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TC 10K Race Weekend at the Finish Line

Wasn’t that a party! The TC 10K weekend has wrapped up for another year. The clinics and training, either official or half-hearted, led thousands of people to the start line of the 10K downtown or the half-marathon at UVic.

Wasn’t that a party!

The TC 10K weekend has wrapped up for another year. The clinics and training, either official or half-hearted, led thousands of people to the start line of the 10K downtown or the half-marathon at UVic.

Numbered bibs were pinned onto shirts the night before, the cowbells were dusted off and iPods charged.

race prep

Race ready - makeshift throw-away gloves (socks with end cut off) for the cold start, dried figs, salted caramel flavoured GU, Nuun-laced water, the trusty Garmin and vitamin I - Ibuprophen.

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For some it was their first 10K and patiently-waiting family members shouted encouragement from the curb, their faces lighting up like lottery winners when they finally spied their heroine or hero.

For others, it’s their umpteenth 10K or half-marathon and they run, not god forbid because they want another T-shirt, but because there is something in the human condition that compels us to test ourselves.

The TC 10K will always be one of my favourites. Not only because I worked at the Times Colonist for more than 20 years, often covering the event, but because it was my first race after taking a learn-to-run clinic pushing my daughter in a stroller 12 years ago. I’ll never tire of the beautiful route, the shared electricity and buckets of emotions that slop generously along the route especially at the finish.

This year it was a different experience as I decided to run the half marathon, which was added in 2014.

Instead of a crush of thousands of people, about 450 folks milled around the empty track at the university. Bonus – no lineup at the gear check or washrooms. Downside – not enough of a crowd to generate shared body heat in the cold morning.

start line

The relatively few brave and hardy souls at UVic's Centennial Stadium - the 10K racers are already one hour into their event.

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Bonus – not having to dodge, weave and plan a route through a crush of people once the race is underway. Downside – worrying as scores of people pass me that I’ll be alone on the course

This seemed to be one of those ‘extra’ half-marathons that pop into a running season that draws seasoned distance runners looking to work up an appetite for brunch, that they’ll likely run to after cruising through the finish line.

For me, I wasn’t sure what to expect. I’ve run several half marathons, all different in goals and outcomes. This is the first late-winter-spring that I haven’t religiously trained for a single event. I did go to church and did my prayers and penance – dabbling in the Vancouver Island Race Series with a handful of mostly short races since January, but that’s different than preparing for a single event.

So I decided to simply run, and run happy. Pleased that it didn’t rain, I let people stream by me (it wasn’t as if I really had a choice in that), enjoyed the scenic route past stately homes and golfers, picked out bystanders including a handsome firefighter to give me a high-five and did at least two middle-of-the road twirls – one with an aerial twist at Kilometre 19 for a photographer that almost buckled my knees on landing.

Running through Uplands

The scenic half-marathon route through the Uplands

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When I crossed the finish line at 2:12, I indeed was happy. I was smiling, I wasn’t injured (that I could yet assess in my Ibuprophen-coddled body) and saw a couple of friends volunteering at the finish line who gave me congratulatory hugs even before I had a chance to get that race bling around my neck – I didn’t have family at the race this year to cheer for me, but my runner friends feel like family sometimes.

Smiling at finish

Really, it's all about the chocolate chip cookies and chocolate milk.

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That’s the other reason that I continue to embrace the TC 10K, the half marathons and  the pound-your-body into the pavement training that gets you there – it’s the people you meet, the people you come to know kilometre after kilometre. And when we all go back to work on Monday, it will still bring a smile to my face. The legs are a different story.