This race, which is in it’s 2nd year, has quickly become one of my favourites. It’s close to my home, it’s for a good cause (scholarships for the children of military personnel killed in action), and it has a very pleasant course. When I ran it last year I achieved a new half-marathon pb and had a great time doing it. This year wasn’t a great running year for me, so I was going into the race without much training. The upside was that since I knew my chances of repeating my pb time were practically nil (at least without seriously hurting myself) then I decided to just run it at a more comfortable pace and focusing on enjoying the ride, so to speak.
Clearly word is getting out about this race, because it was much larger this year than last. It was still pretty small compared to the major races like the Toronto Marathon. One of the great things about this race is that it is on a military base. This means that they are able to close the roads more easily and they do not have to hire police officers to man the roadblocks. They simply get military personnel and volunteers to do it, which keeps the costs down. Also, you don’t get a bunch of angry drivers trying to run the roadblocks or freaking out about being stopped like you do in most road races.
Calling this a road race is actually a bit misleading. Much of it is on paved roads, but there are also unpaved forest roads and trails as well as a long section with is on an unpaved road through a field. These sections are very scenic as well as being a nice break from the pounding of the pavement. The course isn’t flat, but it’s not very hilly either. There is one hill near the end which is a bit tough, but it’s no heart breaker.
The race is well organized and the aide stations are well placed. They have also been fortunate in having really nice weather both years that it has been run.
All-in-all, I would highly recommend the race and I look forward to running it again in 2012.
