Army Run - 2014 Edition

So seeing as I was already in the province of Ontario for a course I decided that I would spend an extra day, travel to Ottawa, and enjoy racing with 12,000 others. I travelled up from Borden on Friday after our course was over and had dinner at Mom and Dad's and then went down to race registration at City Hall. The athlete check-in process was quick and then I spent a few minutes touring the expo before heading home. I of course made a point of stopping by A-1 Imports to check-in and say hi.

I took it easy for the remainder of Friday and got a good nights rest. Saturday morning I did a light 5km run with a few race intensity excels. Seeing as my course in Borden had wrecked havoc on my bike training in the last couple weeks I figured I should try and get a solid ride in at IM race intensity. I headed out for a plan 100km of riding but shortly after 75km I hit a pothole which effectively shreaded my rear tire. Thankfully I was only a couple kms from a restaurant and a phone....Dad to the rescue.

I had a good nights sleep Saturday night and woke at 0530hrs for beakfast and then went back to bed for an hour. We headed downtown at 0745 and picked up my oldest sister, Kelly enroute. We arrived at the race start shortly after 0815.

Prerace with Mom and Dad.

The 1/2 marathon started at 0930 and I was fortunate to be able to line up at the front and right next to Alex Boule, a great CAF runner. Alex told me he was planning to run 1:15 so I figured I'd try and run with him for most of the race. My goal going into the race was just a solid "training" run but I was optimistic that I could 1:15 and was hoping top ten. The howitzer went off at precisely 0930 and we were off. I settled in behind Alex for the first few kms and there was a group of about 8-10 of us running together. They were running a little faster then I wanted, but knew running with a group was mentally easier then running alone. The group slowly broke up and by the time we hit the 10km marker I was struggling to hang on.

Awaiting the start!

I decided to let the gap open and start running my own race. Alex was still just ahead of me and I figured I'd just try my best to keep him in my sights. He was running very strong, which was no surprise. The last 5kms were a real struggle and the rain in the last couple kms caused the road to be quite slippery. I finished in 1:16:18 which was good enough for 8th OA, and 4th in M30-34. Totally happy with the result given that the current focus is Kona.

And we are off!

The Army Run is a fantastic race and the support from the crowd is always top notch. Running through the Governor General's residence, Rideau Hall, was always a cool addition this year.