I know I barely post here but I was asked to do a race report for this race so here goes, this is for you Jo-Jo (and for anyone else who is interested on how this whole party went!)hmmm pictures won't load... I'll play around with it and try again! Or you can view them on FB
As I said on Facebook, Tornado Marg vs Hurricane Gonzalo... we both got a piece of each other in the end.
Cape to Cabot 2014- race report
The stats: 20km done in 2:22
That's NL slate.
I learned of this race from a friend from NL over dinner quite a while ago and it piqued my curiosity. Having traveled to St. John's for work a couple times, it is a town that I have a soft spot for. The rugged landscape, the ocean, the people, are all amazing.
So fast forward a year and I lucked into a very limited registration via a site that crashed with the onslaught of anxious racers.
Training was ok but just adequate. I did hills but it's hard to prep in ottawa for what awaits you in NL. I took a slight hit in my training when I ran into a medical setback in September that prevented me from racing the army half or doing any running for a couple weeks just as I should have been hitting peak training. But whatever, I bounced back and got back at it.
Then the news of Gonzalo started to hit the news and the fact that it will landfall in NL on the weekend of the race. Hurricanes are a crapshoot as they can change course pretty quickly. My investment was made for this weekend though, and if a plane would get us there, I was certain we were going. So we arrived in St. John's and the race organizers were great. They kept us up to date with ongoing emails and tweets and declared the race would be decided at 5am the morning of.
We toured around on Saturday and it was literally the calm before the storm with very mild temps. We drove our rental car out along the race route to Cape Spear. Mario was a little shocked at the course and its massive hills and couldn't believe this was what we were running. For a moment, neither could I. I literally felt a wave of panic hit me but I knew at 20km there would be no worry of getting it done, it just wouldn't be pretty.
As we walked around Cape Spear for a while, we could see the swells start to slowly build as the storm approached in the distance. Cape Spear is the most easterly point on the continent. I love it there to hear the roaring waves crash against the rocks.
The rain and wind picked up and we headed back. After a quiet dinner I hit the sack early, not knowing what to expect.
So I laid in bed sleepless, listening to the pounding rain and wind until 5am finally came and I saw the news: C2C is a GO! The forecast was showing a rough start but progressively clearing after the race start.
51mm of rain fell between 6:30 & 8:30 am. I reluctantly got on the shuttle at 7am, wide-eyed, wondering how this was going to pan out. The chatter on the bus was vivid and the locals said it was definitely the worst weather ever for this race.
We arrived at Cape Spear with minutes to spare so a quick potty break and I ran through the torrential rain to drop my bag and join the small group of runners bouncing around trying to stay warm. I was drenched to the bone within seconds by the horizontal rain.
450 registered but 100 of them didn't show up; we were 357 in total. I wondered if I should have been one of those 100.
Before we headed out the race director indicated we may not be able to finish the climb to signal hill due to the wind. I was sad and happy all at once. Lol. We'd learn later it would be possible.
Everyone sang the Ode to Newfoundland, and then even the race director himself declared this fu**ing crazy and we were off.
The rain hurt as the wind made it feel prickly but it really didn't last all that long and it wasn't too cold. I became oblivious and I couldn't get more soaked so time to move and find a zone.
The first 13km on Blackhead Rd are incredible. The steep climbs and descents turned my legs into hamburger meat. I walked a lot and found it hard, but necessary, to brake on the descents or I would have gone ass over tea kettle. Gusts of wind against the front of my body actually helped on the descents and I tried to catch up to a burly dude in front of me to draft on a climb but I couldn't catch him.
. The wind kept shifting and both the wind and rain eventually died down, just as forecast predicted.
Only one section had a lot of gravel washed across the road and heavy waters and, of course, this was the pic shown by media.
You get a 3 kms of flat once you hit the base of Blackhead Rd as you pass through downtown along the harbour. Mario was outside our hotel at the 18 km marker. I dropped my vest with him and headed a bit further to Temperance street where you have a short intense climb with people yelling at you at the top to encourage you on.
After that it's the grand finale, the Munn Mile, which is basically the final ascent up Signal Hill. 1.6km of a steep winding climb.
I've run signal hill on fresh legs and it's mighty challenging but at this point my legs felt like stumps. It hurt to walk, it hurt to run. Lol. So I think I shuffled about 300m of it as a slow run but the majority of it was as aggressive a walk as I could muster. I think it took me around 18minutes to do the mile.
Here is a section of it:But I made it to the top and was elated to drag my drenched beaten arse over the finish line. The wind atop Signal Hill was blustery, but it always is. I took a selfie; I truly was elated to be done!
I got my medal and sat down to text Mario that I was done and to wait at the bottom for me instead of taking the shuttle up. A picture of me doing that was tweeted by the CBC. In the picture you see me with my cup of water held between my feet otherwise the wind would have blown it away.
All in all, the storm could have been way way worse than it was. NL folk are damn hearty. They had the best attitude and volunteers were wonderful and well dressed in hard core rain gear. It was a total hoot doing this race for the views and the atmosphere.
My quads feel like stumps today but everything else is good. Even a sore toenail feels good.
The storm blew out fast and left a negligible impact with very little damage.
Later in the afternoon:
It felt a bit surreal to think I actually went through with this when everything inside me said it was a dumb thing to do.
I highly recommend doing this race. As a 20km its a gruelling challenge but so satisfying. More hill training would have rendered me a better outcome but I am so happy to have finished.
If you can ever get to this race do it! The town and its people are outstanding and you won't regret it at all.
Thanks for reading.
/marg out!
