Arrrrrgghhh Matey!
This was my first time running Maritime Race Weekend.
It did NOT disappoint!
I registered for the "Tartan Twosome" Challenge, which gave you entry into the Sunset 5k on Friday evening and your choice of race on Saturday (I opted for another 5k as the route is relatively flat). This would give me an extra medal and some sweet swag!
Sunset 5k
So, since I worked on Friday, I hopped on the Ferry and took the Public Limo to Fisherman's Cove in Eastern Passage which is the backdrop for this Pirate themed weekend :) It consists of small "houses" which have local merchants selling their creations and restaurants to quiet your rumbling belly after walking (or running, lol) around the boardwalk. It is the Start, and Finish Line for each race.
I arrived early and checked my bag with a couple of the awesome volunteers. There are so many people that gave their time to make sure everything ran like clockwork. (A HUGE shout out to all the volunteers who make Maritime Race Weekend happen!)
Corrals were set up so that you could line up according to your finish time with a spot for the 5k walkers as well.
There were Pirates everywhere (lots of runners ran in costume) and of course, music to match!
When we started out there was some congestion. I ran with my friend Shannon for the first half, but when we got to the turnaround point, I got tied up in a kerfuffle of people and lost her. I took a walk break to get back to a spot where I could run without running into anyone, lol.
The views on this race are amazing. I wish I had taken out my phone to take some photos, but I had forgotten my Garmin and my phone was my GPS (Strava) so I was trying to NOT look at it, lol.
Once I got back to Fisherman's Village and hit the corner before the Finish Line I kicked it into high gear.
I PB'D MY 5K!!!!
29:25 was my chip time. Strava had me at 29:30.
I was able to RING THE BELL :)
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| Medal #1 - LOVE IT! |
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| It's the PB/First Race Bell! |
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| Oh yeah I rang that PB Bell! Eeeee! |
My friend Andrea gave me a lift home. I had a hot bath, a quick snack and got ready for bed. I had to race again the next morning!
Sunrise 5k
Saturday started at 5am.
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| Good Morning Moon! |
In order to get half decent parking I had to leave at 6am. Coffee, dry toast, gather gear (and yes, I remembered my Garmin, lol) and get out the door.
It was chilly. I wore my Badass Mother Runner shirt with a very light jacket. (Thank you Another Mother Runner Store!)
I met up with Andrea in the parking area we scoped out the night before as we sat in traffic on the way home, lol. We hung out and had a quick snack before joining the throng of runners walking down to Fisherman's Cove.
This is THE morning. 5k, 10k, half and full marathon. We hit the porta potties right away and it was a good thing we did. That lineup rivaled the corral lineup, lol. We met up with another RunAtCan Twitter bud (Catherine) and had a little shake out run.
We corralled and had a mini warm up (both races they had 3rd Degree Training do the warmup for the runners - thanks guys!) and waited for the race to start.
And not to worry, the Pirates were out in full force on Saturday as well :)
Did I say how beautiful this run is??
It was congested getting out of the gate and for the first little bit, but we found a "spot" and kept that as much as we could. Andrea was running the 10k, so we bid each other farewell as I hit the turn around point. Now I had room to move ;) I had an issue with my water (it would not slip back into the belt, lol) so I had to walk to get it rectified.
I was able to wave at Tim on my way back (that is my first picture above, lol) and enjoyed the view as I came back into Fisherman's Cove. I kicked it and came in at 30:33!
The Pirates gave me my second medal and my super awesome challenge medal!
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| Yahooooooooooo! Medals 2 and 3 :) |
I met up with my friend Jill at the finish line. She had her PB that morning!! We are both running the BLT 5k in October (look out world!)
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| Super Happy Jill and Amy! |
I got myself a bagel (from Izzy's Bagels, soooo gooood), some trail mix, and waited for the rest of my friends to run in.
(There were quite a few of my RunAtCan and Twitter peeps running, it was great to see some of you!)
The weather was amazing. You could not have asked for a better weekend.
Once "The Gang" made it in and got some food, we went and took the ticket off of our bibs and a got our post race beer!
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| Part of The Gang, having beer, lol. |
All in all, this is one race I would definitely recommend for anyone looking to run here in Nova Scotia. It was well run, the volunteers were amazing, and the atmosphere is fantastic!
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| A girl with her Pirate Booty! |
