So, as some know I hadn’t realized I was actually a pace bunny until the week of Bluenose. I’d volunteered, but after hearing nothing after two inquiries, figured I wasn’t needed. I was relieved when I realized I was doing the 2:30 pace, but still nervous as my training has been limited this year.
When I met John Stanton at the Friendship Run and he pointed out that I was pacing the social runners, I realized that there would likely be a large number of runners watching for me! YIKES!
As it turned out, all went well. There were indeed a lot of runners watching for me, but I didn’t let them down. I made it in in 2:31. Would have been right on 2:30 I’m sure, had I not stopped around 13k at an outhouse in the park – with my Garmin set on “Auto-pause”, unbeknownst to me – leaving me guessing at just how much time I’d lost.
I had a large group running with me for about 5k – then a bunch of them continued ahead, and two stayed with me “sticking to the plan”. Those two fell behind me at about 14k. They finished about 5 mins. behind me, I think.
From there on I ran here and there with a few different runners, all trying to beat the pace bunny to the finish. One was a Fellow Team Diabetes runner from Saskatchewan at her goal race on her 22nd birthday! I got to be the first to wish her a happy birthday (it seems everyone close to her was focused on her big goal of running the Team Diabetes Bluenose)!
The weather was fantastic – the best the Bluenose has seen yet I suspect.
All in all, it was a fun time, and a world class event.
And I finished knowing that I COULD have raced it and felt okay finishing, however I’m glad that I didn’t race.
Next stop, Cabot Trail!
About Trish
