Event: 2013 Hamilton Marathon
Date: November 3, 2013
Location: Hamilton, Ontario
I was lucky or was I unlucky enough to win an entry into this race as part of the running free lottery. The unlucky was added due to the fact that I had a great three month training program with about a two month taper that really made me a little nervous about whether I should be attempting this race. That is the great thing about a marathon, you can’t really fake your way through it. If you didn’t train properly you are going to pay for it dearly. The fact that I won this in the lottery really weighed heavily on me knowing that I should probably run it, since I would be expected to provide some sort of review of this race.
I can’t speak much about the expo as I skipped out on it and got someone to pick up my race kit for me. But I didn’t hear anything negative or positive about his experience so I am assuming that it was fairly consistent with the expos we are used to.
We arrived at Confederation Park in Hamilton around 6:45am with the line-up of cars to enter the park being fairly long, but moved fairly quickly. It is advisable to arrive a little earlier as one year people were late due to this long line of cars. (not a problem this year though) I’m not sure if I had calm nerves because I already told myself that I was just going to do the best I could, but my relaxed attitude came to a halt when around 7:20am, after meeting up with another friend at the park, we were told that the last bus would be leaving shortly and to hurry over to the bus point. There were a couple buses left, but with the 15 minute drive to the start line at Dafasco Recreation Park, we were cutting it closer than I usually like.
We arrived at the start line with around 20 minutes to the start and still had to check our bags and take one last trip to the potty. Bag check worked wonderfully as we simply wrote our bib number on a card and attached it to the bag which was then transported to the finish area. The indoor area where bag check is located is very crowded due to runners trying to stay warm. I hate trying to weave through large crowds and wondered why so many people were still inside with the start a mere 15 minutes away. After bag check we were informed the porto-potties were outside and was kind of shocked to see only a handful of them with lines of about 20 minute waits. I am not sure if I missed another area of toilets, but it didn’t seem like a lot and I again found myself wondering how all of those people were going to use the washrooms in the 10 minutes we had left before start. We quickly ran into a near set of trees to do our business (sorry nature) and went off on a short warm up. During the warm up we heard the national anthem being sung and thought we might want to head over and line up. Finally I got into my spot and realized that there were so many people doddling inside and in the washroom line because the Half Marathon start was 15 minutes later. There was a quick countdown to race start and at 8:00am we were off on our 42.2KM adventure.
The start of the race was a little crowded but it wasn’t long before I was hitting a comfortable stride. The first 16KMs is a large loop on country roads bringing you past where you started. I really enjoyed KMs 2-8 as they were run on Ridge Rd. which gave us a very beautiful view from up on a ridge and I actually think we saw Niagara Falls off in the distance. I could be wrong as I might have been delusional around KM 7 already. This section of the run contained a few rolling inclines and declines, but nothing compared to the terrain we train in up here in Orangeville (plugging the town for those interested in a move). The weather was a little cool (maybe 1 degrees) but it was the wind which I felt on this section a little. I didn’t notice a breeze when we started but I did when we got going and there wasn’t a lot of cover in this area. With my lack of training, my personal plan was to run 3K at a comfortable pace and then slow down slightly for 1KM to act as a recharge K. I thought it would help break up the 42K into smaller segments and make the next slower K a nice reward for each segment. Unfortunately, my slower segments weren’t slower at all and I threw out that plan at around 8K. I’m sure you all know how difficult it is to change paces in a run, you sort of just get used to going a certain speed.
Part of my “attempt to finish this thing” plan was to just make it to the downhill portion and then assess myself after the break of the downhill. For those of you who don’t know, at around 22K there is a 5K downhill portion along the Red Hill Valley Parkway. This is the portion of the race which gives this race an advantage of being one of the top Boston qualifiers in North America (I actually think it is #2). I was hurting by 19K already and pushed myself with the expectation that at KM 22 I would be given some reprieve. Well unfortunately I wasn’t as even though the 5KM decline was still there, a large amount of wind was trying to push me back up the parkway. One of our team members noted that it almost felt like the wind was channeling right up the parkway. Instead of my pace picking up in this section I actually struggled to keep it the same. Tough break with the wind, but I managed to make it to the bottom where the 27K sign greeted me by kicking me off the Parkway.
The next 3 KMs are run on a path towards the waterfront. There is one decline on this section that requires you to concentrate on your footing. There is sort of a brick portion with holes in the brick (terrible description, but if you ran it you know what I am talking about). I actually enjoyed this area of the run as it was nice to get off the highway and out of the channeling wind. I continued to push on towards the waterfront with each step having to shut my brain off.
The last section of this run is an out and back, with the back portion being run along the waterfront. The out is from KMs 30-35 and can really play a number on your exhausted mind with your exhausted legs. At each street crossing you can look to your right and see faster runners heading back towards the finish line and you are wondering why you are running away from the finish when you could simply take a quick right to join those other runners. There is also a part of this out portion that the half marathoners take the right you are contemplating cheating on and the marathoners keep going farther away from that elusive finish. I willed myself to KM 32 and then told myself I can make it to at least the turn-around of the out and back, but I was wrong. At KM 34 my dreams of running the entire marathon came to a sudden stop when my legs just told me they had enough of the pain I was putting them through. One small walk portion and I started my shuffle to the turnaround at about KM 35. This turnaround is the one where there is simply a pylon and you are to make a fairly abrupt 180 turn. My sore legs didn’t appreciate that.
The back potion of the final KMs 35-42 were exhausting for me. I had a few more walk portions and it is very disheartening to not be able to just run a few more KMs. I understood I didn’t have the distance on my legs for this run, but it is still frustrating. I am sure there was a wind, but at this point in the race my mind had checked out and I was just concentrating on each step. A quick little turn-around with about 200m to go and I was shuffling to the finish line. The medal is fairly heavy and the after run food is the usual Banana, apple, pizza, but hot soup was a pleasant surprise.
This was my third marathon attempt and each one I was undertrained for which just shows me how respected each of you who attempt this distance are. Even though I didn’t manage the time I was hoping for when I was in top training form, I was still able to set a PB of 3:40 (my other marathons didn’t go very well either). My shorter distance times are not reflective of a 3:40 marathon, but I was still proud of my effort on this day.
It turns out that I was lucky to receive this entry and I would urge those looking for a BQ or PB to give it a shot. The late season date allows for a few more training weeks and a more aggressive HM attempt, but also leaves a lot of risk with regards to the weather.
I just wanted to give a quick thanks to those running free members who took a moment out of there run to urge me on and chat for a few seconds on the latter part of the race as they sped by me. This is exactly why I love being part of this team.
