Vancouver International Marathon 5/1/05

You know you're in a cool country when the five-dollar bill has hockey players on it. No dead presidents! No Latin! Of course, there is that nationwide hearing loss problem: "eh?" Anyhow, about 15,000 participants were involved in the Vancouver International Marathon on May 1, 2005. Fortunately, about 10,000 did the HALF marathon (7:00am start) and only about 5,000 joined yours truly for the full 26.2 (7:30am start). The weather was a brilliant 15 degrees... Oh, that's Celsius, eh? A few uphills at mile 17 and 24. The only complaint I have is that the full marathon course was interwoven with the half marathon, so sometimes it was crowded and runners had to PAY ATTENTION to signs instructing some participants to turn and others to go straight. These signs were overhead, and I generally prefer to stare at the ground in front of me. Thanks to the race volunteers and their bullhorns for keeping me on course. My new definition of a negative split: You've just run the first half of a marathon on pace for a 3:14:30 finish, but then your physical energy level turns "negative." As the finish clock gets closer, you watch your PR time click by and then your mental energy turns "negative" for starting too fast. But then you celebrate your finish - even if it is six seconds slower than your PR - by having a banana "split" and thus turning a "negative split" into a joyful sugar induced coma. Oh, that must explain why I can't hear so well now, eh?

Final time - 3:20:20 (eighth in division).

Click here for Vancouver Marathon Results