My First Race - by Eric Dionne

Last weekend I mentioned to Lise that I would participate in the Toronto Marathon's 5K event. Well, I have to admit I was pretty nervous to run in my first organized event. More importantly, I think I was more worried of the heckling I would receive from my co workers if they beat me. My personal goal was to finish in 25 min, giving me a top 100 finish based on previous years' results. After a fast first km, I slowed down a bit to a more reasonable pace. I included my Km times that I was keeping on my watch.

1-4:00
2-4:25
3-4:25
4-4:40
5-4:30

I was able to finish in 22:00.6, 2 tenths of second quicker than the gentlemen who passed me at the first timing mat, the one which I thought signified the end of the race! I enjoyed the event, and will hopefully participate in similar races in the future.

Have a nice week.

Eric

Quick report from the sidelines of the Toronto Marathon:

Raise your glasses to my good friend Mairead Maclure, who made this her first half marathon event! I wish you all could have been here to see this as you likely won't believe me, but she managed to complete the entire race smiling all the way. Mairead's crew of 8 supporters (including a few who braved the early start despite being hung over) who staggered (literally) themselves around the whole course (gotta love that subway) will attest to it. I've never seen anything like it!

What started as a cold, drizzly morning eventually gave way to an overcast but dry afternoon. Winds were moderate out of the northwest. Overall, not a bad day for a good run. And a good run it was! Finishing at 1:56 on her first outing with no set time in mind, Mairead said:

"must admit - I did check last night - when I was conscious enough to do so! I am pretty pleased with that!"
No injuries or pain to report on Mairead's side, either. Wish I could say the same. I was in a rush to get out of the Rosedale subway station to catch her at the Rosedale Valley Bridge, so I hopped the fence to cut the walk in half. My hop left a little to be desired. I'll leave it at that. Needless to say, Mairead is looking forward to her next race, and I've vowed to enjoy longer walks around fenced areas.

I also caught a glimpse of Danny Kassap in the last km of the full, who blew by me at something short of a 2:20 finishing time. Our merry band of Mairead Supporters went for brunch after her victory at a place on College St, so I ate in a hurry and ran out to University Ave to catch the leaders. This afforded me the unexpected benefit of returning to Fran's only to discover that my tab had been picked up by the rest of the crew, who were just coming out the door as I got back.

From my side, those are the highlights of the TO Marathon for 2005! I'll be back in Sudbury later this week so I'll look forward to seeing you all there.

Trev.

Thought I would drop you a note about the run. It all started out as a good day weather wise. The temperature was about 9 deg C at the start, overcast, a little windy but no rain. I met Barry, a “new” marathoner before the start of the race. Barry was 49 and committed to completing a marathon before he was fifty. He had trained at the Running Room since June and was hoping for a 4:45 finish.

Everything started out pretty normal, the horn to start and we were off. I was starting to feel pretty comfortable with my race; I had picked out a runner whose pace pushed me more than a training run but a pace I felt comfortable with. At the 4K mark I felt a sudden muscle spasm in my left calf. I had suffered a calf muscle pull a few weeks previous but thought it had healed. I kept running and did not feel any pain and actually felt pretty good.

This was my third Toronto marathon and I still cannot get over the commitment of the Toronto police force for this event. The city is pretty well cut in two from the 401 to Queen’s Park while the runners are on the course. You do get some interesting police/traffic situations as you run to the finish such as a police officer telling a motorist that he was sorry but he just couldn’t let him bowl over runners to get onto his street. The honking horns at just about every intersection, the music and cheering spectators keeps your mind off aches and pains.

At the nine kilometer mark, I slowed down to get some refreshments and felt the calf muscle let go. Pain! So what to do? I’m still 6K from the car. Nothing to do but switch the run to a heel strike to keep the muscle stretched out and go on. It actually worked out pretty well. At the 15 K mark I said my goodbyes to the car and trudged on. I passed the half at about 1:53 and still felt good until the 23K mark. That’s when things really started to seize up with the calf. I still managed to keep some form to the 27K mark and then it was a real struggle the rest of the way to finish at about 4:30. Well….there is next year.

Remember Barry, the “new” marathoner I met. He finished about a minute ahead of me. A full sixteen minutes ahead of his goal. Awesome!!

Take Care,

Doug