This was a great course, wonderfully organized, tons of volunteers and spectators and chock full of nice competitors. Plenty of Gatorade, plenty of water, 2 gel stations, free Powerbars at the start, well run Sweat Check, incredible number of medical first responders on the course.

A special thanks goes out to Gwynie and Leslie who picked me up and let me hang with them from about the 22K mark to the 32K mark. They were dressed as Moose. Apparently at Chicago last year they ran as Mounties though were apparently frequently mistaken for the Lone Ranger. Gwynie is a 3:15 marathon runner who was helping Leslie along and they let me tag along for awhile. It really helped my finishing time they were great. I suddenly couldn't breathe properly at the 32K mark and pulled up to walk for a bit and of course lost sight of them.

Follow the pace bunny. At the start of the race I started with the pace bunny, but then he stopped running 10 minutes into the race - I didn't know that was going to happen or what the story was so I kept going. He and his group passed me at about 19K and I never saw them again.

Put in more time on the road. This was a great run for me but it could have been better if I made my daily runs longer and faster and my long runs longer.

I would have broken in a new pair of shoes about 4 weeks before the race.

Pain - lots of pain!. Turned in my chip, was accosted by a really pretty girl holdign medals so I let her give me one (sexist pig that I am). Grabbed some Gatorade met up with my family collapsed under a tree and lay motionless for an hour while they went off to play on the kids stuff. Then panic set in as I tried to figure out how to drive 180 KM back home on 5 hours sleep with a finicky automatic transmission sounding like someone was sharpening skates underneath the car every time I put it in gear and tried to drive. THAT was an adventure.


Fitness and training.


If this is what marathons in North America are like it is no wonder people love going to them.