NB Fall Classic Half Marathon Race Report

Coming into this race, I had my hopes high especially coming off from a pb time in Victoria. I believed I was capable of a sub 1:28.

It turns out I was ‘CLOSE’-ish with a gun time of 1:32:39 [just maybe twist palm of hand back and forth a few times].

Here’s the story. The weather for the race morning was not exactly the prettiest of conditions: cold (6°C) , wet (20-30mm) and windy (39km/hr E, 50km/hr gusts). Despite having suited up well with four layers and having proper taper and rest, as well as having my pre-ritual breakfast (a bagel and banana and orange juice no less), I couldn’t escape from whipping out the weak excuses. I had overlooked one detail - ample time for warm-up.

It’s my own fault really. Oh man, how EMBARRASSING!!! The morning was chaotic, I had totally lost track of time after waiting in the long line-up to pickup my chip and race bib. Ideally I would have warmed up for 10-15 minutes prior to starting. So I just smiled it off and started.

My smile and warm-up run :)

On hindsight, I probably would have only shaved off one or two minutes given the harsh conditions. Still two full days after, my legs are in a world of hurt and I guess I have to be impressed with my time for doing the half marathon on literally cold feet.

Despite the lack of a proper feel-good warm-up and the tough conditions, this race was actually a lot of fun. A few friends were doing the race with cold feet as well, so I wasn’t alone.

My attempt to round up the troops and get Chris Scott, Nathaniel Janzen, and Ceilidh Curtis to smile at the camera.

Eric Suess and I met up around the 3km mark and just after the first turn around at 5km, Liam Harrap had caught up. I could only hold their pace until 7km mark when I had to slow down and hover around the 4:20 pace. I tried to keep up but my legs had given up at that point.

My second lap felt a little faster, running it more aggressively. I managed to reel in a handful of runners whom had passed me late on the first lap.

Liam braved the conditions with only the coveted UBCTC Tech Tee! He really could handle it, since he has experience with extreme training in Iceland from doing a year of study-exchange there.

Chris Scott making it look easy.

Vincent Lavallee pulling away from everybody...

...and him finishing.

Liam Harrap went on to having a stellar first half pb of sub 1:28! Check out his souvenir on his left knee.

Nathaniel sporting a sleek toque.

Scott finishing in a pb time!

I have to thank my dad for these great action shots he took.
Congrats to everyone who did the Fall Classic, check out our club's results here.

My Splits (min/km)
1km 4:14
2km 4:07
3km 4:08
4km 4:07
5km 4:14
6km 4:01
7km 4:21
8km 4:40
9km 4:34
10km 4:46
11km 4:21
12km 4:21
13km 4:40
14km 4:14
15km 4:08
16km 4:20
17km 4:33
18km 4:28
19km 4:28
20km 4:26
21.1km 4:26 (4:53)