Last Saturday, I ventured over to Niagara-on-the-Lake. This was the day of the Niagara Ultra. I had not registered for the run but I felt that I had to be there.
I was really supposed to be somewhere else that weekend. I was supposed to be at Mohican volunteering and pacing Fred. I didn't end up there because of a scheduling conflict at work. This meant that I had to work the entire week and could not make the drive down to Ohio like I wanted to.
At the beginning of the week, I got a call from Bernadette - a runner who likes to get out to a lot of the road races. She was looking for a ride to the race. After she did some digging around, she could not find a ride so I made arrangements to meet up with her in the morning. I originally wanted to take my bike and marshal the course. That did not happen because the forecast called for heavy rain. I decided instead to pack my running gear and some cash in case I wanted to race.
Saturday morning I woke up to my alarm. I also woke up to Bernadette's wake up call. After getting ready and packing the car, I drove out to meet Bernadette and hit the road. We took the toll road into Hamilton. I swear I do not recall seeing a single car on that entire stretch but then again, I was still trying to wake up. Bernadette talked and talked and talked for about two-thirds of the entire trip on the way to Niagara-on-the-Lake.
We arrived shortly before 6h00 and I promptly parked the car. I greeted Henri and told him I had no idea whether or not I wanted to run. On the way to the venue, we encountered rain on and off during the drive. It would not have made it a fun day, especially with an injury. Henri remedied that by assigning me to the boards where I would be in charge of handing out the timing chips to the runners prior to the start of the races. Runners were asking me why I wasn't running and I didn't know when I would get tired explaining my circumstances but I was mindful all the same. As I went through the motions, I finally convinced myself to stay on the sidelines for the day and save myself. I was so glad I did...
After all the races started - the 50K, marathon, half-marathon, and 10K - I took some time to unwind for an hour before the runners started coming in. The rain also started coming down. I worked alongside Jennifer, who was out of running for a few weeks due to a fractured pelvis, and caught up with her for a bit. When the runners started coming in, we got to work greeting the runners and sorting out the timing chips and getting them on the board. I did this for a couple hours before the community hall started getting really crowded and I had to leave for some air. Outside, standing under shelter, I did as much as I could outdoors and started talking to another injured runner who also did not run. The standing joke of the evening was that the Ontario Ultra Series needed to have a disabled list.
Spying Howard's robe on the lawnchair getting wet, I remarked to the others that we needed a flagpole. I had those old camp movies and Revenge of the Nerds pranks in mind where that robe was concerned... hehe :) Of course, we are not sure what would be worst - hanging underwear, or hanging Howie's robe! Oh well... I have all summer to contemplate how to pull off that prank!
As the finishers came in, so did the stories. Dirty Girl Diane came into the finish after her unofficial 50K tourist jaunt that started at 4h30 and included stops at Tim Horton's for breakfast, and stops for photos at various tourist sites along the way. She came in proud of the fact that she "beat" Laurie McGrath! Laurie came in shortly after and Diane bragged to Laurie about "beating" her. You see, in Dirty Girl's world, she is the champion. I was shocked to see Stephan come in ahead of not only Rick, but Ron Gehl. He was really motoring it! "Stephan! You beat Rick!" Stephan's reply? "No... I beat Ron!" Rick came in shortly after. He proclaimed that he was whooped and that gunning for PBs will tear anyone apart. Kinga came in afterwards. She also beat Ron! Stephan was really excited because she was also second place in her age category. That meant that they would be gettine a bottle of wine with their dinner that night. Ron and Cameron came in side-by-side until Ron sped up and picked him off at the mat. Ron later explained to me that he was hypothermic due to the cool and wet conditions.
I hung with the runners, and we all shared laughs before I went to my car to get my water bottle filled up. Howard has been hurting for quite awhile and Rick and I decided that it would be best for me to jog out there to meet him since the rain did stop. I wouldn't have to go fast at all but at least I would keep moving. After getting distracted and backtracking several times, I finally made the jog out onto the path. I cheered on runners as they were coming into the finish for their respective races. Just before the one mile marker, I spotted Howard and started running back with him. He managed to catch a second wind when he realised that he would be able to break seven hours for the 50K. We jogged in together smoothly and he crossed the finish line.
Post race, we all hung around outside chatting and telling war stories. I knew that I would be hanging around for a long time because Bernadette was still out there on the course and her version of running is actually a walk pace that is not very quick. There were no arrangements made for her to get a ride back to the city so I did not want to leave her in a lurch.
Joe Cleary is absolutely amazing! I learned that day that Joe had a cyst removed from his back the day before the race. Not only did he show up - bandages and all - he mainly walked the entire 50K and had a great finish to boot! Way to go!
Bernadette finally came in as Diane and I were putting away a few stuff. She wanted to get in the car right away but I made her change beforehand. After wrapping up and saying goodbye to Henri, Diane, and others, we hit the road.
Before hitting the highway, I had the need to stop off for some icecream. I do this every year I show up for the Niagara Ultra and I have never broken the tradition. We hung aroud the icecream shop and visited the neighbouring Ginseng shop for a bit.
On the way back into the city, we stopped off in Oakville's Organic Garage as she has never been to that store and wanted to check it out. Now, we are both healthfood store snobs and we often recommend different products to each other. This time was no different. We even ended up splitting some of our purchases with each other. I'll tell you - kale is definitely a great leafy vegetable.
I dropped Bernadette off at the subway so that she could take the subway for the rest of the way home. After dropping her off, I made my way back to Kula for a couple hours before heading home.
Next race... Creemore Vertical Challenge 50K. I definitely feel ready for this one...
I was really supposed to be somewhere else that weekend. I was supposed to be at Mohican volunteering and pacing Fred. I didn't end up there because of a scheduling conflict at work. This meant that I had to work the entire week and could not make the drive down to Ohio like I wanted to.
At the beginning of the week, I got a call from Bernadette - a runner who likes to get out to a lot of the road races. She was looking for a ride to the race. After she did some digging around, she could not find a ride so I made arrangements to meet up with her in the morning. I originally wanted to take my bike and marshal the course. That did not happen because the forecast called for heavy rain. I decided instead to pack my running gear and some cash in case I wanted to race.
Saturday morning I woke up to my alarm. I also woke up to Bernadette's wake up call. After getting ready and packing the car, I drove out to meet Bernadette and hit the road. We took the toll road into Hamilton. I swear I do not recall seeing a single car on that entire stretch but then again, I was still trying to wake up. Bernadette talked and talked and talked for about two-thirds of the entire trip on the way to Niagara-on-the-Lake.
We arrived shortly before 6h00 and I promptly parked the car. I greeted Henri and told him I had no idea whether or not I wanted to run. On the way to the venue, we encountered rain on and off during the drive. It would not have made it a fun day, especially with an injury. Henri remedied that by assigning me to the boards where I would be in charge of handing out the timing chips to the runners prior to the start of the races. Runners were asking me why I wasn't running and I didn't know when I would get tired explaining my circumstances but I was mindful all the same. As I went through the motions, I finally convinced myself to stay on the sidelines for the day and save myself. I was so glad I did...
After all the races started - the 50K, marathon, half-marathon, and 10K - I took some time to unwind for an hour before the runners started coming in. The rain also started coming down. I worked alongside Jennifer, who was out of running for a few weeks due to a fractured pelvis, and caught up with her for a bit. When the runners started coming in, we got to work greeting the runners and sorting out the timing chips and getting them on the board. I did this for a couple hours before the community hall started getting really crowded and I had to leave for some air. Outside, standing under shelter, I did as much as I could outdoors and started talking to another injured runner who also did not run. The standing joke of the evening was that the Ontario Ultra Series needed to have a disabled list.
Spying Howard's robe on the lawnchair getting wet, I remarked to the others that we needed a flagpole. I had those old camp movies and Revenge of the Nerds pranks in mind where that robe was concerned... hehe :) Of course, we are not sure what would be worst - hanging underwear, or hanging Howie's robe! Oh well... I have all summer to contemplate how to pull off that prank!
As the finishers came in, so did the stories. Dirty Girl Diane came into the finish after her unofficial 50K tourist jaunt that started at 4h30 and included stops at Tim Horton's for breakfast, and stops for photos at various tourist sites along the way. She came in proud of the fact that she "beat" Laurie McGrath! Laurie came in shortly after and Diane bragged to Laurie about "beating" her. You see, in Dirty Girl's world, she is the champion. I was shocked to see Stephan come in ahead of not only Rick, but Ron Gehl. He was really motoring it! "Stephan! You beat Rick!" Stephan's reply? "No... I beat Ron!" Rick came in shortly after. He proclaimed that he was whooped and that gunning for PBs will tear anyone apart. Kinga came in afterwards. She also beat Ron! Stephan was really excited because she was also second place in her age category. That meant that they would be gettine a bottle of wine with their dinner that night. Ron and Cameron came in side-by-side until Ron sped up and picked him off at the mat. Ron later explained to me that he was hypothermic due to the cool and wet conditions.
I hung with the runners, and we all shared laughs before I went to my car to get my water bottle filled up. Howard has been hurting for quite awhile and Rick and I decided that it would be best for me to jog out there to meet him since the rain did stop. I wouldn't have to go fast at all but at least I would keep moving. After getting distracted and backtracking several times, I finally made the jog out onto the path. I cheered on runners as they were coming into the finish for their respective races. Just before the one mile marker, I spotted Howard and started running back with him. He managed to catch a second wind when he realised that he would be able to break seven hours for the 50K. We jogged in together smoothly and he crossed the finish line.
Post race, we all hung around outside chatting and telling war stories. I knew that I would be hanging around for a long time because Bernadette was still out there on the course and her version of running is actually a walk pace that is not very quick. There were no arrangements made for her to get a ride back to the city so I did not want to leave her in a lurch.
Joe Cleary is absolutely amazing! I learned that day that Joe had a cyst removed from his back the day before the race. Not only did he show up - bandages and all - he mainly walked the entire 50K and had a great finish to boot! Way to go!
Bernadette finally came in as Diane and I were putting away a few stuff. She wanted to get in the car right away but I made her change beforehand. After wrapping up and saying goodbye to Henri, Diane, and others, we hit the road.
Before hitting the highway, I had the need to stop off for some icecream. I do this every year I show up for the Niagara Ultra and I have never broken the tradition. We hung aroud the icecream shop and visited the neighbouring Ginseng shop for a bit.
On the way back into the city, we stopped off in Oakville's Organic Garage as she has never been to that store and wanted to check it out. Now, we are both healthfood store snobs and we often recommend different products to each other. This time was no different. We even ended up splitting some of our purchases with each other. I'll tell you - kale is definitely a great leafy vegetable.
I dropped Bernadette off at the subway so that she could take the subway for the rest of the way home. After dropping her off, I made my way back to Kula for a couple hours before heading home.
Next race... Creemore Vertical Challenge 50K. I definitely feel ready for this one...
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