Canadian International Marathon (Toronto, Ont.)
Sunday, October 17, 1999Race report for Kelly's first marathon...
Date: Tue, 19 Oct 1999
Subject: Basking in my First Marathon Sunshine!(long)
"I'm walkin on sunshine, oh oh, I'm walkin on sunshine, oh, oh"........ I am struggling to put all the emotions and thoughts of yesterday into words and am having a hard time so I would give you snippets of my first marathon from beginning to end...........
Race rituals night before: lay out clothes, don't pin bib on until I wake up and see weather... Pray to weather wanda Hi Paulette!.... Sleep fairly well in a dark cocoon.
Grey skies at 6:00am, hot oatmeal, butterflies in my stomach... What to wear? I want to stay warm till the start. A warm kiss from my husband and out the door. Remember last year doing the 1/2 and saying "I could never do a marathon...."
Decided to drive to the finish line, park right there and walk to the host hotel to catch the shuttle bus. Looking for company and pre-race chit chat... Got on to the bus just as my cousin's friend Jeff (doing the half) came up, so had the company! Met lots of Iowa chicks (Hi Marce!) that had come up with Team in Training to do an International Marathon - hey that's us!
Saw Glenn's pink hat while going to baggage check and got the first of many smiles of encouragement! Then hooked up with Penguin Running Bud Tracy and budding Penguin Elisabeth who came to wish us well, 2 hugs via Glenn from Penguins Kathryn Lye and Kecia, great start with our Mayor Mel Lastman (the honorable) doing the start. Glenn heckles him as we go by and actually elicits a response - excellent start to a great race Glenn! Left: The start of the marathon at Mel Lastman Square.
(Glenn: As we ran by Mayor Mel at the starting line, I yelled, "Why don’t you join us?"He replied, "I can't! Someone’s gotta be here to cheer for you!" Politicians!)
The mood continued from then on with just an amazing, awesome time. Penguin Emma caught up to us just before the 1 mile mark on her bike to give us her encouragement and support. Lays Potato chips, water and lots of smiles and just wonderful company! A quick wave and hug from my friend Catherine and her kids who live along the route - THIS IS SOOO COOL!
Above: Glenn and Kelly ham it up for Kelly's friends
We head north as the half marathoners go south, thru a really pretty park and back out onto the streets of Toronto, to start our trek south in the city. Hook up with Penguin Jo at the bottom of Hog's Hollow hill, long long long hill, but not too bad, we run all the way up and feel pretty good at the top. Have I mentioned how awesome Emma and Jo on bikes were???
Above: Kelly (flexing) and Glenn (#264) posing with spectators near the 12-mile mark of the CIM in Toronto.
We run through a major intersection where a local radio station is blasting YMCA. We participate with much glee as we watch a cop doing the hand motions in the middle of the street. HEE HEE! Emma starts supporting other runners - WHAT A PENGUIN!!! Jo sticks close and gives us a Lay's chip break!! Yum Yum SALT! Glenn and I both agree that we would like to do course support on a bike someday.... IT IS SO GREAT to have this support!!! We now run thru the posh neighbourhoods where we have good spectator support. I play tour guide for a couple of unhappy looking BMZ Team in Training girls. Glenn throughout is thanking every cop on duty - I calculate that he said "THANKS OFFICER" about 150 times! Penguin Jo thanked many too, but for different reasons! TORONTO COPS ARE TOPS and really cute too.... We run by the school where I work - Upper Canada College, see Elisabeth's smiling face again - she keeps popping up all over like a leprechaun, and then by Casa Loma, a beautiful castle, head west, quick porta pottie stop - my quads scream as I sit !! I stand and I SCREAM as I see my face in a mirror on the door of the pottie! ACK!!! Raccoon eyes and no one has told me! Emma is tres amused by the vanity factor in putting on mascara before a marathon.... I do a quick mascara wipe and we pick up the pace somewhat.
We now head down Rosedale Valley Road under a canopy of autumn leaves. It is peaceful and beautiful and I love this part of the course. I have one ear plugged into the radio and I start singing - BareNakedLadies and then a rousing version of Tainted Love. Jo and Glenn humour me and sing along but I am the only one actually hearing the music but nonetheless it was awesome!
Ok - this is where I can't say enough about Glenn. All through the race, he reminded me of our strategy - hold back and then pick up up for the last 10K, evaluate every break, run smart!! GLENN YOU ARE THE MAN!!! I honestly feel that I wouldn't have completed this race without Glenn's wise words, smiles, bad humour and amazing penguinness.....
GLENN - YOU ARE THE BEST! NO - YOU ARE!! NO - YOU ARE !!I am now running into the BMZ (I love that expression Andrea!). I was feeling intermittent stomach cramps for a while. Did the old "don't say it or it will come true" thing and then finally admitted it around 38K. We had switched to 5/1's (thank you Glenn) Really painful, bloating yucky, feelings.
Then it hits me - OH MY GOD! This is just like giving birth!!!!!
Months of preparation, hard work, discomfort, education and then - the big day!!! Guess what? MARATHONS ARE HARDER - you can stop - opt out, the mental choice of giving up is there, whereas obviously with childbirth, you ain't really in control! NOTE: I only have one child with no plans to have more..... I WILL DO ANOTHER MARATHON!You can walk the rest of the way - I was prepared to if I had to - there was no giving up at this point and I knew that...The yellow sweep bus that I kept waving at is lurking....
Glenn keeps smiling at me, checking on me, reminding me to breathe, Jo is right at my side - steady and true, Emma is giving amazing race support to others on the course..... I keep going.... Good course support on this stretch with music and people... I encourage Glenn to go ahead, he is holding back to run with me and I can tell. He is having a blast, laughing at nothing and everything, pure enjoyment on his face..... I am happy for him...
University Avenue, comes up quicker that I expect - the final stretch up to our Parliament Buildings where the finish line is waiting with my husband, my Emily and friends... I focus on that and see Elisabeth waiting at the next intersection. I give her the biggest smile I can manage and she gives me a huge hug and has tears for me - she is so proud - she runs with me - IT IS SOOO COOL, even through the pain, I feel it!
We keep going - the Team in Training girls pass us, they are looking happier now that we are close. We run up along the buildings, I know the finish is just around the corner. Glenn drops back and says "Ok Kelly - take it, it's yours, you deserve it - go for it!" I pick it up and run strong - the pain disappears and I see my family and friends, my husband's beautiful smiling face...
I discover it is hard to cry and run at the same time - hard to breathe.....
My dream is coming true - just like I imagined, running strong and proud....Then my ego says - hey Kel - there's a slow guy just in front, you can kick it up and make the spectators yell and blow by him.... Yeah - I gotta! I kick it up and finish just in front of him..... cruise to the smiling medal lady and look her right in the eye, take a deep breath and ENJOY THE MOMENT!
Big hugs from Glenn - thank him again. Big hugs from Warren, my husband who tells me how proud he is.... hugs from my running Buddy Bev (budding Penguin), from everybody else..... I go sit down on a folding chair and just enjoy the feelings sweeping over me.... I DID IT!!!
Thanks for hanging in and reading such a long self-indulgent post!!!
Thanks for being such an amazing support group - I don't post much but I read every single message, learn, am motivated, moved and encouraged!!!
Thanks to John and the rest of the original brigade for taking such a wonderful idea and letting it grow....Kelly in Toronto
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