Ottawa Race Weekend

BBQ Set up

Yesterday I woke up to grey skies, but by early afternoon the sun had come out and it was starting to warm up. It was a perfect day for the Great Glebe Garage Sale and the first couple races of the Ottawa Race Weekend.

Matt used his charm to attract the woman customers...

Corey worked out for endless hours in the gym just for this occasion.

Matty P manning the barbecue

Every May, a local community here in Ottawa called "the Glebe" organizes a huge garage sale. And I mean huge. The streets are swamped with people and pretty much everyone in the area is trying to sell or give away their stuff. It is a fun occasion if you are wanting to hunt around for items, but if you are trying to get anywhere downtown you can expect a very long wait. People cross the street left and right and against the lights and at random times. I had to put all of my driving skills to work as I...

1) attempted to drive to Landsdowne park, (fail: they charged for parking and all I wanted to do was pick up my race kit!)

2) find some parking close to the pavilion where the expo was, (another fail: there were cars everywhere and in a humongous Honda Ridgeline I couldn't exactly "squeeze" into any of the convenient small little spots. Parallel parking is also a challenge)

3) make my way over to Kunstadt to help out with our fundraising barbecue (success!: after it took me about half an hour to drive one kilometer)

I gave up on trying to get my race kit for the 10km scheduled for that evening, and figured I would just walk from the store to the pavilion through the crowds of people. Luckily my amazing friend, Jamie Stephenson, went with his pup and picked it up for me!!

Jade and her winning smile


Anyways, the Bytown Triathlon club set up a bbq next to the Kunstadt in the Glebe in order to help raise money for training, travel, races, etc. I am not sure of the numbers yet, but I think we sold a fair number of burgs, dogs, and refreshments.

Cheese!


Also, last night (I say night because the race didn't start until 6:30pm!) I participated in the 10km race here in Ottawa. It was windy and warm, and the course was more challenging then I expected it to be, but overall it was a great experience. Jamie was nice enough to run with me, and it made the 10km go by so much faster!
The start went out just fine (fast, as usual, but what do you expect after we have all been stadning around in a coral for 15minutes!!) and I eased into a comfortable pace. My goal was to reamin consistent, and if anything make the last half a bit faster then the first. At the half way point we have to cross over a bridge and run up the other side of the canal to the finish. It was uphill and as soon as we turned around and started heading back the wind was right in our faces. The wind and the hill took a fair bit out of me, and my last haf was actually slower! I talked to Jamie after the race and we both agreed that around kilometer 7 it felt like the end would never come!

The Elite women left about 5minutes before the rest of the field, and then the rest of the 10 000 people were given the go-ahead. I was happy to catch a couple of them near the end, but I was upset today when I learned that I could have won $350 USD had I had the intelligence to register as an Elite! Instead I got a finishers medal and I wasn't even mentioned in the paper!!

Next time...

I will try to find some pictures of the race to put up soon! Other than that have a great rest-of-weekend and thank you to everyone who came out to support the runners and cheer us on!! It makes all the difference.

And good luck to everyone racing the half and the marathon today. Especially my friends Francine Eastwood, Dr. Francovich, Ms. Chan, Ryan Cain, and Dave M. and any others that I may have forgotten!

Link to the results for the 10km
for the 5km

Congrats to Matt Polson (first competitive 10km race ever!) Matt Vierula (rocked the 10km with style) Olivier Mouyau (possible the world's coolest pace bunny) Jade Gregory (coming back from a hard winter - owned the 5km) Jasmine Labonte (sub 25 woo-hoo!!) and Francis Hupe (our french connection)
And some of the younger Bytown members; Sam Klus (great race at OFSAA East regionals only a couple days earlier!) Elyse Charrier, Alec Jarvis, Pat Smith, and many others!