Over this past weekend me and 10,779 of my closest friends and family (yes my Husband, Aunt, Uncle and two Cousins) ran the 2014 Seawheeze Half Marathon. The Lululemon sponsored event took over most of the downtown core and half of Burrard Bridge this past Saturday with its annual 21 kilometer race. The route took us completely around the perimeter of downtown Vancouver, over Burrard Bridge and finished with a loop around Stanley Park. It drew athletes from all over the US and Canada and for some this race was a serious test of strength, training and endurance… though for others it was just a great excuse to grab some swag and have some exhausting fun. For my family – who travelled from Ottawa – it was a weekend to see the city, eat some sushi and visit with my husband and me… oh and run 21km… but that was pretty far down on the list of priorities for the weekend – we had to hit the Foodcart Festival!.
“Remember you paid to do this”
This was the first race I had ever been in. Don’t get me wrong, I’m an avid runner, but never thought of myself as competitive enough to run in a race. When my family, who signed me up, ask me moments after finishing if I would ever do it again, I told them flat out “no”, it was fun, I had a good time, I’m glad I did it, but no, I would not be doing that again. On top of my throbbing knees and blistered feet, my husband and I found the training for this event too life-consuming, all we have thought about for the past three months is running/time/distance… and it was all too much, I love to run – on my own time, at my own pace… After a long shower and a session with the foam roller we went to lunch and I told my family I had changed my mind I could probably be swayed in signing up for another, and later on after my uncle showed us the picture of The Crater Lake Rim Runs – what he said would probably be our next race adventure – I was all in!… I know right, how quickly we change our minds when the possibility of a vacation is tacked onto something. All this to say, if you haven’t yet but have always wanted to, you should probably try it once – run a race, try community theatre, paint, whatever…
“Run like there an attractive person in front of you… and a creepy one behind you”
In the end, my time wasn’t great, my body hurt and I was just plum tired from being up since 5:20am, but we had a great weekend and it gave me the perfect excuse to have that second waffle the next day at brunch.
Did you run SeaWheeze?
What’s your favorite running event in Vancouver?