Run For Retina Resarch Race Report

Hi All,


What a day....I think that I am still on cloud 9...I might have even surprised myself today...Warning: This Post is very Picture Heavy.


The morning started out at 5am when my hubby came home early from work to surprise me...I was so happy that he was going to be able to watch my race...it meant a lot to have him there!

We got dressed and headed out the door with my running buddy Lindsay and her hubby Jamie picking us up at 8:20am. We headed down to the starting lines where we met our race clinic...It was amazing...they had set up a VIP tent and it was great...here are a few pictures...of the tent, the running group and my friends Lindsay and Catherine.












It was then time to start the race...I had previously run in 2003 my PB 2:35:00 and I had done a training run and finished in 2:21:37 so I was really hoping for around 2:19:00 I had felt that during my training run I had pushed it quite hard and was pretty exhausted...I was pretty pumped about taking 14mins off my time...so I did not want to push it too hard so I printed off a pace band with a time of 2:17:00.

We started out and I was feeling great and running with a great pack of runners! It was really nice to have support like that today. I was on target with my pace...I found that the first 5km flew by....It was nice that after the first 3km the Hubbies were waiting for us and I was able to give them my arm warmers...They also took a few photos!



This was our little pack for the first 13 or so Km's.

The next few km I was surprised at how comfortable I was...my anxieties seemed to melt away...when we got to Greenway Park my Mum was there cheering us all on! It was so nice to have some family support today.

Once we hit the Springbank loop I began to feel quite tired...I rounded the bend and the Hubby's parents (Tom and Betty) were there cheering everyone on....It was amazing...It gave me great strength to keep going...I was still at this point about a minute thirty ahead of my pace band...so I was feeling great knowing that I tend to slow down the last 5km...

I took 2 chews before race, some water and gatorade and used some water from the aid stations...it was good but I am always worried about my stomach...at the 14km mark I took 3/4 of a GU and had no problems...it gave me a good boost to keep going...I ended up running by myself for probably the last 5km...It was a good challenge...I was tired and sore but I kept going in order to keep myself ahead of that pace band...

Coming into Greenway Park another surprise..The Hubby's parents were back and with a Camera! All I remember is hearing Betty yell 3km left! I couldn't believe that I only had less than 20mins of running...I was sore, starting to get tired but I wanted to finish strong...








One last hill and I had a walk break but the girl running next to me convinced me to keep going! I was really happy that she did...I felt strong enough so why not for the last few meters...

So here is me crossing the finish line with a Personal Best of 2:15:25






This picture is me in Shock that I did 2:15:25 SO HAPPY!!!




The Hubby got my medal engraved with the date, my name and time...it was really nice..

Congrats to all who finished! My good friend Catherine ran her first of many today. She finished and I am so proud of her. Lindsay also had a personal best and
I cannot wait to head to the Flying Pig with them in a few weeks...It will be a great girls weekend!


Thanks for reading..now time for some Hot Tub Therapy!