I had one main goal today but for several reasons. That was to do well. I ran a big PB in June at Niagara on the Lake, 1:37:21, which seemed too good to be true. I needed to know that that was not an aberration, that I really was that fast. That course wasn't "certified", which I needed to qualify for the New York marathon, sub 1:40. It admittedly did show to be 160 M short on my Garmin, for what that's worth. Today's course was certified, so a sub 1:40 here would be great for so many reasons. Also as a confidence boost for my upcoming marathon next month. Last year this course measured 200 M long on my Garmin, about average for a half. So I knew I shouldn't expect to beat my Niagara time.
Race day:
Up early to meet dgrant at the 401 carpool parking lot at 5:45. Arrived in London at 7:20 for an 8 am start. Again, we had done this race last year so we knew where everything was, no stress. No timing chips so we lined up as close to the front as we could justify, knowing this was a fast crowd. Meant to start off a little slower than in June, but almost duplicated that with 4:19 and 4:26 first K splits. A loop and a half of Springbank Park and then by 4 K we headed out the riverside trail also used in the Forest City Marathon, amongst others. Settled in to mid 4:30s, right on a very good track. Dave had eased away right from the start, eventually I lost sight of him. A light rain was falling. 10 K split was 45:30, probably a PB for me. Ran into some oncoming traffic of RR Sunday morning groups, the trail was open. Turnaround was at 11.8 K, saw Dave just a bit ahead of me here, less than a minute. Second half got a little tougher, even though there was a wind in our face on the way out. My times definitely started to slip here, I had gone out a little optimistically. Nothing too critical though, I was on track for a fine race, just had to hold on. Dave surprisingly came up from behind me, around 16 K I think. He eased ahead again, but not by much. I remember thinking that of the 3-400 people in the race, what were the odds that my carpool pal was the closest runner to me after 18 K. By 19 we were side by side again, and back in Springbank Park. I could sense the finish approaching, and tried to pick up the pace. Actually I thought I did, but the Garmin says not. Got a couple of people in my sights, and eventually we had a showdown to the finish, swapping leads several times. I got beat in the final sprint not by the 20s young woman, but a spry shorter 60s male. Good for him, he earned it. My final time was 1:38:44. I take that as a victory, I am now officially going to NYC. Again the Garmin said I ran 21.3 K, also says my average pace was 4:38 vs the 4:39 it measured in Niagara. A PB by device if not on the internet. It did seem harder today, maybe it was the weather. My half splits were worse too, 48:30 and 50:14. Of course it always fun to beat Dave, if only to hear his latest excuse. I swear he's used today's before.
Nice to see a great performance by Prats, and Mini-T as spectator.
So a good day at the races, next up the PEC Marathon October 14.
)
