Inaugural Surrey Music Marathon

When I originally heard about the Surrey World Music Marathon happening (about a year ago), my expectations weren't all that high. It is "Surrey" after all. I've lived in different areas there - Whalley, Fleetwood, Scottsdale and Cedar Hills - so I know the area. For those of you who don't know, Surrey has had a bad reputation for gangs/shootings/drugs/prostitution. The Skytrain runs right through Whalley, so it's definitely more of a high traffic area than other suburban places around Vancouver. While some of it can can be nice, I didn't think it was great enough to hold a Marathon. However, I'm eating my words now because the event was definitely a success! I had a lot of fun and the course was very pleasant - I didn't even have to break out my bullet-proof running vest.  Har. Har. It's been a long time since living in Surrey, and it looks like it's improving.  Originally, I was thinking about doing the marathon distance but at the last minute, I decided against it. Mostly, because it was a double loop course and if the course sucked, I didn't really want to see it all twice. Plus, with my health, I didn't want to risk hurting myself. The course was nice, and will consider running the full next year.

 Countdown to the beginning of the Half Marathon.

Package pick-up was held in one of the rooms in the SFU part of Surrey Central mall/towers. The volunteers were very friendly and efficient. I was in and out of there in less than 5 minutes. The race shirts were AWESOME. As I was late signing up, I was disappointed to see that they only had small and medium sizes left. Typical race shirts generally fit short and I'm tall, so I have to get a large. However, when I picked up my medium shirt, I noticed the length was perfect for me. I was also excited it was an Addidas shirt - I ❤ their gear.

The morning of race day, the skytrain was nice enough to open early to accommodate the runners. Lately, I just haven't been feeling well, so I decided to take a cab up to the skytrain rather than a bus so I could leave a bit later. I left the family sleeping in their cozy beds as I took off around 6:45am-ish. It was pretty cold out but I decided to still leave my jacket at home and stand around freezing. (Shivering burns more calories, anyway.). I wore my arm sleeves instead. ...and of course, the first 15 minutes of the race I was already hot and sweaty so I pushed them down to my wrists ...looking like a dork for the remaining of the race. (Didn't want to take them off and carry them).

At the beginning of the race, like usual, I seeded myself in the back. It took me about 2 minutes to get up to the start line when the race started. LOTS of people! There was a decent amount of water stations and lots of music and cheer stations along the course. I definitely felt "encouraged" throughout the course. Personally, I think this race is ideal for newbies as there was just enough hills and lots of spectators.  The music was interesting for sure. My favourite being the German organ grinder and accordion player!

Around the 12k mark, my knees started to hurt. The hills on the course (as mild as they were) combined with the pavement running, didn't really agree with me. The pain lasted about 3-4k and it started to dissipate, thankfully. The aid stations were stocked with water and Gatorade. I didn't see any gels, but I personally didn't need any.  Around the last 5-6k, I noticed a lot of backed up traffic due to the road closures from the race. People were going as far as getting out of their cars and complaining to the police officers directing traffic. Surrey is a very busy and I was surprised that they shut some major streets down. While, as a runner, I'm VERY thankful that they did this, I could feel the seething rage of the motorist penetrating through their cars. lol.

Coming through the finish line, I could hear my name being called which is always pretty cool. I was met with some volunteers holding the biggest, shiniest bling of a finisher's medal I've ever seen! I felt like a pimp wearing that thing home. It's by far, my new favourite medal. lol. My chip time was exactly 2:24:00 which was just over 4 minutes faster than last weeks half marathon time. I was pretty happy with that, as going any faster for me would have done some damage. Around the corner past the finisher chute was the runner's area, where they had lots of bottles of water, bananas, bagels, etc. Typical post race food. I'm rarely interested in eating right away after a race, instead I generally drink my weight in water and/or other liquids (soup, juice, etc). They also had the stage set up with dancers and other musical performance acts. Soon after I was finished, I cleaned myself up a bit and headed back home. Overall, it was a great race and a good experience for me. Looking forward to next year! :-)

My finishing Bling!

October/November has quite a few races happening but I haven't signed up for any, yet. Not sure what will be next. I did register for a Creative Writing course starting this weekend, so hopefully, I can at least, get my writing/blogging skills more up to par (and more interesting for you readers... or reader. I'm hoping there's more than one of you, though.)

That's it for now! Thanks for reading!