Hartwell Half Marathon

Hartwell Half Marathon
Aurora Ontario
http://www.hartwellchallenge.com/

This winter was a different one for me with respect to training. I’ve quickly learned that being a devoted father certainly cuts into ones training time, and preparation for the upcoming season. What used to be a 5 run week in the snow with a few spin classes thrown in had now turned into a 2 run week… with little to no spinning at all. Easy to feel sorry for oneself, but if given the chance – would I do anything differently? Not on your life. Family comes first.So with the lack of training over the winter months, I was looking forward to my first real race of the season the Hartwell Half Marathon. I use this race to gauge my fitness level (both where I’m at and what I need to do to reach where I want to be at come June), as well as to hook up with friends that I’ve helped coach over the previous months as they competed in a 5km race. The Hartwell Half is one of those races that consists of some smokin’ hills, and is considered by some to be one of the toughest Half Marathons to compete in. So needless to say, I was a bit concerned come race day.

The morning of brought a bit of nervousness, and curiosity to the table. Part of me didn’t want to race at all, and the other part of me was wondering how the race might go. The forecast was calling for a cooler day with probable chances of showers. Fantastic. As I loaded up my gear (Gels, Visor, Gatorade etc.), I made my way to the local Tim Horton’s for my cup of Java and managed my way to the race site.

The Hartwell Half is a tribute race to a Marathoner by the name of Robert Victor Hartwell. Bob was a local businessman, a town councilor at one point, 2001 Citizen of the year, and a good friend to many. He passed suddenly while competing in the Toronto International Marathon at the age of 54.

Once the gun went off and the race began, I set into my steady pace pretty well off the get go. I watched as a good friend of mine Ian Gaskell pretty well left me in his dust (a common occurrence at most races we partake in), and I also felt the rain begin to fall… or the beginning of it anyway. Once I hit roughly the 4 kilometer mark the hills had pretty well started, but I had already settled into my comfortable pace so I picked them off one at a time. The skies decided to open up in and around the 8 kilometer marker, and despite running and sweating – it started to get pretty cold. Although I was wet, cold and not in the running shape that I’m used to being at this time of the year – I felt pretty good. Fatigue didn’t really come into play until approximately the 17 kilometer point where all I wanted to do was curl up with a blanket in one of the Police cruisers that blocked each of the several intersections. To make things just that much worse, my ipod decided that instead of playing the folder that I purposely created for running (high energy music with a good tempo) it would place itself in the disco folder and stay there for the entire race. I had the thing wired through all my layers and zipped up behind me so changing the folder wasn’t an option. Great.

As I made my way down the final 2 kilometer stretch, the rain decided to stop (figures) and the crowds that lined the streets cheered me in. Despite the lack of training, slopping wet conditions, hills that still make my legs sore just to think about and the never ending Donna Summer and Hues Corporation disco songs, I had finally finished my third Hartwell Half Marathon. Would you believe I came in 5 minutes quicker than previous years? My time of 1:45:29 put a huge smile on my face as I came through the finishing gate (the smile must have been after the horrific finish line picture was taken). Overall I finished 58th of 258 competitors, and came 6th in my age group. To greet me at the finish line was my wife Jennifer and my 2½ year old son Ethan. It was a good day to say the least and seeing them at the finish somehow made it even better.