The TC 10K wouldn’t be what it is without the thousands who become a jostling mass of humanity – people all sizes, shapes, ages and abilities who race, jog, walk and limp through Victoria’s streets.
I know it sounds obvious, but while smaller races also have their own personality, there is something about the sheer magnitude and variety of folks who make this an event that evokes good feelings and memories that last beyond the pain, any disappointment of a slower than expected finish, rain showers and headwinds along Dallas Road.
As one woman whom I overhead in Saturday’s race package pick-up said – “It’s the one thing I do every year.”
It’s been a few years since I’ve run the 10K, having dedicated myself in recent years to the stupidity of half-marathons. But as injuries took their toll (news flash - the human race is not meant to run long distances), I had to stop running last December and have gradually, with the help of my patient and talented physiotherapist Jaymie, re-imagined myself as being able to run with tedious indoor work-outs often derailed by the responsibilities of family, my job and a little thing called sleep.
My goal in the 10K was to run it relaxed and happy, which is what I named my playlist. I attempted ten kilometres a few weeks ago to test myself and it took well over an hour so I knew this would not be one for the record books as they say.
Mom heads off to the TC 10K and daughter heads off to Wave Makers swim meet in Saanich.
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I stuck with only one ritual from previous races – wearing the blue heart earrings my daughter gave me one Christmas. On Sunday morning, as I headed downtown, she was heading to Saanich Commonwealth Place for her own competition in the pool at a swim meet.
The staggered starts at this year's race were a great improvement. The race started under blue and grey skies. A slight drizzle speckled runners mid-course but bursts of sunshine helped keep the mood positive.
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Lining up at the start beside the Parliament buildings on Government Street, our assignment into corrals according to finish times allowed staggered releases onto the race course that allowed some welcome elbow room along the course's early kilometres.
Although a helicopter view of the race would see a surging band of rippling colour along the streets, and even with my earlier observations about how this event takes on an overall life of its own, ultimately this is a race of individuals.
People like Helen, whom I met in the corral and later high-fived at the finish line.
Helen last ran the TC 10K ten years and 50 pounds ago.
Helen made her sub-60m time and was a happy finisher. This was the first year the TC 10K included medals.
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Not so long ago, she decided it was time to shed the baggage and after an initial relatively easy weight loss with smaller meals, then undertook the harder work with boot camps and physically challenging herself. Helen was hoping for a sub-hour finish and was glowing with anticipation.
And then there’s Karli, a physical education teacher from Alberni District Secondary who brings a dozen girls from her school for the race, and has done so for a number of years. She is a terrific role model for empowering young women through physical challenges.
When I saw Karli and student Mychaela just past the finish line, what caught my eye, besides the silver ribbon in her hair and face paint, was the team name printed across her back: “Bacon is Good For Me.”
Karli brings a dozen students from Port Alberni for the race.
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The bacon reference is an inside joke for the vegetarian teacher that comes from a TV show where a young boy was steadfast in his love for the breakfast porcine product. Other favourite team names spied on the course – Symphony No. 6 in B-Fast and WTF (where’s the finish line).
The crowd lining Belleville Street in the final 400 metres cheered on children who looked as young as six, and more than a few 70-plus men and women as well as parents pushing strollers and couples running hand-in-hand.
If I were an 11-year-old like my daughter, I would say the mood was one of awesome-ness.
In the food chutes past the finish line, I scooped a juice box and chocolate chip cookie and drove straight to Commonwealth Pool to deliver them to my daughter who was waiting in the poolside bleachers for her next event.
I didn’t tell her that on a tough portion of the race, I used the image of her churning through her 100-metre butterfly race as motivation. I can’t do a single butterfly stroke, and I admire her dedication and persistence in mastering the stroke and competing against kids from across BC.
On Sunday, I was only competing against my own expectations. Ended up finishing with a fabulous time of 56:32, placing 56 of the 519 in my age group of women who ran and walked the 10 K.
To be honest, as much as I pushed myself past my ‘relaxed and happy’ threshold, it wasn’t about the time on the clock.
Sometimes, it’s enough to be thankful to be able to run
