Icebreaker 8K – First Race of the New Decade!

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Icebreaker 8K 2020

Disclaimer: I received a free entry to the Steveston Icebreaker 8K as part of being a WestVanRun Ambassador. Don’t forget to register for the West Van Run (5k / 10k) on March 7 & 8, 2020. Use the code ‘bradley‘ for 15% off!

There’s something comforting about those races that you’ve run a few times before – the familiar faces, the route you know by heart, and the certainty that this race will be just as fun and well-organized as the last time you ran it. The Icebreaker 8K is one of those races!

We’ve had it all at the Icebreaker 8K – we’ve had freezing rain, we’ve had ridiculously high winds, and we’ve had beautiful, clear mornings. This year – despite the crazy snowstorm of the previous week and promises of torrential downpours – the weather was just right: overcast but dry, just the right temperature for a wee race along the Fraser River.

I’ll admit that I wasn’t really ‘feeling’ it when I woke up on Sunday morning. If the weather had been as bad as predicted, I *might* have considered bailing on the whole thing. But I had offered to drive Jeannine down to Steveston, and she offered Starbucks at pickup, so I soldiered on.

And yes, I was glad I went. I saw all those great people I know and love from the running community – some I see on the regular, others I only get to see once in awhile – and it was fantastic. Lots of hugs, encouragement and excitement for the first big race of 2020.

Shannon, Jeannine and I agreed to do a bit of a ‘RunChat’ and headed out at a pace that allowed for some good catchup conversations. I haven’t done a lot of group running in the past year, so the friendly chatter that accompanies those runs was something I was obviously missing out on. 

Around the 3km mark, I was starting to feel a bit more energetic, and kicked up my pace a notch. We started seeing all the folks on their return along the out-and-back course – I love being able to cheer on all my running buddies by name as they pass by!

I got into a decent rhythm after the turnaround and reached the finish line not with a record-breaking time, but with a big smile! I got an awful lot of joy out of this year’s Icebreaker 8K, as I always do!

Photo: Seann Sheriland

The after party is always accompanied by good food – soup, donuts, pizza and cookies – a testament to the consistently top-notch race organization. A bit more schmoozing, and then it was time for some brunch! 

Final Results

Chip Time: 42:48
Place Overall: 187/370
Gender Place: 123/191
Place in Age Category (45-49): 12/16

For complete race results, click here

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