Race Day!

In order to catch the train, I woke up at 4:30 AM, ate some cereal out of a coffee mug and headed to Olympic Park. I ran into David Guss on the train (he had a late night, so he looked a little sleepy). I got to the start line in plenty of time to warm up. The weather was great, not sure what the temperature was but probably around 12C to 15C, some clouds and little wind. The start was staggered, with the younger guys starting first, then the younger women (that's me), then older guys, etc. The course was two loops around the Olympic Park, very flat. I was at the 5km mark at 24 minutes, 10km at 50 minutes and 15km at 1:15. I was faster than I had expected, but then I started getting really tired. A woman in my age group was just in front of me, so I focused on staying with her. We finished a few seconds apart at the very end! I came in at 1:48:03. My best finish, so I was quite happy and relieved. Phew.

They gave out medals for all of the age groups. There was a guy, Bob, who was in the 75 to 79 age group who finished in 1:50ish. Very impressive.

Lisa, my friend from Sydney, and her friend Chantel came down to watch the finish. It was so nice of them, especially considering it was so early on a Sunday morning. Thanks girls!

Colin, Wendy Shank's husband, found me at the finish area. I run with Wendy in the Tues/Thurs 10K group. Colin came out on his own, so we went for dinner and then on to the Closing Ceremonies that night.