The Twelfth Mile Marker: Santa Shuffle 5k (Race Recap)

The Santa Shuffle will likely be my final race of the year, as I don't think there is really any more. I likely don't have the time for one anyhow. I picked up my race kit late Thursday evening. This included my bib, chocolate, hand warmers and not seen here, some tissues, an iRun magazine and a Salvation Army newsletter.


Race kit

Saturday morning was fairly cold. High of -21C, low of -28C with a windchill of -36C. If you dress appropriately, it's not that bad. I've ran in worse and for longer, so it didn't phase me. I picked up Steph that morning and went to the race site. I wore my bright green shell, my Do Not Open Til Xmas pajama bottoms and my Santa hat, of course over several layers of running gear. Waiting for the race to begin, we got our pic taken with Santa.

Picture with Santa

The race began shortly after 10am and was a course mapped out for two loops to make up the 5k. Starting off at the Forks, near the Scotiabank Stage, we ran towards and over the Provencher bridge. Immediately crossing the bridge, we hung a right down an unplowed path. This is where it bottle necked as everyone was running single file. I signaled to Steph to take the road as we followed a modified path that many followed. From there, we ran down the back side of the hospital, before bottle necking again down a flight of stairs to another unplowed pather closer to the river. This led us to a ramp that went to the Queensway Bridge and then another ramp entering the Forks again. We reached the Start/Finish line, which marked the start of the 2nd loop. Here, I started to get tired and slowed down. Steph slowly pulled away at this point. Crossing the bridge, I took the unplowed path, as traffic the 2nd go around wasn't bottlenecking. Still, it was unplowed and wasn't great to run on. When the opportunity arrived, I hopped down the snowbank onto the road. I took several rest walks along the way, especially when I got to the stairs and traffic slowed down again. I ended up following a few people the rest of the way through as they were running the ideal pace for my currently ability. I reached the finish line and got my medal. Steph was waiting patiently in the cold with a friend. My face was frosted over and would have taken a pick, but my phone konked out due to the extreme cold. Honestly, the race itself wasn't bad since I was bundled up. The worst part was waiting before the race and then when we stopped after the race.

We got some hot chocolate which felt nice to hold and warmed up our hands. Well now it was breakfast time. To the Pancake House we go! There was a little bit of a wait for a table, but not too long. I ran into my Janelle and her 2 friends, so I introduced everyone. We were called up for seating at the same time and got adjacent tables. Once my phone warmed up and turned on, we got our photo ops with our medals.

In front of the Christmas Tree at the Pancake House

I ordered bacon, eggs and pancakes while Steph had her glutten free chocolate chip pancakes We ate our meals, then made our way home. Inspired partially by Elf on a Shelf photos that have been floating around, as well as a girl I knew back in high school and her own Elf on a Shelf posts, I decided to start taking photos with Santa Bender. This being the first.