 |
| Hyde Park, London, October 2012 |
Seriously folks…I went back in time twice on my travels and adventures to complete 45 races in my 45 years.
I will try to describe in full detail the uniqe races I experienced recently in Europe, race #’s 21 and 22, while on holiday in England and France. The trip was planned well before I decided to pursue all these races, but as soon as the airline tickets were purchased, it was click, click, click and surf into the night to find some possible races that might fall in the brief 12 days I was abroad. David had an easy time getting his two races while in the UK for three weeks, so why not me, it’s a bit of a competive game afterall.
“Oh honey…..what’s the address again of your Uncle’s place in Chelsea?” (at the time of my trip the girlfriend I was dating had a cousins wedding to attend, just outside London in the country). I can’t easily describe here the look on her face, but just visualize if you can.
As luck would have it, my first run in London was pretty easy, and the price was right. $4lbs and the start line 2km away. Calling this “race” old school wasn’t difficult. Held at noon every last Friday of the month, it’s organized by the Serpentine Runners Club, no online registration for these time trials. In fact, you emailed your info. on a simple 1-page registration sheet, and paid on-site. I think it was actually 8lbs since I was not a club member, but I look English, they said nothing. The entry included a race bib. That’s it. Hand-timed, well marshaled, no post race food, medals or music. There may have been water, I can’t quite recall, we did enjoy the hottest weather in 86 years so it felt like July as we went twice around the course. Hyde Park is very cool, massive and full of dogs, sunbathers, statues older than Canada….
My finish time doesn’t matter really (22:30), I drank and ate so much in the first three days of arriving, went hard at the get-go but after 3km remembered I was on holiday, this needn’t hurt I kept telling myself. Did I mention it was HOT, gawd, everyone was talking about it, even the yankee from Boston who used the same surfing skills I used to find this small, off the wall race. I didn’t hang around much afterwards, the sightseeing agenda included some museums and more pubs. Tally Ho as they say…..
Bar le Duc, France
After a pleasant family wedding, and a quick brunch visit with my 2nd cousin, Marco, also a runner, we whisked across the Channel (underneath actually) on the EuroStar, 186 miles per hour, full speed ahead for Paris. Quick transfer, more trains, and a late nite arrival in a small, quaint town to visit a first cousin who has lived here for 20 years. Bar le Duc is close to a much more well known city, Reins, heart of the champagne region and home to a rather large, well-known marathon that is on the radar in Europe. I continue my searches here as I had yet to nail down a race in France.
The one race I did find earlier in Canada was the Paris 20km, the day before we leave back for Canada, but it was already SOLD OUT at 20,000 runners. I did make contact with the Race Organizers and it seemed like I would be able to obtain a race bib, but truthfully I was way more interested in the cycling and wine drinking we were planning in the Alsace Region, so the next 5 days was filled aplenty with just that, food, drink and wine. Plan B could be this one, but did I really want to end my trip with a 20km run??
Welcome to Europe! Smoking....running 20km, no problem!
Fast-forward many miles, drinks, meals and more trains, Sarah and I arrive late Saturday in Paris, a beauty, boutique hotel around the corner from the Eiffel Tower. I have now been so far removed from the office I can’t bother to find the emails I had with the race organizers. I have no idea either where the race starts, we’re beat and I need to also focus on the task at hand….Paris, girlfriend, romance…..etc. lol Maybe in the morning if the weather is good, I can use the internet in the lobby and see where this race is. The next morning does arrive and it’s wet and yucky looking, as I stare out the window. Is that a gathering of runners below on the sidewalk? It actually is, and I wonder if the race in question is actually close by? Sarah is still in bed so I wander outside to investigate further. Walking around the corner towards the Eiffel Tower, I see finish lines, trucks, hordes of runners. Wow, imagine that, we are in the closest possible hotel to the finish line! Further investigation leads me to some sort of post-race collection of tents, so I use 15+ years of experience to try and find my race number.
I am soon told that the media tent is quite far away, near the start line across the river, and in-between me and there are twenty thousand runners arriving, and I still need to go back to the room and get permission to run! This was just a scouting trip I remind myself, but with so many charity tents I must be able to get a number here. Back to the room (750 metres away) and I have to stretch, change, plead my case….if not for the 45 and 45 I think I would be SOL. Sarah can enjoy some solo time browsing book shops and more, she buys my argument….so I head back out determined to get my number. After a few tries, I find my opportunity and convince a french guy who has pretty good english that with minutes to go before the race, any unused bibs can be switched over to me, we haven’t even gotten around to price but he likes my North American idea. But now he asks for my medical clearance letter!
Now at least the french know how to celebrate! This was THREE cases of Champagne waiting at the finish.
I completely forgot this bizarre rule that is still in place for many Italian races and now I guess French ones too. You have to produce a written letter of permission (medical clearance) from a physician. No exceptions, some crazy Insurance requirement, but before I can think smartly (who says Dr. Peter Donato isn’t my cousin from Canada?) I have run out of time, I could have easily gone back to the room and quickly made up something (I hope no one reading this is a Medical Dr.). Crap. And it’s now raining. But I tell myself I have come this far, so I join the massive line at the back of the start area, and slowly we make our way to the start after the gun goes off, 10 minutes for sure. Bandits are common here too! It’s a pretty similar mad pack start as any other large race in North America, and typical of a big city most locals aren’t too concerned with the yelling, shouting and pounding afoot. I do notice that it’s not too organized, no barricades and few police visible, it’s like the runners just take over. My race? Typical of late, good start, body breaks down, last half is brutal, stretching was not on the agenda all vacation, but sitting on a bike, train, bar stool was. Can you say tight hips?
What was very different was the water stations. The first one had large, 2L bottles from a sponsor, yeah, 2 liters! Very few volunteers and no where near enough tables, so people were grabbing new bottles, taking a swig and then passing to the runner in behind. Later on, it was the same BUT with plain white sugar cubes and orange dried fruit chunks! How funny was that! Self serve too, I felt like a horse….and then in several places the hordes of runners literally came to a halt, as we entered narrow roads along the Siene, back in front of the Eiffel Tower, down to the Louvre, across the water and back again. Pretty tough to complain when you run through history here….
Great city to run and stare.....
The finish was crazy, jam packed, the lineup and post finish cram fest meant people started backing up across the actual finish line, so a mos big failing grade if you were rating this for technical merit. But mostly people didn’t care, a nice medal was given out and a decent post-food baggie, then you were on your own to check out some vendors, etc. I enjoyed shuffling my achy body back to the room, another unique race experience in the books! Marveloux!
45 and 45 to date (as of April 2012)
1.Huntington Disease Run 10km (with Jefferson) – June 26th
2.Peachbud 5km – June 28th
2.5 Peachbud 1-mile Kids run (as Jefferson mascot)
3. Canada Day 5-miler
4. Pride Run 5km
5. Warrior Dash
http://www.mynextrace.com/2011/07/45-and-45-update-3-warrior-dash/
6. Wine and Dine 1/2 Marathon Run
7. Downtown Dash 5km
8. Durham 1/4 Marathon
9. Muskoka Rocks 5km (age group winner)
10. Wilson Wet and Wild Sprint Tri (New York state, water was 60 degrees, no wetsuit)
http://www.mynextrace.com/2011/08/45-and-45-update-race-10/
11. Coburg Duathlon
12. Acura 5km
13. Sunset Shuffle 6km
http://www.mynextrace.com/2011/09/45-in-45-race-update-3-race-13-lucky-we-didnt-drown/
14. Mid Summer Night Run 15km
15. VR Pro 10km – Children of Merinden Mtn @ Erindale Park (with Jefferson)
16.Slainte Pub 5km
17. Element Racing Off Road Triathlon. (1000 M – 18km – 8km)
18. Logs, Rocks and Steel Off-Road Triathlon / Adventure Race
http://www.mynextrace.com/2011/10/45-and-45-race-updates-epic-cycling/
19. Centurion Cycling Canada – 100 miles (Century)
20. Zoo Run 5km
21. Hyde Park 5km (London, England)
22. Paris 20km (Paris France baby, yeah)!
23. Scotia Bank Toronto Waterfront Half-Marathon (pacing the Mascot Jefferson to another Guinness Record)!
24. Trek or Treat Nite Trail Run 10km (with Jefferson the dog tagging along)
25. Peel Region 5km (7th overall, small race obviously, 20:18)! (Saturday morning the 29th)
26. Variety Village 5km, as Jefferson Mascot, with Jefferson tagging along (Sunday morning, the 30th, 9:20 am)
27. Mad Dog Scramble 10km Trail Run, with water crossings! With Jefferson tagging along, 11:25 am the 30th)!!
28. New York City Dash to the Finish Line inaugural 5km, Nov 5th.
29. Hannukah Hustle 5km
30. Santa Shuffle 5km, with Jefferson, as Jefferson!
31. Jingle Bell Run 5km, with Jefferson. Dec 14th.
32. New Year’s Eve Midnite Run 5km – Created, organized and Race Director, so I am counting this! Plus we ran the route before the race as a group and gave ourselves medals. www.midniteruntoronto.com
33. Miami Tropical 5km – Jan 28th, 2012 (35 degrees and humid)
34. Chilly 5km – Burlington, March 5th, with Jefferson (minus 35 degrees)!
35. St Patrick’s Day 5km – Toronto (actually, 5.4 km’s)
36. Run the Lake 5km, with Jefferson (Pickering)
37. Good Friday Road Races 5km, Burlington, with Jefferson (April 6th)
38. Harry’s Spring Run Off 5km, High Park, Toronto (April 7th)
Yeah, I know….I have become a 5km slug!
