Monday, October 25, 2004 - 05:30 PM

I’ve never been interested in running this race until I ran poorly 2 weeks ago at the PEC ½marathon. So I signed up last minute and decided to give it another go.

Race day dawned cold and gray. Rain was in the forecast but I hoped that it would hold off until after I finished the race. The Toronto Marathon and ½ marathon are point-to-point courses so I had a long trip north to Yonge and Steeles for the start line. Man, was it cold and windy when I got out of the cab. It didn’t feel that bad when I left home :-( I quickly reevaluated my decision to wear a t-shirt and thanked myself for having the foresight to pack an additional long-sleeve T. Quickly repinned the number on the long-sleeve T and I was ready to go. I felt a bit lonely doing my pre-race wandering and warm-up because April decided not to run and instead opted to do some cheering further down Yonge Street. Eventually I found some club-mates and a couple of other friends on the start line. Ahh, the warmth of the crowd :-)

The course is a fairly easy one to run. Straight down Yonge St, a brief jog left to Rosedale Valley Rd and the Bayview Extension to lead down to the Lakeshore and then up a long gentle incline up University Ave to finish at the provincial legislature at Queen’s Park. It is most definitely a downhill course with a couple of uphills mixed in. My quads would definitely feel the effects the next day.

I was caught off guard at the quickness of the starting gun. What happened to the countdown? And whose idea was it to have mascots lead the charge after the gun?! I nearly ran into one and said exasperatedly, “Get out of the way, mascot!” as I passed. Dumb idea. My friend Leslie and I were determined to not start too fast as we always do but we didn’t do a very good job of it; our opening splits for the first 5K were all over the place.

Sure the large Hogs Hollow hill between 2 and 3K in had something to do with it but we were having trouble getting into a consistent rhythm. The first 5K splits ranged from a 3:50 to a 4:15.

Okay, enough of trying to keep two people on correct pace. I decided to drop Leslie and try to run at my own pace and see what happened. If it ended up being too fast and I slowed at the end, then so be it. I concentrated on running my own race and eventually got settled down. I tried not to think about losing my favourite hat (oh, my Saucony hat!) less than 1 Km into the race :-(

I felt pretty good despite the cold. In fact I didn’t really notice the cold once I got started. The course is pretty boring and I was glad when I finally reached Eglinton Ave and familiar territory (the Sporting Life 10K is run on this section of Yonge St). As I passed by Mount Pleasant Cemetary, my friend Leslie went flying past me. Wow, where did that burst of energy come from? I continued to hold my own pace. I heard from a
spectator that I was running in 4th place and was happy with that. That is until another girl pulled up beside me and soon passed me. Well, that wouldn’t do, I decided to give chase. As I ran past St. Clair, I heard April on the sidelines giving some words of encouragement and the offer of some warm clothes if I needed them. Nope, I was okay. I was focused on catching that girl.

As we rounded down Rosedale Valley road, I pulled up next to her and we ran side by side for a while. We traded a slight lead back and forth as we continued towards the Bayview extension. My friend Leslie was slowing coming back to me as well. Things were feeling good. I decided to push a little harder but the other girl responded. It looked like I was going to have a fight on my hands. That always makes a race interesting. We
continued to battle it out and eventually passed Leslie just before we rounded on to Front St. The wind was quite bad here; I tried to speed up and draft behind a couple of guys ahead. Once again I heard some cheering from April as I turned down Cherry St. with the other girl right with me.

I knew I only had about 6K left and I was feeling good, so I made my move. I surged hard as I hit the Lakeshore and made it my goal to catch up and pass the duck footed runner ahead of me.

If that girl wanted 4th place, she was going to have to fight for it. I never looked back, but listened carefully for her or Leslie’s breathing. I never heard them again. In the distance I saw the singlet of my running club and decided my next goal was to catch that runner. As I neared closer, I recognized the person inside the singlet and uttered some words of encouragement as I passed.

Finally, I was on the homestretch up University Ave. And what did I see just ahead? The braids of the 3rd place woman. 3rd place is definitely better than 4th so I put myself in “April mode” and went for the kill. April was at another corner with the update that she was only 7secs. up. Definitely doable especially since it looked like she was slowing down and I wasn’t. I passed her confidently and tried to surge again to ensure my lead over her.

At this point, I suddenly became concerned with my hair and the flopping barrettes and tried to yank them out before I lost them. A dumb thing to be concerned about with less than 3K to go, I know (after all, what would the finish like picture look like? Me with hair all over the place :-)).

Anyway, I continued to run as hard as I could up University. There was no way one of those girls was going to pass me right at the end. I felt like I was practically in full sprint mode for the last K around Queen’s Park. I managed to find one more gear for the final sprint around the last corner and into the finish area. Yes! A new PB of 1:26:51!!!

I was very happy with my finishing time. I waited in the chute for Leslie and the other two girls I passed and shook their hands before exiting to find warm clothes. Unfortunately I missed the awards ceremony because I was off having a nice hot shower to warm up, but April graciously accepted on my behalf. Sometimes it helps to have an identical twin :-)

Final Stats:
1:26:51 real, 1:26:43 chip, 4:07 min/K pace.
3rd/2242 woman,
67/4298 overall.

Melanie Boultbee
Toronto, ON