Race: Scotia Toronto Waterfront Marathon
Distance: 42k (also a bit on the half)
Date: October 14, 2012
Weather: Wet!
3:25 PACER REPORT
You would think I would know better by now, this being the 7th time pacing the flagship marathon of the GTA. Success in just getting over the start line lies in the details, and today mine were an untidy mess.
It all started with leaving my hat (with ears) behind at the expo. Blame the cute Brooks girls for that. No sweat though, I had kept my old ears from last year and neatly stapled them back onto another hat. As usual, everything was laid out the night before, bib pinned to shirt, chip strung into the laces. Everything in order, ready to go.
I would be picking up Mike (3:05 pacer) at 7:00 am sharp and we would be pulling into the Eaton Centre parking lot 7:30 am on the dot. Plenty of time to take care of business, check our bags and get into the corrals.
A final scare. My alarm clock had stopped. Lucky, lucky, lucky I had noticed. A new battery was inserted and all was good. I almost never need my alarm clock to wake up on race day. This time I needed it. So lucky indeed.
Mike was not ready for 7:00 am. It was closer to 7:15 am before I got him into my car. By the time we got onto Shuter into the line of cars crawling into the Eaton Centre, it was raining hard. I had a backup plan to park on a side street, however we weren’t getting wet and my side street was already full. By the time washrooms and bag check were done, we had 15 minutes to get into our corrals. Not enough time!
For Mike getting into his corral was a no-brainer: to the front he went. However I was not certain where to enter for 3:25. My bib still had the open corral colour (purple) and I knew that was just too far back. This detail will not be overlooked next time! But yellow it was, as others I talked to in the crowd had similar goal times. The crowd was barely moving, so excruciatingly slow. Frustrated runners were climbing over the barricades to get in. I managed to get into the back of the corral and get my shoes tied. By this time the gun had fired and we were already moving.
As we approached the start line, the race organizers pulled a rope across right in front of us. We were to wait for the second wave at 8:35 am. BIG PROBLEM! All the 3:25 runners were fading into the distance. Decisions hung in the balance. If I waited and paced a 3:25 from 8:35 am there would be no one with me. Everyone around me was with the 3:30 pacer. What a waste that would be.
So under I ducked, said sorry, but I had to go and blasted off well above my required pace. I caught up with the 3:25 runners about 6k later, already about 2 minutes faster than my required pace time. Once certain I was in the right company, I dropped back to 4:52/k pace and held onto the 2 minute surplus from that point onward. Many runners appeared happy to see me at last and wondered were the hell I had been.
Not too long after that, the other side of the road saw the first of the full and halfers who had already made the turn back. First up was Ajax Running Free’s John Tranter, cap pulled backward and game face on. He was going for it! And not too far behind him was our Lyndsay Tessier. I shouted out greetings but neither heard – they were too zoned in.
At the half point, I asked Yves for the time on his watch. He had crossed at 1:42:25, almost perfect pace for a 3:25. He unfortunately faded off around 30k. But also with me was David, who stayed with me right to the finish. David was easy to recognize because he was barefoot. We crossed the finish together, a 3:22:55 chip time for me, 2 minutes ahead of goal pace as required due to the circumstances, but a cool 3:21:56 and a huge PB in bare feet for David. He was over the moon! He had spent himself perfectly.
David shared his story with me over the race. He started running barefoot a year and half ago. He belongs to a small but dedicated niche group of runners. David mentioned that the Running Room no longer welcomes him in their running clinics being barefoot. Think about that for minute.
In the meantime, I must offer my gratitude and thanks to Brooks for once again sponsoring the pacers, and for the free shoes that go with the gig. David thought it would be neat if he could be a pacer. The irony is not lost on me.
The efforts of our Johnny and Lyndsay needed a time, so we found them over at the square. John was hoping for a sub 1:22 which he handled easily in a 1:21:10 although we learned he had actually taken a crack at a sub 1:20. For the umpteenth time first for age, this time over 9 minutes better than the next 60 plus.
Lyndsay was taking her first crack at sub 1:30. So how does 1:24:36 sound? Simply audacious! Good enough for 9th female overall and third for age. We will be seeing a lot more of Lyndsay soon, standing atop the steps of podiums. To put her result into perspective, guys would have to run 1:11:52 to be 9th male today, a result I can only dream about.
