Guest Post: Karen runs Kelowna

With our bags packed, my daughter Haley and I waited for friends to drive us to Kelowna. The truck pulled up to Jen’s parents house. I remember thinking that it’s important to get a good night’s sleep two nights before the race. Nerves always get in the way of a good night’s rest the night before a race. 

We visited Jen’s friends, picked up the race package and bought a few groceries for dinner. I even had champagne and orange juice at Jen’s friends. I thought I probably shouldn’t be doing this.

Turkey dinner and all the trimmings was my prerace meal. I had more champagne. And I could not resist the pumpkin pie even though I felt too full. So after this busy and unusual prerace meal, I knew I would be shooting for a PR.

RACE DAY 

My watch alarm was still set for Alberta time. I got up an hour too early. I went upstairs for breakfast – tea, orange juice, a bagel and banana. The air was crisp and cool. Many people at the race start looked way too overdressed for my liking. I positioned myself between the four hour and the four  and fifteen pace bunnies. After a very enthusiastic singing of O Canada, the buzzer went.

The four hour pace bunny took off like a shot. Oh well, I thought. I’ll just stay ahead if the four fifteen bunny. Feeling good and remembering to take my gels and water on a regular schedule, I soon caught the 4 hr bunny around 25k. By 28k, I left the pace group and carried on my merry way. I took my walk breaks, smiled at everyone and looked forward to meeting up with Haley and Jen at 37 k. They would run the last 5k with me.

I handed Haley my fuel belt and told them I felt ok. The 4-hour bunny was right behind me. At 39k, he turned to me to say “Stick with me. You can do 4 hours.” This is something I had only imagined I could do. The 1k to finish marker was a welcome sight. My legs were shutting down and I really struggled to keep them moving. I crossed at 4:00:22. I still can’t really believe it!

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