The 2007 Father's Day Manitoba Marathon

The Manitoba Marathon, Winnipeg, June 17, 2007

The Finish was more than welcome, on this Father’s Day in Winnipeg, Manitoba.

The start was cool at 7.00 am and then I went at what I thought to be my Ottawa Marathon pace, however at the half way mark of 21 kilometers on Portage Avenue, I soon realized that something was not going as well as in Ottawa 3 weeks ago, where I had a 4.22 chip time. At mile 19.5, Dale W caught up with me and greeted me and I told him that I was having problems, namely pain and heavy legs. I had another 11 kilometers left. I got a bit dizzy, so at that point, I figured there is no point in pushing it to a point of injury. I felt my body well, and I knew from experience what to do. I slowed down a bit, and realized that there was little “gas in the tank”. I then resolved just to finish it and still smile somewhat. I did finish in 4.42, and soon I realized that others had also had problems, so then I knew it must be the humidity in the air, even though the temperatures were not very high.

It was a highlight to be able to host Paul Piplani, from Phoenix, who ran his 801^st marathon. You heard right. He ran the Grandmas in Duluth on Saturday, the day before the Manitoba Marathon. He is a great guy running and teaching chemistry in Phoenix, Arizona.

Of course the big reason to get up early, I mean early at 4.00 a.m. was that Edna and I had to be at the 6.30 a.m. start of my 4 Grandchildren. Cameron and Timothy ran the Super Run ( 2.5 miles) and Kenley and Theresa were signed up for the Mini Mites, ages 2 and 4. Kenley got overwhelmed at the loud noise at the start and forgot to run, but rather cried in fear. Theresa just stood there at the start. Edna, said she was afraid of a DNS (did not start). However Judy came to help and they did start and they managed to NOT have a DNF (did not finish).

Patrick did a great job of running two stages of the Relay Race and he caught up to me at about km 16.

What a wonderful Father’s Day, packed with excitement and wonderful people and lots of exercise that created sore muscles.