Snowflake 10km
Date: Sunday December 19, 2010
Location: Ajax Rotary Park
Event: Ajax Snowflake 10km for the Salvation Army
Distance: 10km (without time chips)
I was disappointed that I had to miss the annual Santa Shuffle 5km that I normally do with my friends every year but ecstatic that there was also this 10km race for only $10!
All the proceeds for this race went towards the Salvation Army (a big collection of toys was also made by participants for the Salvation Army Christmas Toy Drive).
The race site is located in a quiet and scenic neighbourhood (a nice easy drive on a Sunday morning). The race started at 9:00am and we arrived at the race site to pick up our race bibs at 8:30am. There were 140 registered runners/walkers and most of them had already picked up their race bibs when we arrived. There was a lot of lively chatting taking place in the heated indoor building where we waited. It’s a real bonus to be able to wait indoors prior to winter races to avoid freezing/numbing in case the race gets delayed. The race started punctually at 9:00am and consisted of two 5km loops with a slight delayed start for the 10km walkers. Off we went in a crowd and it thinned out in the first 1km with Derek Virgo of the Markham Running Free team sailing forward in the very front. There was one female ahead of me who was running at an incredibly fast pace. I was running beside another girl and I kept wondering where I would end up at the end of the race since I hadn’t really trained for this event at all (in fact I had not run for 4 months and hardly kept up any workouts for the last several months… Crazy! I know! I had gotten distracted with hockey but my New Year’s resolution is to focus on swimming, biking, and running again). I started getting into a comfortable pace by 3km but lost a few girls ahead of me. As I ran, I really enjoyed seeing the water beside the running trail, the swans in the water, and the well-organized racecourse with the appropriate number of volunteers situated at key areas to ensure we followed the route properly. The racecourse consisted of a few light rolling hills and the occasional small patch of ice but still very safe for group running. I think it would have been nice if there were pacers along the route; but considering how small the race was (without time chips too) I think it was a great recreational fun run.
Medals were given to the top 3 fastest males and females. All participants were able to enter a draw for a variety prizes (hats, bags, etc.) and enjoy water, hot chili, and buns after the race. It was a very friendly community race and I would definitely do it again (albeit with hopefully more than 3 hours of sleep and some more training and preparation!)
