Okay... so I know many of you don't like links but it is a pain to have to put in all the photos and format everything... so here is my blog post about my first race.

Been there... done that... have the race shirt to prove it

Thanks to all the kind members here and everyone else who sponsored me. I received an award for collecting the most donations.

I can't wait until the next race...

I used to race locally at our Fair, got smaller and smaller so they gave it up. Cool to out sprint younger folks at the end. :) 5K.
Duane

Congratulations and the race, the time, and the fund raising.

BTW, you are looking svelte in the pictures.

Well done, you should be proud. Nick is right you look great,congratulations on the race and finish!

This is a great accomplishment, you and your family must be proud. Thanks for sharing the journey here. On to the next one yeah? Keep that forward progress going.

Watch out this could getting addicting!

Sorry, I forgot the most important part. Doh! Great job raising the most donations. :)
Duane

Thanks everyone!

I was so shocked at just how much people donated. It was amazing to be able to do that and to know that people believed in me.

The next race is the trail relay on May 27. Then I might be running another 5K on the evening of June 5th. I'll be running, tentatively, a 5K on September 23rd in support of our rivers (should be a good one to really pick up my pace as it is the 5K I always ran in training)... and... I don't know what else.

Apparently you are correct. I am addicted. This is almost as big an obsession as hiking and now I even have incentive to lighten my pack even more.

>> I placed 292 out 314 and I was last in my age group. I finished upright and smiling. Mission accomplished!

Way to go! This is exactly the attitude to have... You're not competing with everyone else. You're competing with your own expectations, and you kicked the snot out of them!

The flip side is, now you know you can do 44 minutes. Shooting for 40 next time?

Good luck on the next one!

Thanks. Shooting for 43 or below but that will be time after next. The trail relay consists of 2 loops done about 1 1/2 hours apart and at 4K each... straight up a downhill ski route. I should post the elevation chart. Seeing as I am used to running on flat areas, this will be a challenge. I don't have a time goal or pace in mind, simply this... upright and breathing without any sprains or broken appendages. It will also be in the height of mosquito and blackfly season so maybe that will make me move a little faster... lol. If I can finish the loop in under 55 minutes I'll be a happy camper. The ladies I am running with just want to do this for fun. I am hoping that my history as a backpacker will help me on this run (if anything I've hiked this area so I know what it is like).

Edited by Laurie_Ann on 05/01/2012 04:33:55 MDT.

so... here I go... off to camp for the Chico TREAD. The race is on Sunday but we have friends participating in the Mountain Bike race so we will cheer them on!!

I plan on doing at least one or two 4K loops up and down the ski hills with my teammates over the six hour relay and they are calling for thunderstorms... lol. Wish me luck....

off I go...

Here is the link if you are interested.

TREAD

Lam. How was the race? T

Tim... it was tough. Hiking up those hills on a day hike is one thing. Running 4.2 km loops on the course the day after a huge mountain bike relay is harrowing. The soil is very sandy so I had to watch my footing. It didn't help that I twisted my ankle at 9 pm the night before and barely slept for the throbbing. Oddly enough it was fine after I started walking around Sunday pre-race.

I ended up doing my first lap in 44:03 and my second in 48:51 (I had some blood sugar issues between laps and was walking a bit more on the second). We placed 4th with 11 laps over the 6 hours. Not bad for our first race. It was SO much fun that I am running it again next year. Goal will be to do each lap under 39:00. We aren't sure if we will have the same teams... if not we've got a mixed team in mind.

Here is a photo of my team later in the day at camp.



My team captain waiting for the gun.



This is Bryan going up one of the hills. All of his 4 laps were sub-30.



And my son Tobias... he was also sub-30 on his 3 laps. One was 25:10. That kid is speedy. This was not an easy course.

Edited by Laurie_Ann on 05/30/2012 08:07:17 MDT.

Way to go Laurie Ann!

Thanks Ken. It was a blast.

Laurie Ann -- Thanks for the pictures and way to go and you get to support a good charity too. Ontario is awesome in many ways.

thank you...

If any of you want to come up and run it next year... you just need to make a team (solo, 2, 3 or 4) and register. Camping was $5 per night per person. It was so much fun!! The bike race is huge but there were only a few hundred runners - so the more the merrier.

I believe it is always the weekend that Memorial Day falls on. It is only about 1 hour north of Toronto (if that).