Like many other runners in Halifax and Nova Scotia, this race weekend means so much to me. This race is maritime huge. It has all the distances and consistently brings in thousands of runners. I think last year they had over 14,000 participants! This race weekend is known as the people’s race and for me it’s more about bringing the community together than the run itself! OK…that’s a bit of a fib. Ok … a lie! But still, this recreationally competitive runner loves the community aspect of this and being able to complete races with the run crew💙
My favourite part of the weekend is volunteering for the kids race. One year I got to corral the Grade 4/5s and by the time they lined up we were a run crew, regardless of which school they represented. It was great to see some of these runner kids high five each other at the end….creating kinship that will always be there for them. Most years they have me guiding strollers, 2Kers and 4Kers. This is always fun too as I get to see the parents who let the kiddos go and those that go with them….just to be left in kiddo dust! Last year was the best for me as I also got to guide them up Brunswick.
The Brunswick mountain is a killer. Who in their right mind puts a finish line at the top of a mountain? OK….it’s a hill but it sure feels like a mountain at the end of your race. I had screamed myself hoarse getting those that were stopping a mere 100m from the finish line. Little did I know that would be me the following day at the end of that killer 10K course despite witnessing all of those epic kid finishes !
This year was going to be my 5K year. I’ve done every other distance. The Full, the Half, the 15 and the 10. I was finally going to get at that elusive BN 5K and PB. I’ve been slowly chipping away at my 5K time and had bust through the 25 minute mark, but the sub 24 is beckoning. Even with my Senior Master status🤪
COVID-19, not surprisingly, derailed this plan and to be honest, it’s been a particularly challenging 2020 to date. While the fact that I can’t participate in a race is not the most awful thing that can happen, it really did feel like something was missing this weekend and it was a bit depressing. The weekend kind of snuck up on us and if it weren’t for the wonderful organizers turning this into a free virtual event, it would have gone by with most of us slogging through our new normal running routines with the heaviness of what could have been.
Sherri, the RD, encouraged us to run virtually in our own neighbourhoods and had us uploading results and finish line photos. While it was completely different, you could feel some virtual spirit building. The old run crew began signing up for some distances and then Meghan posed the right question: How would people feel about a BN 15K crew run? With COVID, our schedules have certainly been all over the place, so rearranging things is not always possible. We really missed Jody….but we did have a couple of shout outs to her. Especially when I forgot to restart my watch after a light😂
You know the saying “You get the run that you need”? Well today was that day and as we are downtowners, we actually got to do the real route! There is nothing like a run crew to lift your spirits on a most gorgeous sunny springlike day. We create that safe space where everything and anything can be discussed or debated be it positive or negative, while hitting the streets of our beloved city. Today we got to do just that, we stopped and waved at our precious Northwood residents. We cheered every Blue Nose shirts we could see on all sides of the streets (and there were lots out there). We noticed the pretty flowers. We decided this would be a cruise, not a race, and we certainly were cruising!
I added 4K after our run and that runner community high feeling was soaring. Bumped into Abbass as he was supporting a friend of his attempting a 42.2K around the Commons (1.6K loops)….now that is an accomplishment. 40 minutes later, it was a great chat and cheer, I continued. By then I could feel every step. I had stopped for too long, but every time I found myself lagging, I was buoyed by thoughts of our great running community and what I was witnessing today. Every where I looked it felt like the Blue Nose spirit was there from the beeping cars, the shoutouts, the air high fives and virtual hugs. Not the same, different, but nothing can seem to keep that bluenose spirit down. #NSstrong
So what about that #selfiefail? I’ve been quite proud of these as I’m pretty good at them and thanks to encouragement from Meghan and Sarah, this blog post. If you ever need a good selfie though….trust Allana !
#selfiefail in all it’s glory !