and then came up with a plan of attack for the end of the race. We were going to pace ourselves and take our good old time during the first half of the last kilometer, and then when we reached the fountain we would pull out all the stops and look mighty fine crossing the finish line.

So we jogged along for what seemed like forever, passing Chelsea Beach, finally took the left turn and headed for the fountain. This time the fountain seemed more annoying than pretty, since it was an obstacle that I had to run AROUND in order to get to the finish line. We had our finish line music all set, and I chose Holding Out for a Hero for the end of my race.

We started up the bridge and as we came over the top and down the other side, the cheering started from the spectators and half marathoners who were waiting to start their races. We started around the turn towards the finish line and the crowd was really supportive:

We kept pulling for the finish line, and together we crossed the finish line with a chip time of 41:20. This was a personal record for both of us!!! (Yes, it was our first time officially running 5k).

And great news! Michelle and I tied for first place in the Atlantic Canadian division of the race.

After we walked off the course, we were given medals and trophies:

These great awards were provide by our husbands. There were many envious women on the Toronto Islands after that race, let me tell you!

And the glamour shot:

All in all, it was a great event and we were really proud of ourselves for accomplishing out goal. As soon as she was done, Michelle suggested that we should definitely do the Run for Wine in Wolfville in November. Guess the full 5k didn't scare her away from running!