Casino Niagara International Marathon and Half-Marathon
Sunday, October 27, 2002Race report from Helen's first marathon...
Date: Mon Oct 28, 2002
Subject: Helen's First Marathon!
Wow, where to begin? It's Monday morning, I am stiff and sore and I think rule #1 for anyone running a marathon, is to take the Monday after as a lieu day from work. Thank goodness I work from a home office! Danny, the girls and I headed down to Niagara on Saturday right after lunch. It was funny driving down the parkway and across the Gardiner, looking at all my training routes. I know each pathway intimately, every turn, every bump, every hill.
We arrived in Niagara around 2:30 and checked into the Hilton. Nice hotel! What a treat!!! We then took the shuttle to the Sheraton so I could pick up my race kit. The line ups where long so I told my family to go do some exploring and I would meet them back at the hotel later for a swim. I met a wonderful guy in line, and he and I chatted away thru immigration and the rest of the stuff. The expo was good and Kelly I saw the great running jacket you bought for New York - Perfect!
I spent the rest of the afternoon going down the waterslide in the Hilton and lounging in the hot tub. We went for a huge pasta dinner at My Cousin Vinny's and then tucked into bed to watch Beetlejuice. Had a pretty good sleep and was delighted with the extra hour we got.
Sunday was an early start. The shuttle ride to Buffalo was long. All I could think is "holy smokes it takes this long to drive here on a highway, how the heck am I going to run back?" We got to Albright Knox, the start of the marathon around 7:40am. Over two hours till race time. Jim, the guy I met the day before, and I found a spot in the tent and sat down to relax. At 9:30 I went for a 10 minute jog to loosen up. Felt fine.
So, here is where the whole marathon thing really begins. First of all, I am thrilled that I had the common sense to bring just about every running garment I own with me. It was sunny, then it was cloudy, then it was still and finally, by 9:30 it was grey with unbelievable wind. I changed into my tights, a t-shirt with my favourite long sleeve Cool Max top over top.
I cannot tell you how nervous I was. I think I probably read too many race reports on the internet and was really scared about not finishing, throwing up, getting the runs, cramping, hitting walls, etc.... Not to mention, my IT band had been causing me problems for the past two weeks. I was so scared that I would end up not finishing due to this nagging overuse injury.
Well, here is the good news! I had a great first marathon. No walls, no cramping, no anything other than unbearable pain from time to time from the IT band that started at Mile 7. My plan was always to run a marathon in a four hour time. So, I figured I would be anywhere from 3:50 to 4:10 depending on personal condition, weather and route. I headed out with the 4 hour bunny and lasted with him to just over the 1/2 way mark. It was bitter cold with head wind the entire 26 miles. Nasty really. My first half was 1:58:40 so I was truly on pace. I just lost time on the second half I think due to the wind and my fear of pain if I opened up my stride. I ran the entire last 1/2 by myself which was okay since I had done almost all my training alone. The water stations were amazing and I did shed some tears at mile 22 because a guy on a megaphone kept telling us how amazing we are and stuff like that.
I saw Danny and the girls with a huge sign three times out on the route and that was fabulous. Never did I want to quit and in all honesty, the fatigue that hit at the one hour mark didn't really get any worse as the hours ticked by.
My finish time was 4:11 and I am thrilled. It wasn't nearly as difficult as I thought it would be and I am feeling quite okay. Tender, but strong. What I figure went right was consistent training for 16 weeks, being properly fueled and hydrated (I stopped and drank at every mile on the route alternating from water to gatorade) and keeping a realistic consistent pace.
Will I do another marathon? You bet! I am sure there is a 3:50:00 in me somewhere, some time and that will be my ticket to Boston. See everyone at the Santa shuffle and good luck to the New Yorkers. And a huge thank you to Kelly - you are the best!
Helen
Race report from Julie's first half-marathon...
Date: Sun Oct 27, 2002
Subject: Casino Niagara Race Report by a first time half finisher!!!
Hi everyone! SHORT VERSION:
The route was very beautiful, possibly too flat and VERY Chilly. But I finished and I'm thrilled and really proud for meeting my goal. My goal was To complete upright and smiling! The race was a little disorganized and the finish line ceremony wasn't what I was expecting BUT I FINISHED!LONG VERSION:
Today was my first half marathon! I say first b/c I will be doing this again (as crazy as my husband thinks it is) If you had asked me around mile 4 I would have said no way, never again! BUT now that I'm finished and had a hot bath and some food ~AND now that I'm warm again, 'where do I sign up?'It all started on Saturday afternoon when we went to the expo. It was crazy and I wasn't sure what I was doing. Luckily this really nice couple in line told me what to do and we were in and out in 20 mins. Off to the hotel where we met Una, Steve and Nana in the parking lot. They went off to shop and we made arrangements to meet up for dinner. Next I met my running partner Natalie, she decided to go to an early dinner with her family and I tried to find my other running partner Andrea ~ I didn't:(
Dinner was a highlight. We went to East Side Mario's and after a long wait and too many peanuts we were seated. We talked about everything and anything and the company was the best! We got back to the hotel and I decided to skip the hot tub and went back to our room.
After checking & double checking my race stuff I finally hit the sack. Well not exactly, my stupid watch alarm keep going off. I was about to flush it, when Karl figured out how to turn it off LOL
I must've fell right asleep b/c when the phone rang at 10:30, I thought it was the wake up call. It was my friend Andrea making plans to meet in the morning, the lucky duck tried out the slots and won $230.00!!!!
Again right to sleep until another phone call at 1:30 am (WRONG NUMBER) but I fell back to sleep.
Finally the wakeup call. It was supposed to be a 5:30am call but apparently even after we double checked ~ the hotel phone system didn't set its clocks back. No worries I took another quick cat nap and then I got ready.
I met Steve in the lobby and hung out with him and Una till Natalie arrived and then we were off!
Finally we got to the Sheridan and hopped on the bus. The moment we had worked towards was almost here! Driving the route is interesting, 13.1 miles takes a LONG time in the car:) At this point I was wondering what I had got myself into!
Someone should have warned me about the heat I thought I would pass out, and not make it to the start LOL. Or maybe I should have lost a layer or 2 of clothing, I had on 5!!!!
We hit mile 13 and got out of the bus (BUT we did have the option to stay and be bussed to the finish ~ that wasn't an option for me ;) I didn't train to quit at the start LOL We saw Deb but she had her earphones on and didn't see/hear us. No worries we'll find her again.
I decided to hit the bathrooms early and then we all hooked up with the Canada Fit team (we took a lot of pics here ~ another highlight being with the girls I had trained 6 months with and knowing each of us was to realize a dream) We found Deb at this point and took a few pics too.
In no time at all it was time to line up.
I lost the Canada Fit Girls and stuck with the penguins, this is another highlight. I felt really
relaxed standing with them. We talked about other races and just chit chatted together. We had a fake start where we moved 2 feet (Steve said something like this is usual) and then stopped and just as we were about to start my Canada Fit friends screamed out my name so I left the speedy penguins and joined them.We were only together for about 2 minutes when my gel flask fell. I stopped to pick it up and hit another runner in the head (i'm so sorry whoever you are?) and before I knew it I lost everyone. I ran and ran and at mile 2? I took off a layer. (I saw some of my friends pass and I said i'd catch up) I never did or I passed them not sure which. According to the finish times I
did both.I kept running focusing on this girl that had a great pace. Sometimes I passed her and others she passed me ~ I had intended to stick with her the whole race until I stopped for a bathroom break (mile 3/4?) Andrea and Natalie caught up to me and were doing great so I continued on. I'm not sure why I didn't stay with them at this point. I guess I just wanted to catch my pacer. She was so very ahead but I caught up.
Then something happened, I don't know what, my shoulders started to hurt so I started walking. I gave up on the watch and just did what I could. I walked a little and ran a little and I was starting to get really cold and honestly I just wanted this whole thing to be finished! I wasn't having fun! I was feeling very lonely and it seemed like everyone just keep passing and was getting farther and farther away. I think I was in the BMZ for sure!
I started thinking about why I started and how this was supposed to be fun!!!!!! I decided to just keep putting one foot in front of the other and get to the finish!
Who believes in magic???
At this point I met up with Sheila and Dom. They were walking and I asked if I could walk with them. Did I mention they walk FAST I mean real fast. At points I had to jog/run to keep up. (but this was just what I needed!!!)
This was another highlight, we had a great conversation and Sheila was a natural at keeping the pace. I lost them for a few minutes while I stopped to snap pictures but I always caught up! The water stations from 5 on were awesome! The local highschools came out in costumes, cheerleading & football uniforms and one even had the band set up. They really keep us moving and continued to add encouragement.
Soon we were at mile 9! If Karl had of been there I could have stopped right then. This was the Canada Fit water station and I think for me it was like the Penguin stop in Burlington. So many coaches and members came out to support us. They had balloons and music and a cow bell just like Glenn's. They were running us in so we all started running while Sheila's
husband snapped pictures!!! This was so cool! and gave us the boost we needed. We could still hear them at least the next half mile away.Have I mentioned how much harder race walking is then running? My quads were burning at this point and I was cold (why did I toss a layer?) this isn't really important BECAUSE I was having FUN! (at this point I started jogging a bit to loosen up)
From this point on either we picked up the pace or the waterstops were closer b/c we were flying. I looked at my watch and we had 30 minutes to go. We were going to not only finish but break 3 hours. Dom mentioned that according to her watch we started at 8:05 so we had
lots of time.Kelly/Ruth you would love this part! The roller bladers started passing us and the girls kept
commenting on their bums and thighs. At one point I was talking about my upcoming trip and my visit with my sister when Sheila said " I just love that " I thought she was talking about our plans till I noticed the very buff guy ahead in red spandex. I just about bust a gut at that! (where was Richard ;) )Less than 12 minutes to go and we approached the hill I had been waiting all day to run down and fly into the finish area (side note: it wasn't much of a hill). My partners were getting really tired, and at this point we all said that maybe a marathon wasn't next, a half would be just fine! So I decided to stay walking with them mainly b/c they got me through the last 9 miles, and I wanted to cross the finish with them!
I was just feet from the finish when I saw Richard or Richard saw me? I took a pic of him and frantically searched for Karl or Una. I didn't see them and for some strange reason I just kept walking right thru the finish! There goes my strong thumbs up finish LOL I felt really bad, Karl had waited hours to take a pic of me and then I walk into the finish LOL! Regardless he is proud of me and I am really proud of me.
Did I mention how cool it is to hear your name over the loudspeaker!!!!!
I finally saw Karl and was given the space blanket to keep warm and a nice volunteer kept asking me if I was okay and lead me to water. I assured him I was fine and got some food (water, banana, orange, fruit to go and granola bar) and got my chip removed. Then I was
directed to the exit where a volunteer placed the medal around my neck and said Congrats! That was it:( I don't know what I was expecting? But it was cool anyway, I plan on bringing the medal to work in the morning!!! (DWD teams mates I did take this one off and i promise not to sleep with it on ;) )I saw Richard again and he congratulated me. I didn't stay long chatting (I'm sorry if I was rude Richard, I just wanted to catch my friends behind me)
I snapped pics of Lyssa, Natalie, Mila, Andrea and Dianne. At this point I was near tears, I was exhausted and just so happy!!! I was so proud of all of us!!!!
It was off for a mile walk or so to the car and then back to the hotel for a very hot epsom salt bath and some Boost (Thanks for the tip Helen).
I felt great after that and the 5 of us (Karl, Una, Steve, Nana and I) went to Denny's to eat, I had to show off my medal!
In conclusion, it was an awesome day. It didn't go as planned, BUT most importantly I had a dream and I went for it and finished and quite honestly the fact that I got to spend a great weekend with my friends and husband while completing my goal is far better than running consistent 10/1's or finishing under 3 hours. I think this experience has made me a believer
you really can do anything as long as you have the courage to start!Thanks for reading!
hugs,
Juliep.s. Just in case your curious here's our results!!! I'm not posting the penguin results just cause I'm sure they want to post them themselves...
Place Gun Time Pace Chip Name City Gender Age Category 1433 3:03:52.4 8:43 3:01:57.4 Wobbe, Julie Toronto 839/948 124/133 Women 25-29 Race report from Deb from Buffalo...
Date: Sun Oct 27, 2002
Subject: Casino Half report
Well, this is one race "for the books." I had a highly enjoyable weekend, set a PR for the Half (although not the sub 2 I was shooting for), and broke every cardinal rule in the book for long distance racing. Saturday started innocently enough, with the expo and the pasta dinner there. I probably spent way too much time browsing around and walking that afternoon, but the expo was pretty good. I left a note for Julie and Una, unfortunately at the wrong Travelodge, so we didn't connect until race day morning.
Saturday night, however... I went out with some friends, and we landed at a karaoke bar. I took my water bottle in with me, although I thought that one beer wouldn't kill me... that was before someone ordered a round of B-52's... twice. So, I got to bed late, feeling more than a little tipsy, not that I would actually sleep the night before a race anyhow. I usually lay there and twitch, counting the ceiling tiles; this time, I was at least relaxed and happy.
Sunday morning, and I'm still feeling a couple muscles complaining about Thursday's deep tissue massage. It's cold, and I've layered with throwaway clothes that USED to fit me 52 pounds ago. This means that as I'm jogging down the street to cue up for the shuttlebuses, Tim Horton's cup in hand, I'm having to slow down every so often to pull the throwaway slacks up from sagging around my hips. Wouldn't you know that later, when I needed to take off the unwanted layers prior to race start, I had to rip the fabric further to get them off over my sneakers. (Hint - When wearing throwaway pants for a race, slit the fabric at the ankle to allow it to be taken off over your running shoes.)
Una, Julie and I meet up at the race start, about 10 minutes before the starting gun. What a crowd! I don't know how they dealt with the masses, but the first two mile splits were seriously slow for me, each being above 10 minutes. Okay... they weren't slow, but they were at training pace, not race pace. I was running along the side of the road, even in the ditch at one point, just trying to pull forward. I must remember to start moving up in the race lineup.
At mile 3, things thin out a bit and I can begin pacing myself, without having to zig and zag between runners. I wasn't in top form, having woke up with (surprise surprise) a slight hangover, but my head was clearing in the cold air. From time to time, the wind would pick
up and blow right through my tights, which were just right most of the time, but chilly when the weather decided to assert itself.Along the route, I kept seeing Jason, our Team Diabetes coordinator. We had two team members out on the route, and I was one of them. Jason was there, tracking our progress on his bike, and since he knows my running style, he said it was easy to pick me out in the race. I'm still trying to decide if this is a good thing...
Towards the end, I knew that it was going to be close, but I just couldn't make up the time I lost at the start. There were friends waiting for me at the finish line, and we sat and stretched while watching the first male and female marathoners come in. Dick Beardsley came in 12th overall; it was a thrill to see a running great like him come striding in, still running strong, with a finishing time most of us would be envious of.
I ran into Richard while walking to get a cup of coffee. It was then that I learned never to go up "on toe" to hug a friend after a race...my right calf cramped up, and I nearly dropped because of it. Sorry about that Richard! My friends don't usually have that affect on me!
Anyhow, I ran the Casino Half in 2:01:35, which is STILL a PR for me, chipping off a few more minutes. I have no regrets about this. Yes, I had a bit of a wild weekend, but it was a wonderful time, and I wouldn't have changed a thing. Oh yeah... one more thing from this weekend. I've made a pact to run a sub 4 marathon in three years (and yes, this would qualify me for Boston). What is really absurd is that I believe I can accomplish this, given time and training.
So, did I get myself into enough trouble this weekend? lololol
Congratulations to all the Penguins who raced this weekend, at Casino Niagara, MCM, and elsewhere.
Deb
Race report from Una...
Date: Wed Oct 30, 2002
Subject: Casino Niagara Half Marathon Extremely Long (even for Una) Race Report
Hi everyone, Well, back from my whirlwind trip. While the focus of this mini vacation was the Casino Niagara Half, my Mom came along to do some sight seeing. We left Friday afternoon for Toronto, had an uneventful trip in. We got to Steve's and headed straight back out the door to have dinner, and a driving tour of the city in the rain. Saturday morning Steve went to work, and Mom and I visited the Hockey Hall of Fame. The highlight was my attempt at broadcasting in the TSN (Sports TV Station) booth: "Ok, there's some guy with a puck passing to... um Is this thing on? Hello? Helloooo? <sound of Una pressing buttons and mumbling>, Mom I think I broke it". Mom in hysterics at the playback, asking me to play it again... Too funny. Got back to Steve's in the early afternoon, loaded the car, and began the trek to Niagara Falls.
Arrived at the hotel, dropped our gear, and walked to the race hotel. En route we were reminded of how tacky this place was. Wow. We get to the expo, and as Julie mentioned it was very disorganized. We picked up our kits (goodies were a deck of cards and a bag of pasta?!?), race bibs, activated our chips, and Steve shopped for some running shirts. Mom looked overwhelmed. It was very noisy, crowded, and very hot. I bumped into the manager of the Nepean Running Room - nice to see a friendly face! A relief to be back on the street. After a peek at the Falls we walked back to the hotel. In the parking lot we spotted Julie, also returning from the expo and vowed to catch up at 6pm for dinner, since Steve, Mom and I had shopping to do!
Dinner was awesome. We went to East Side Mario's, had to wait 40 minutes for a table, so we munched on a few peanuts (Steve ate half a barrel I think, Julie warned him that this was not good prerace food...). We chatted through dinner, laughed a lot and ate too much. It was great fun. I am thoroughly impressed with Karl's (Julie's hubby) tiny waistline. Boy that man can eat :) but is so thin! I was almost jealous that he wasn't racing the next day, I wanted to be relaxed and sleep in! Steve persisted in calling my Mom 'Nana', even after several reminders over the weekend from me "SHE'S NOT YOUR NANA!!!" (Katie and Jos (nephew) call her Nana, I sometimes do) it caught on, I laughed when I read Julie's race report and it included the infamous Nana! Anyway, we were all pooped so went back to the hotel. Julie and Karl hit the sack, Mom watched hockey, Steve and I hit the hot tub. I want a hot tub! We never did make it to the Casino after that, we were too tired. Of course the minute you decide you're going to settle down for the night, you can't. As Julie mentioned our 5:30 AM wakeup call arrived at 4:30. Not a big deal, we were awake anyway.
We connected with Julie and her friend, took the yellow school bus to the race start. It was hot and bumpy. I needed Gravol... The trip to the race start took 30 minutes. Steve (the man who didn't train at all) was getting whiter by the minute when he realized how far this 13.1 miles was, even though he'd run the half with me in May. Seems alot farther when you drive the course than when you run it. Thank goodness. Finally off the bus, saw Deb (Buffalo Penguin) running by with headphones on so we were set to ignore :) It was very cold and very windy. I was not happy about having to remove my fleece and put my bag on the baggage bus. We shivered and waited for the start. Finally, all lined up with Deb and Julie, the gun goes off, we move 10 feet, stop, walk, and then get going. Julie's friends start yelling at her from the grass next to the road and next thing we know, she's jumped out of the start! That was the last we saw of her during the race. We could see Deb, smart gal, running on the gravel side of the road, in the ditch, etc jockeying for position. So we did the same. That's the last time we saw that pink hat...
God that first walk break sure comes fast. At Mile 2 I took off my gloves, and somehow lost my paceband. We decided to shoot for 10 minute miles, we'd finish at 2:10, which was pushing it, but we figured if we got close that would be good. At mile 4 Steve started groaning. I heard something along the lines of "I don't think I can finish this". Not good. Turns out the half barrel of peanuts and the 2 chocolate bars in the wee hours of the morning are not the greatest prerace foods. Hmm wonder where I heard that before. Stomach cramps turned to stomach agony. Got to give him credit though, he really didn't complain at all. I guess the stomach pain took away from the pain of not training...
The course was nice, way too flat, water on your right, along the parkway. It was very boring. Not much in crowds cheering, but with the roads closed there was no way to get spectators in. I must say I didn't enjoy the race itself, it was a grind more than anything. One highlight for me was racing into the bushes for a pee since the porta potties had line ups. Took me at least 3 minutes because I was covered in little burrs. LOVELY. Put myself together got back on the road and couldn't even see Steve. Finally saw him in the distance, he missed his walk break, chatting away with the man who I followed into the bushes. I think running with me proves more difficult for him, he seemed to be going easy with this man!
I was feeling good, but a little fed up of the whole race thing. I wasn't having fun. I think I need races with crowd support. At mile 10 I started to retain water and swell. Not happy about this at all, same feeling as my last long run, and the R&R Half = electrolytes were off. I had great long runs building up to the race (save the last one) and seemed to know how to hydrate to stave off this discomfort. With the race being so cold I think I overdid the water. Needless to say, running was very difficult, feeling so full of liquid.
Una and Steve at the finish line!Turned the corner and there was the finish! I was so happy :) Then Steve comes whipping by me! I reeled him in (feeling guilty about this Dear) and we crossed the line together. My name was called (Yay me!) but Steve's wasn't. I was so glad to be done. Steve's Brother was there yelling congrats to him, then off to the chip removal, get our medals, and a space blanket. Thank goodness for that, I was freezing. We got our bag from the bus and found Mom, Steve found his Mom, and waited for his sister to come in from racing the inline skate marathon. Mom said that she was sure she saw Julie cross the finish at 2:10, and Steve thought he saw her at the finish, so we assumed she'd been sandbagging us all along. We couldn't find her or Karl (thanks Karl for driving Mom to the finish), and I was freezing, so we ditched Steve's family and went back to the hotel for hot showers. We connected with Julie and Karl at Denny's for breakfast, I stuck it out as long as I could but I felt like a shaken bottle of Coke with the cap still on. I needed to lie down. God it was painful! On the upside legs didn't hurt at all. We drove back to Toronto, I think I was asleep at 8:00PM.
Monday morning Mom and I took the subway (this is a huge deal for me - claustrophobic and all) to the ROM and spent the entire day there. I guess I should have known that the "Bat Cave" on the life sciences floor would be a tribute to real bats, and not an excuse to wear a catsuit...
Julie, thank you so much for letting me share in your first half! You're enthusiasm and excitement 'made' the race for me. You ran a great race, stuck with it when you were down. You rock!
Steve, I am not the machine I make myself out to be. That title I proudly hand off to you. I don't know how you were able to do this again with zero training. My white Nike cap goes off to you. Now get those shoes on and show us how it can be done!
Mom (Nana to Steve and Julie ;O)) , thanks for putting up with all the race talk and race activities over the weekend. It was great to get away with you. Karl, thanks again for driving Mom, and putting up with the race chatter.
Deb, great to see you! You really relaxed me at the start of the race, you are such a pro at this racing/running stuff. I am in awe. That sub 2 hour we'll see in 2003. You were amazing. Have a great time in NYC!
Stats:
1176/1560 Finishers
2:24:11.8 Gun time
2:22:42.1 Chip time
6:51/km
10:54/mile
623/948 Women
134/195 Women 35 - 39I didn't crack 2:15 as I wanted to, it wasn't my day. That's just fine though, one can never be sad with a PR, or a tough race completed. Just got off the treadmill from an easy 5 miler. Feeling GREAT!
Happy running, back to catching up on my email! Thanks for reading!
Una :)
The race afterglow!
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