Petra & Jane's Zoo Run

Well, yesterday was a great day for Petra and me.? There were originally four of us registered for this run.? Heather ended up attending a Chi Running workshop with Sandy instead of the run and Tina had a sore back.? So it was just Petra and I who headed down the 401 at 6:45 a.m.? It was dark and raining.? Not a good sign....? When we stopped at the Port Hope rest stop we ended up in the middle of a downpour!? Things did NOT look good.

Petra and I had talked about the run on the way down.? We both agreed that we were just going to go out and treat this as a fun run and not worry about our time.? We said we would start out doing 10 & 1s and see how we felt.? I guess this took a lot of pressure off because neither of us had any expectations of any finishing time.? Just go out and enjoy it.? For some reason Petra has this 10K PHOBIA.? She can run 21K with no problem and 5K with no problem, but 10K just seems to psych her out.? So we wanted to try and turn this around.....? ?8)

I was worried that I hadn't left enough time to get to the Zoo without a rush to pick up our race kits and get ready.? I figured we would get there at 8:30 at the earliest.? Well, we were there not long after 8 a.m.? And by the time we turned off the 401, there was not a cloud in the sky.? :icon_sunny: It was a beautiful day!? Things were looking up!? We managed to miss the LONG line ups to pick up race kits which seemed to form about 10-15 minutes after we got ours.? We also missed the long bathroom lines by going to the port-a-potties at about 9 a.m.? I wasn't impressed when they delayed the start by 10 minutes, because this might have meant another trip (and the line ups were LONG - they could have used more port-a-potties at the start)? However, we both were fine.?

When the race started, it seemed like it took several minutes to get over the start line -- it was actually 30 seconds!? It was very congested in the beginning and you had to be careful that you didn't run into anyone.? It made it hard to get a half decent speed for the first little bit - which was probably just as well.? It was beautiful out and before we hit 1K we had to take off our long-sleeved tops and tie them around our waists.? You know you have come far in your running when you can still run and take a long-sleeved shirt off over your head, and not miss a step!

As we were running along, I realized that we hadn't done the planned walk break.? I commented to Petra about this, and we decided to walk through the water stations instead (there were only two), as we were both feeling pretty good.? We had been a little concerned about hills that were mentioned to us while we were in the washroom line up.? We found that while there were hills but they were basically rolling.? And there were a couple that were bigger, but nothing like we run on our trail runs.? We actually found the rolling hills quite enjoyable (I know - we are sick!).?

It was fun running along and having the giraffes look like they were wondering what the heck was going on -- who were all these people and where were they running to?? The flamingos were just screaming -- I don't think they were impressed either.? The route looped around several times and we found it fun to be able to see the people who were running ahead of us, and those who were behind.? Sometimes it felt like a giant game of crack the whip!?

Before we hit the 5K mark, I said to Petra, "Ok - so we aren't doing the 10 & 1s that we had planned, and did you actually have any expectations for this race other than to have a fun time?"? She replied that she would sort of like to beat her 10K PB which was 1:05.? OK - so now we were getting serious.? We hit the 5K mark at 29 minutes & something....? I wondered if we could keep up the pace.

We were also warned about having to run up stairs.? We were concerned about this, but I had done training here on the flight of stairs from Sidney Street up to Prospect Hill -- about 25 concrete stairs.? So we were surprised when we encountered the stairs and there were about....? five....? :o?

We walked through the water station at 7K.? Somewhere between the 7 & 8 K mark we came across a man staggering along the side of the route.? I don't know if he was dehydrated or low in sugar.? I asked him if he wanted some sugar and he answered OK.? I tried to get my gel out my fuel belt, but all I could grab quickly was a baggie of ju-jubes I had.? ?I actually yanked it out and tossed it to him and said "Here eat some of these - maybe it will help."? All the while I was running.? ?When I looked back he was opening the bag.? I didn't know if they would have helped or not or if it was too late for him.? There was a lot of other people just running by, and nobody was saying anything to him.? I felt bad that I didn't stop, but our fun run had turned into a serious quest for a PB for Petra....? ?(I have since found out from someone else behind us that apparently he had collapsed and the medical people had him under a tree looking after him.)

At one turn there was a couple of volunteers standing there and saying -- "9K, you're almost there".? Petra and I looked at our watches.? They said 52 minutes.? We both said -- that wasn't 9K!? Sure enough - around the corner and up the hill and there was 9K.? I guess you have to be a runner to understand that 8.8K or 8.9K is NOT 9K!?

I had jokingly warned Petra that if we ran the race together, she was NOT to take off and sprint ahead of me at the finish line, or she would no longer be my running friend (this happened to me once with someone else and I still have not forgotten it).? I told her that she was to tell me if she was going to sprint, so we could sprint together.? We talked about our sprint in the last km and she said she didn't think she had enough left to sprint.? We could hear the crowd cheering and the announcer at the finish line.? As we rounded a corner a volunteer yelled 80 meters to go!? I asked him again, how far (I kept thinking of the ladies who said 9K!) and he said 80M.? The next thing I remember hearing was the finish line announcer saying "If you want to get over the finish line in less than an hour, you have 20 SECONDS!"? I said to Petra - "Let's go, we are going to do this in less than an hour!"? ?And we did - we made it in 59:51!!? :ban_dance02: :ban_dance02: :ban_dance02: :ban_dance02: :ban_dance02: And after we got the chips off, I said to Petra -- you know that was the gun time, so we made it over in even less!?

Petra checked the results after they were posted and it was so funny!? I beat her on the gun time (59:51.1 to her 59:51.3) but she beat me on the chip time (59:20.4 to my 59:21.7).? We laughed about that one.? We came 19 & 20 out of 77 in our age group.? And Petra blew her PB out of the water!!? Way to go Petra :yeah: :yeah: :yeah: -- that heart rate training must have paid off!!

After eating bagels, apples, bananas and getting a polaroid photo taken by Reebok, and a shopping trip to the Zoo store, we headed out to meet Sandy, Heather and Lynda Steers for lunch (which lasted till 3 p.m. and was a lot of fun!).? Then a shopping trip to Costco.? Got home at 7 p.m.

Another great 12 hour day of running, eating and shopping!? And a PB for Petra.? What more could we ask for??

P.S.? This is probably the first race report that is actually longer than the race! :lol:? :lol: