It’s over for another year! 80 club members - assisted by 170 friends, family and fabulous community volunteers made 2009 a great success. And we had a little help from the weather!
Here’s how the day unfolded for club members:
After a full day of prep on Saturday ( and for some a full day on Thursday/Friday as well) Sunday’s start time came VERY early.
The first volunteers arrived at the Roundhouse at 5:00 am to setup the start/finish and the course, get the water to the water stations, prep for packet pickup and bag check, and prepare food to serve to 2000 guests.
The first runners started to appear around 6:30am. At 8:20 most runners were in the “corral” ready for the start (as per Ellie’s instructions). And promptly at 8:30 the race began.
About 3 minutes after the start, the trucks were at the start line to move the assembly to the finish area. Packet pickup had shut down and bag check was busy organizing all of the packs so that they were ready for the runners when they returned.
There’s a brief lull in the volunteer activity at the Roundhouse while the course volunteers - marshalls, water stations, advance cyclists and sweeps - become the stars of the show. And they continue to diligently serve the 2000 runners until the last man or woman goes by.
Then again activity shifts to the Roundhouse. Finish line timers, medals to be handed out, food, food, food (thank you IGA, Ethical Bean, Mount Royal Bagels, Powerbar, Gatorade …) and finally stage presentations. Thank you to Mizuno - our new race sponsor, and Forerunners - our loyal sponsor for the past 21 years.
Congratulations to the following club members who ran the race:
Sukhi - PB of 1:33:53
Emma - 1:38:52
Janet - 1:41:17
Monique - 1:48:56
Premica - 1:49:18
Paul B - 1:50:22
Brian - 1:53:31
Samantha - 2:14:41
Note to those who know about our “we don’t run the First Half - we work it” policy. Five lucky club members are drawn in a lottery to run the race. This year 3 new members joined the club after they had already signed up for the race. BUT they only get to do that once. Next year the “work it” rule applies!
Here’s a few moments captured in film:
Photos by Bettie Neels:
http://flickr.com/photos/lmnphotos/sets/72157614034988904
Photos taken by Colin Mills
Highlights set: http://www.flickr.com/photos/knepomuk/sets/72157613848442254/show/
Long Set: http://www.flickr.com/photos/knepomuk/sets/72157613849493910/show/