I must apologize for posting this so late. It turns out I saved some of my posts instead of actually posting them. You will see a few more to follow shortly. I figure even though these posts are late, they are still valuable for people trying to decide which races to run in 2011. This Mississauga post might be even more important due to the fact that the GoodLife marathon will be on the same weekend if things continue as planed.
It was a great day for a race. This was the first time I was going to run Mississauga and had heard so many good things. I decided to do the 1/2 and go for a new PB. I wasn’t sure what time I should go for so asked a friend what his PB was for a 1/2 marathon. I was told 1:34 was his best so I chose to do 1 hour 30 minutes.
There was lots of parking in the areas around the race as it started at Square One Shopping Centre, with a relatively short walk to the race start. Once you got to the race start you realize that a lot of people have over active bladders. That or there wasn’t near enough porta potties. The lineups were very long. Luckily for us men, out there were lots of “unofficial” outdoor urinals to choose from. There was one particular wall that received a lot of watering. My hint to those who run this race in the future is to move down further in the porta potty lines. The further you went, the shorter the lines.
At the starting line you are best to look for a pace bunny since they don’t have any race corrals. My personal opinion is that the lack of corrals is so that the event people can have a nice picture of a ton of people crammed together for the start.
The race starts with a huge cannon blast which you feel in your chest. We were off! Even after finding a 3 hour marathon pace bunny I spent the first 2 km weaving through people which is not efficient. At the 3k mark I was almost 2 minutes behind my 1:30 target time.
I spent the rest of the race trying to get back the time I lost at the start. The race had a few rolling hills but nothing major. This was going to be a fast race. There were plenty of photographers a long the route you could pose for. At the 15k mark, the race course divides for the 1/2 and full. I think some people missed this even though it was well labelled. Throughout the course the water stations were placed at a nice distance apart and the volunteers did an excellent job. I ran with my Nathon Sprint handheld water bottle which had e-load in it. It was ideal as I was able to take a drink when I needed even if a water station wasn’t where I needed it to be. I did take in some Gatorade on 2 of the last water stations but have yet to master the technique of drinking while running. I think I ended up with more up my nose than what I actually swallowed. The second time I actually stopped running and made sure I drank some of the Gatorade. I figure I lost maybe 10 seconds at most (which turned out to be an important 10 seconds).
The ½ marathon course took you by the water for a bit then back on local streets. It was great to see the km markings fly by fairly easily. I am told there was a 21k sign but I must have missed it. Before I knew it I could see the finish in the distance. Realizing I was close to my target and had lots of energy left, I sprinted in only to finish 1:30:09.
The post race festivities were great. Lots of snacks to choose from and I even got to meet mayor Hazel McCallion. The area where you pick up your bags was well organized with many people around to help find you bag. It was great to be able to get changed after as not to far away from the bag pickup were these portable change rooms. It sure beat having to try to change in a porta potty or wrap a towel around you. I will warn you that the lineup for the buses back to the starting area or various parking lots do take a while. The lineup wasn’t as bad when I first finished the race but I stayed around to see my wife and a few other friends finish as well. Many of them set new PBs for the ½ and full marathon distances.
I will be back next year for sure and hope for a new PB.
