My surgery was scheduled for Sept 11th and thought I had ran my last race. The deadline for both the Twilight Run and Winnipeg 10&10 were quickly approaching. I spoke with some friends, Janelle was doing the Winnipeg 10k, Bryan was doing the 10 mile and Steph was doing the 30k. I decided to sign up for the Winnipeg 10k on the last day of registration for September 7th. Speaking with Bryan, Jay and Ed, who were doing the Twilight, I decided to sign up with them as well for August 28th. So I went from no more races to two more 10k's before my surgery.
I was working the night of the Twilight race kit pick up, so I left during a moment of down time to pick it up at the Running Room. My kit contained my bib and some pamphlets, but was told that the headlamp would be provided at the race. Last year apparently too many people forgot to bring it, so this was their solution. All my friends had forgotten to pick theirs up, so I called the Running Room. They said that they can pick up their race kit before the race at registration. Well, that was a waste of time for me, since I could have saved the trip and done the same thing.
Race day came and Jay was going to pick up Ed and I. We were to meet Bryan there. Not knowing how busy it would be, we went an hour early. I had planned to wear an Autobot shirt where the logo lit up to the sound of music. I had tested it out before we left and it worked fine, but unfortunately when I arrived at the race, it would not work. I attempted a few things, including changing the batteries, but to no avail. Oh well. We hung out for a while until the race and then lined up.
The race commenced. I ran a slow pace and took more rest walks than usual, but my cardio has dropped since my injury. The first part of the route was identical to last year. Head north through Fort Whyte, go around to the back of the hill and ascend. We descended the hill and doubled back and then went left. I'm not entirely sure how the route changed, but it was more clear, unlike last year where it was not clearly marked. Last year some of us took a wrong turn into the woods down a narrow, unsafe path. The route also took us slightly outside the habitat and back in again. There was also some dark paths near the marshlands. This year the routes were clearly marked and they had more marshals directing the runners. It was definitely better this year. I finished the race with a time of 1:20:07. I was satisfied with that time considering my injury.
Following the race, I went to claim my smokey and asked about the contents. They were beef, which I cannot have and they ran out of veggie. Next year I'll give my voucher to one of my faster friends, so that they can get me one before they run out. I met up with everyone and they were all happy with their results. Bryan finished under 50 min and both Jay and Ed finished under 60 min. I claimed my s'mores pack as well as Ed and Jay's packs. It was late and we went back to the car, changed and left. When I got home, I ended up making the s'mores over the stove.
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