Event: 2013 Army Run (Half Marathon)
Date: September 22, 2013
Location: Ottawa, Canada
As our fall “escape” event, a group of Running Free Orangeville members decided in May/June that it would be fun to try the Army Run in Ottawa. It is actually a good thing we decided early in the year where we were going as the ½ marathon for this event sold out shortly after we signed up in June and the 5K was a few weeks after that. The field is fairly large with the ½ allowing 10,000 entrants and the 5K being capped at 12,000 but sign up early if you are planning to give it a shot.
The Saturday morning we loaded our stuff into the vehicle and headed east toward our goal of Ottawa. The trip was uneventful and we arrived at our Hotel the Mariott with sufficient time to get settled in and head over to the expo for kit pickup. The race expo and start line was approx. one kilometre from our hotel and we had no issue with the length of the walk. There are closer hotels available, but you can’t go wrong with only being a K from the start line. The Saturday evening was a little rainy and we did get a little wet on the way to the race kit pickup. The expo had the usual booths with a few extra army related concessions. If interested there were some weapon and vehicle displays being put on around the expo. The race kit contained your bib and shirt and nothing much else.
We had also chosen the option of the pasta dinner which if I remember correctly started around 6pm. Unfortunately our timing wasn’t great so we decided to go back to the hotel for a quick break prior to heading back to the expo/pasta dinner/start line area for our dining feast. I chose the pasta dinner for the sole reason that the description on the site was interesting to me (“This traditional pre-race pasta dinner is served “military field-kitchen style” under tents in Confederation Park. It is prepared by military cooks experienced in cooking for troops in the field and is serve by military leaders and local VIPs. A small team of cooks work from two on-site military kitchen trailers to serve 600+ people.”) The entire soaking wet walk and line up in the mud shortly made me question my decision, as a nice warm indoor restaurant while sitting and being served was looking really good. This changed when we heard a speaker who had lost so much while serving in the amry put things in perspective for me. It made me realize that the $30 I spent on dinner and the $75+ spent on the race was nothing given the knowledge of where it is helping. I am not sure if it was all you can eat pasta dinner, but we received more than enough to fuel us up for Sunday’s run.
We woke up Sunday morning to a dark sky and some stronger winds. Cold, rainy and windy looked to be on the menu, but spirits were high. Our KM walk to the start line left us viewing the beginning of the 5K as they filled up the streets of Ottawa. You really notice how many people 12,000 are when they are running down a 2 lane street. It seemed fairly congested. The 5K start was at 8am with our ½ beginning an hour later. It should also be noted that ill & injured soldiers and disabled athletes began each race 15 minutes prior. As with most events the corals didn’t make a lot of sense to me. For the ½ there were 6 corals with the following standards:
Sub 1:30; 1:30-2:00; 2:00-2:15; 2:15:2:30; 2:30-3:00 and 3:00+
It just seems odd to me that someone looking for a 1:30:01 would be placed in the same corral as someone who is trying to simply break 2hrs. I understand that corrals aren’t perfect and people will lineup where they want, but a little help from the signs might ease congestion at the beginning. This wasn’t a show stopper for me as while I did notice some congestion at the beginning it wasn’t anything you wouldn’t see in any other race hosting 10,000 runners. It should be noted that the start of the race is not a pistol on this run, but a cannon which really jumps your HR if you are not expecting it.
I found the course itself to be fairly good with a range of inclines and declines to work different muscle groups, but no “oh crap what is that hill” moments were had. There are a few out and back portions which I usually am not a fan of, but on this particular course the turnaround was not just a pylon and allowed for speed to be maintained. It is nice to cheer on the faster runners as they remind you of how much faster they are than you. We didn’t receive too much rain and the colder weather was actually quite preferable versus the other option of heat. I only noticed the winds really being a problem at one small section upon entering Gatineau. You enter Quebec for KM’s 8-10 and I heard some say this was the hardest part of the race for them. With about 3KMs left you are able to hear them calling out racers as they finish their run. It is really tough to know that people are finishing when you still have 14 minutes of running ahead of you. The interesting thing is that I was able to hear them announce one of our team mates name as I approached 18K so I can say I cheered them into the finish. The finish line is almost in the exact location as the start line and you are greeted by army personnel to give you your well deserved medal. Be sure to thank them for their service as they make it seem like you are the hero on this day. The medal is in the shape of a dog tag and is just another reminder of why you ran the race.
I am very glad we decided to give this run a try as it is fairly evident why this is one of the fastest growing races in Canada. Very great reason to run and very well organized.
