Winning Entry #1:
for a NIKE Triax S27 Super
Postnatal Performance
by Sylvie Ingram – Chilliwack, BC
At the start we seek the bushes,
Drop our spandex, bare our tushes.
Bladders voided, we rush back out,
We hear "Two minutes!"—the marshals shout.
We check out the competition,
Pondering our crucial mission:
Beat all those who look less fit,
Out jog, out run, out sprint, out wit.
The buzzer sounds, the race is on,
Oh dear, where have my partners gone?
Amidst the Nike and Adidas,
I spot a Lulu Lemon ass.
There she is, my running sister,
Thank the stars I haven't missed her.
She and Lisa—fellow mothers,
Have trained with me, they feel like brothers.
Down Spanish Banks, we stride and lope,
Adrenalin pumping—runner's dope.
But as we near the dreaded hill,
We start to feel a little ill.
Burrard is looming, never ending,
Ahead we see the line of runners wending.
We soldier on with heavy breasts,
Now comes the sea wall—final test.
Reprieve! We see familiar faces,
Come to cheer us in our races.
There's a husband, there's a child,
They cheer like chimpanzees gone wild.
They offer food, but we refuse,
Those kind of treats could make us lose.
You can't tempt us; we've come this far,
On peanut butter PowerBar.
We plod on, to sea we go,
Studying our running foe.
How many gels does one girl need?
Does that shooter belt mean extra speed?
And look at him... white haired and stooped
His bony shoulders badly drooped.
There's a runner—four foot one,
With legs that short how does she run?
We pass the young, the old, the blind,
We feel ruthlessly unkind.
We smile and snicker, whisper, mock,
When we pass a tired jock.
"Came out too fast," we cluck with glee,
Thank goodness that it wasn't me.
We round the corner, heading south
Like Bjorn Dali—foaming mouth.
And now we note, the smallest chick,
Of our three girl team has extra kick.
We urge her on and cat call loud,
To let her know we're truly proud.
She's set the pace, and pushed our splits,
From UBC to scenic Kits.
Now one more click... we make the turn,
My blonde friend and I, we feel the burn.
We tell each other—"Girl, you rock!"
Then up our speed and no more talk.
Salty eye and clammy palm,
I dream of rubs with Tiger Balm.
Could it be? The end is here?
Yes, I hear the people cheer.
We surge again and muscle through
We grunt and finish, one time for two.
Fist pumping yells and water chugging,
Kisses, congrats, euphoric hugging.
The media, they buzz like flies,
We just want to find our guys.
There they are with babes in strollers,
Smiles so big, we see their molars.
It feels groovy to be done,
The thirteen mile, post-natal run.
"Marathon Mommas" after post-natal run.
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Honourable Mention, cont.
Ernest Hawker – Surrey, BC
My PW (personal worst) was set at the 2001 Vancouver Scotiabank Half
Marathon. Two years ago, undertrained and overconfident, I'd been a late
entry after deciding to join friends up from California in search of
PR's and prize money (they got both).
This year, though, things were looking
good for an assault on my 4-year old Half-Marathon "PB".
Ramping up for a fall marathon, I was already seeing good improvements
in fitness. With unseasonably cool weather on race day, all I needed to
do race hard and race smart.
Many members of my running club
(Vancouver Falcons Athletic Club) were in Alberta running the Kananaskis
Relay (which they won), but we still managed about a dozen participants
and were entered in the team division.
For the first few miles, I ran
alongside a club member, Jo. I didn't have a watch, so Jo called the
splits. It was a fast start—despite splitting 2k in under 7 minutes,
we were still working our way up. By 4k, Jo and I caught a group of 4 or
5 runners which included female masters standout, Joan McGrath. Shortly
after, my exuberance got the best of me. I surged hard on a downhill,
leaving Jo and Joan behind and caught another group with master runner
Phil Green and another club-mate, Jeremy. We passed 5k and Jeremy called
the split at 17:35.
Feeling good, I ran out ahead alone and
found both a minor headwind and a small but worsening side-ache. I slowed
and Jeremy and Phil passed me immediately. Not long after, Jo and
Joan passed me too.
As she ran by, Joan offered me a TUMS
tablet, which I declined. I’d never heard of anyone taking an antacid
for a side-ache, let alone carrying them with them in a race!
Over the next few miles, I ran alone
and was occasionally passed. At halfway, a nearby runner offered a split
time of 39:30 (1:19 pace), but the way I was fading, I had no illusions
about hanging on.
As I crested the Burrard Street Bridge,
more runners caught me and I recognized Mynor Campos. Mynor is in the
same age group and we often chat after races. Mynor also volunteers as
an elite runner coordinator and often has Kenyan or Spanish road
warriors in tow.
I knew this race was also the BC Athletics Half Marathon Championships. While I had no idea how many
Masters men were ahead of me, I knew that Mynor would make one more.
So when Mynor encouraged me to “go
with him” I did just that. It hurt, but I thought I would just see how long
I could hang on for.
Surprisingly, I began to feel better.
In fact, a few kilometres later, I passed Mynor on the seawall. The
surge sputtered though and Mynor quickly overtook me (again). As we “dueled”
along the seawall, we caught a few other runners and four of us ran the
next few kilometres with Mynor leading the group while I hung on in
back, hoping the pace didn’t pick up much more. The new strategy was
to try and keep within 100 metres and hope for enough finishing speed to
win out a sprint finish.
I’ve run the seawall enough to know that when we reached the underpass to Beaver Lake, there’d be
about 800 metres left. Now I don’t normally kick until I can see the
finish or until 300 metres to go, whichever comes last, but with so much
ground to make up I’d have to go early. As I reached the tunnel I
emptied everything out. Mynor was about 70 metres ahead and jockeying
with two other runners. I caught them with about 400 metres to go. As I
passed, nobody went with me, but I ran as hard as I could anyway.
As I got to the finish, I was in such
oxygen debt I collapsed a few feet after the first chip mat and lay
there for about 30 seconds. Even though I’d just raced him for the
last 5 miles Mynor congratulated me and helped me to my feet. I thanked
him too, as I am certain I would have run at least a minute slower
without him pushing me.
My final time of 1:21:26 (gun time) was
a 14-second PR, second in age-group (netting out the top masters), and
third Master in the BC Athletics competition.
It was a good day for VFAC also. We
managed a win in the Team Division and many members either placed in
their age division or set Personal Bests.
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Marci Steelman – Santa Barbara, CA
I loved Vancouver for the race, the people, the scenery and the feeling of
pride I got when my daughter got to see mommy "run fast". Thank
You so much for memories that will last a lot longer than my sore muscles.
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Winning Entry #2:
for a NIKE Triax S27 Super
A Runner is Born!
by Leanne Dean – Pitt Meadows, BC
What started as a personal goal to get myself into better shape and to
get off the couch has turned into an obsession!
My goal was to complete
the Sun Run in under and hour and half... mission accomplished with a
nice time of 1 hour 6 min. I thought I would go home after this very
rainy cold day, hang-up my shoes and be glad I had accomplished my goal.
But it was too late, the seed had been planted, the bug had grown, the
obsession had begun. I felt euphoric when I crossed over that finish
line and knew that I just had to have that feeling again.
I mentioned to
a friend about my new-found obsession and she challenged me to a full
marathon, being very confident and from just achieving my goal I
immediately agreed, but suggested we finish a half marathon first. We
both agreed and signed up. The training wasn't easy and at times we both
thought we had lost our minds, but that obsession just kept growing.
Race day arrives and we are both nervous,
anxious and somewhat giddy.
It's a grey day in Vancouver, but a great day for a RUN! There were
times during the race where we both laughed at ourselves and doubted
ourselves, but we continually reminded each other about where we had
started and that if we just took one step at a time the finish line
would eventually appear!
As I rounded the corner and could see in
the distance the red Scotiabank banner I became over-run with emotion, I had
to hold down the lump in my throat, the tears started to swell in my
eyes, my skin began to tingle and I got my my finishing legs, the
feeling of crossing the feeling line was unexplainable—I was completely
overcome with emotion and could not hold back the tears. With my legs
screaming at me and the tears a-flowing, I knew that a Runner had been
Born!
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Honourable Mention
Kristie Congram – Vancouver, BC
We were going to run for half the 1/2 marathon and walk the rest. We
hadn't trained, we hadn't run more than 11km before but it was a
beautiful course and even better, it was downhill. Well, my running
buddy Sheila Wex and I were still running at 18km and from "I just
want to finish" we came in while there was still an official timer
going!
I managed to meet my dream of under 3 hours (2:59:59) and my
buddy wasn't far behind. Then came the topper, I won the trip to the
Toronto Waterfront Marathon in September! I tripped my way onto the
podium—literally—to accept a prize that means I now get to run twice
the distance I hadn't intended to run this time! I do think I will train
for this one though.
I plan on making the Scotiabank 1/2 Marathon a part
of my life for a long time to come. I might even win my age category,
eventually.
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Mark Laughlin – Vancouver BC
Wow! Fifty-four and wanting more—
I've never done a Half before.
It's a perfect West Coast kinda day,
A little rain, Vancouver grey
We're in the rainforest—what the hey!
I see my family on the way,
They cheer me on: "Come on Dad!"
I know they'll be there at the end—
They're the ones I'm running for:
My kids and wife: my dearest friend.
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Jane Troup – Halfmoon Bay, BC
I only had 4km to go in the half marathon when I developed some vision
difficulties. I had blurred circles in my vision, a classic symptom of a
visual migraine. They are frightening and if I had not had one
previously and hadn't known what it was, I would not have continued.
Very scary. The ocean, the seawall and runners were blurring in and out
of my vision and I became fearful that I would have to stop if it got
worse and I couldn't see well enough to continue.
Looking for some
company and diversion to detour my mind, I came up alongside a couple
near whom I'd been running all along (they both wore very bright,
wild-patterned and coloured fitness shorts!). I told them my problem and
asked them if I could run alongside them, wanting some company and
distraction. We exchanged names and general running histories, as
participants do in a race.
After a few minutes, I was not feeling well
at all and told Diane and Eric that I'd have to walk and that they
should just go on ahead, I would be okay. They were having none of that
and insisted on walking with me. When I once again protested and
insisted they keep to their race, they were hearing nothing of it. If I
was unwell and had to walk, then they would walk too. I didn't even know
these people!
As we walked along, I was feeling overwhelmed by their
kindness and sort of guilty about what my vision was doing to their
race. So I said, "Okay, if you will only run if I run, then I will
run. And run I did, right to the end.
As if they hadn't already done
enough for a total stranger, when we were approaching the finish line,
Diane insisted I run ahead saying" You go ahead. You take us over
the line. Go for it!" After the race, they helped me through the
crowds and even found me after I'd been out of their sight for a few
minutes.
It wasn't a great run for me: the weather was wet and cold, I
had travelled from out of town and was running on my own with no one to
rejoice with at the finish line and the visual migraine was the straw
that nearly broke this camel's back. Eric and Diane kind of saved the
day for me. I could have gotten through it without them I think but
their kindness is an experience I will never forget. It was a fine
example of the compassion and selflessness that can happen in a race.
That was the big story I came home with that day, not my time or my IT
Band, but the kindness of strangers making the world seem smaller and
more caring. Thank you Eric and Diane, wherever you are. You made a big
difference that day. I hope that you read this.
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Zdena Novy – Maple Ridge, BC
On Sunday, June 22/2003 I ran my first half marathon. The plan was simple
- don't talk, jog slowly, conserve energy and finish under 2 hours.
As I
completed my 8th km, a woman asked a simple question: "Where are
we?" I thought the answer was obvious so I said: "Vancouver, of
course." "No, no, no... I know we are in Vancouver but exactly
WHERE in Vancouver?"
I realized immediately that this woman didn't
know the area so I gave her a little bit of background information. Since
I was running by myself and already "dying", I thought good
conversation might keep my mind preoccupied so I asked the next question:
"...and where are you from?"
The lady explained to me that she
has just arrived from England in order to run this particular race. You
see, she was celebrating her 50th birthday and the run was her treat.
"Wow, how exciting!" I replied. For the next 6km we ran together
and talked about her life in England as well as my life here in Canada.
The whole experience felt like we knew each other for a long time.
Suddenly, on 14th km my knees gave up and I had very difficult time
keeping up with her. I told her to go ahead and wait for me at the finish
line. I remember saying: "There we can exchange our names/addresses
and perhaps we can visit each other in the near future." She replied:
"Oh, that would be wonderful." She disappeared around the corner
and I never saw her again...I finished my first 1/2 marathon in 1h and 50
min.
P.S. Help me find her! Thanks ZDENA
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