Epic Canadian – Run for Canada

I’m very pleased to welcome another guest writer to my blog – my friend, Andrea! I’ve worked with Andrea for a few years, and we run together from time to time. When I heard about her upcoming travels, I asked if she’d share her experiences. Here is Andrea’s Epic Canadian report, all the way from the Maritimes…

About 5.5 weeks ago, I sought an opportunity to check something off my bucket list – I signed up for my first out of province run, the Epic Canadian in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia! I’ve been running more consistently over the last few months and I thought, why not sign up for a race while I’m still in shape? I searched for races in July in Nova Scotia as I knew I was going to be there to visit my brother. I found the Epic Canadian right away and I got super excited.

Epic Canadian a 3-day event with different distance runs (5km, 6.1km, 10km, and 21.1km). I decided to sign up for two back-to-back runs on July 1^st – the Maple Leaf 10km run with my brother, and the Canadian 5km run with my mom. The timing worked out because my flight arrived on July 1^st at 2am, and the 10km run started at 8am. I knew I would be tired but I couldn’t miss the opportunity. I also really liked the beautiful Canada 150 medals! You get a medal for each run and if you sign up for more than one run, you get a bonus medal! There was no better way to celebrate Canada’s 150^th birthday than running the Epic Canadian.

Pre-Race

My brother picked up the Epic Canadian race package three days before race day at the Atlantic Superstore near the start line. There was no line up and the packages were neatly organized in a zipped bag. The goodies included a race bib, Canada 150 t-shirt, and a limited edition Canada 150 buff.

 

The night before my flight I slept only three hours because I’m a last minute packer so yes, I have no excuse. I was hoping to catch up on my sleep on my flight to Toronto, but I sat near a baby who was crying nonstop so I couldn’t sleep. I felt very exhausted and was looking forward to getting to my hotel in Halifax so I could rest a few hours before the race. When I landed Toronto to connect to Halifax, I found out my flight was delayed for two hours. I had some midnight Pad Thai from Thai Express – this was going to be my last meal before the race. When I landed Halifax, it was 4:15am on race day – less than 4 hours before the race start time!

Race Day

The Maple Leaf 10km – July 1^st, 2017, 8AM

With only 30 precious minutes of sleep, I was exhausted but still excited and determined to run. The weather did not look promising – it was cloudy and chilly. Getting to the race was a smooth process. The event was sponsored by Subaru so we were able to park in the “VIP” parking lot for Subaru’s which was just steps away from the start line. We arrived at 7:50AM, took a selfie, and sang O Canada. The horn sounded and everyone was off to run!

  

I ran with my brother for probably less than 5 minutes before he dashed off. I kept my pace and after the 2km mark, it started drizzling. The route was quite scenic, especially by Lake Banook, but a lot hillier than I expected. Running uphill was hard and running downhill was slippery! Each kilometre marker featured an epic Canadian*, which was pretty neat. People and children were cheering us on and giving high fives.

*Editor: Some our most famous Canadians – people like Justin Trudeau & Laura Secord!

It rained harder and harder and by the time I was in my last 2kms, it was POURING and I was drenched. My runners carried puddles of their own and with each step I felt the water splash inside my runners. Water was dripping off the tip of my cap. At this point I was just relieved that I wore my jacket and cap. The rain motivated me to run faster so I could get out of the rain sooner.

As I dodged the puddles and approached the finish line, I heard them announce my name and that I was from Vancouver, BC, which reminded me that I was actually running a race outside of BC! I never thought I’d be a runner and I used to not be able to run even a minute without stopping. It meant so much to me to come this far in my running career. I was so happy when I crossed the finish line – mostly because it meant getting out of the rain, but of course, also completing the race. I was soaked and it was still pouring like crazy. There was not a lot of undercover area in the post-race space so I didn’t explore and went straight to the car to rest before the next race.

The Canadian 5km – July 1^st, 2017, 9:30AM

It was drizzling but luckily it wasn’t pouring. The Canadian 5km route was covered by the 10km run, but this run (walk) was for the mama bear. My mom is not a runner and she did not train for this at all, but I’m proud of her for trying. Since we walked part of it, I was able to take more photos of the route!

   

Post Race

Still drizzling, but we were finally able to take photos with our medals! My phone was all wet but I still had to bring it out to take some photos by the finish line. We met Dartmouth’s MP, Darren Fisher, who came to us to hand out some cool Canada 150 pins and we took a selfie! (Selfie credit: Darren Fisher @DarrenFisherNS)

  

Overall, the event was very well organized. Although I was totally not expecting to enter the race with lack of sleep, hilly routes, and pouring rain, now I can return home to Vancouver with an ‘epic’ experience to share and some medals to show-and-tell!

Final Results – The Maple Leaf 10km

Chip Time: 1:02:12 (not a PB, but 5:20 faster than my last 10km Sun Run in April 2017!)
Average Pace: 6:18/km
Overall Place: 279/536
Age Category Place: 20/43

Final Results – The Canadian 5km

Chip Time: 44:41
Average Pace: 9:13/km
Overall Place: 556/701
Age Category Place: 51/58

Learn more about the Epic Canadian:

Website: https://epiccanadian.ca/
Facebook: Epic Canadian
Twitter: @EPIC_Canadian