GP Press Run 2011

Tough day at the GP Press Run yesterday but a very satisfying win in some tough, tough conditions. I woke up on Saturday morning and the air was so full of smoke from the wildfires in Slave Lake that I had trouble seeing down the street. I tried not to let it distract me from the fact that I needed to race but it's hard to ignore an air quality of 'poor' from environment Canada. I also pulled my hamstring on Tuesday so I was nursing my left leg the entire week and I had to wrap it tightly in a tensor bandage. I started out somewhat conservatively feeling like the first three kilometers were well within my pace but I soon felt the effects of running in the heavy smoke filled air. My throat was severely dry and I had to drink at every aid station, my lungs started to feel heavy with every passing kilometer and I could tell I wasn't running my best race.

I reached the turn around at about 38 minutes and change and I thought I could finish in about 1:16 but with the conditions that day I wasn't counting on anything. The way back was very tough and I started to feel myself slow down but I did the best I could to just keep running. When I hit the 16km mark at 1:00 I knew I wasn't going to finish with a PR but it took everything in me just to keep my legs moving, my left leg hurt from start to finish with the tight tensor bandage wrapped around my quad. I didn't want to stop to take it off, I was afraid that my hamstring might start acting up or that I would cause some long term damage but running with it on was getting more painful with each passing mile. With 5k left to go I told myself that it would all be over in 20 minutes or less just hang on. I gave it everything I had left (which wasn't much) but I held on for the win in a time of 1:20.18 a good result on a tough day.


Here's the top ten in the 1/2 marathon;

05/28/2011 11:58:37 2011 Grand Prairie DHT Press Run/Walk
Overall Results
21K Run - 13.05 Miles
O/A Name Bib# Time Pace/K Category Cat/Pl Gender Gen/Pl Chiptime
1/88 HUNTER, DARIN 2025 01:20:19.10 03:49 21KR30-39M 1/11 M 1/32 01:20:18.50
2/88 OOSTRA, PAUL 2057 01:27:17.80 04:09 21KR40-49M 1/7 M 2/32 01:27:15.30
3/88 ST. HILAIRE, PAUL 2079 01:30:11.35 04:17 21KR40-49M 2/7 M 3/32 01:30:10.40
4/88 ROSS, KYLE 2068 01:30:30.65 04:18 21KR20-29M 1/6 M 4/32 01:30:30.55
5/88 SCHARTNER, CORY 2071 01:30:38.65 04:18 21KR30-39M 2/11 M 5/32 01:30:33.00
6/88 SEITZ, ROBERT 2075 01:32:42.70 04:24 21KR30-39M 3/11 M 6/32 01:32:41.50
7/88 MARILLIER, VAUGHN 2099 01:35:24.95 04:32 21KR30-39M 4/11 M 7/32 01:35:19.90
8/88 DAVIDSON, ASHLEY 2011 01:36:56.05 04:36 21KR30-39M 5/11 M 8/32 01:36:54.35
9/88 WATSON, CHRIS 2089 01:39:19.15 04:43 21KR20-29M 2/6 M 9/32 01:39:17.95
10/88 SEITZ, ANNETTE 2074 01:41:27.35 04:49 21KR20-29F 1/19 F 1/56 01:41:25.90

A great race with some terrific volunteers and organizers and I appreciate the fact that there is a wonderful running community in GP that is willing to support each other. I definitely feel a deeper sense of belonging within the running community here and I'm happy to be a part of it. Amber and I finished off the weekend with a great 2500m swim this morning and a 90km bike this afternoon, a great weekend of training and hopefully it's the first of many before Great White North.