Before you start thinking that I have gone for another run the week after having my first run in over a decade, I'll start by saying that I went to watch the Waterfront Marathon this morning.
I didn't go because I am newly inspired by running. I have known for weeks or months that I wanted to go. I read that Simon Whitfield (the triathlete who won gold at the 2000 Olympics and silver at the 2008 Olympics) would be in Toronto for the Waterfront Marathon, and call me naive (no really, go ahead) I thought it was to run the marathon. He was a guest speaker yesterday...and did tweet about running, but it turns out (I would later find out), not the marathon.
A couple of weeks ago, I was out walking my dog when I ran into a friend of mine who was out for a run. I met him over five years ago when he first arrived in Canada from Mexico. He's always training for a marathon so I asked him when his next race was. He said he was running the Waterfront Marathon. I told him I was hoping to go to watch in the hopes of seeing Simon.
I made my way downtown for the 7:30am start at University and Adelaide. It was inspiring to see all the runners and their friends and families cheering them on.
After seeing the start, I walked south to see where I could see the leaders next. It turns out that I had time to get to Lakeshore before they arrived from a small loop to the east. Five minutes after the lead pack, there was my Mexican friend. I cheered some encouragement and watched him go. As much as I knew that he was a top runner, it was still amazing to see him so close to the front.
The lead pack included mostly Kenyans and Ethiopians.
The eventual winner Kenneth Mungara is running on the right. He would finish the race in 2:07:58. The fastest time ever on Canadian soil.Reid Coolsaet of Hamilton would finish 10th in 2:11:22 to qualify for the 2012 Olympics (and the fastest time by a Canadian on Canadian soil and 5th fastest Canadian marathon all time). You can read more about his race and his thoughts on the Olympics on his blog. Also in the photo is Rob Watson, his teammate, who paced with him for over 20km.
Eric Gillis (originally from Nova Scotia but now residing in Guelph) would finish one spot behind in 2:12:08 to miss the Olympic qualifying time by 39 seconds (although it is the 8th fastest marathon by a Canadian all time). He competed at the 2008 Olympics in the 10k race. He also has a blog with a nice photo of him carrying the torch during the 2010 Olympic relay.
Reid qualifying for the Olympics is great news for Canada. Although the official Olympic qualifying time is 2:18 (which would allow a few Canadian marathoners to qualify), Canada has a medal possibility mentality which means they lowered that standard to 2:12:38 for our athletes for the 2008 Olympics. No one qualified and many questioned the Canadian standard. There were many debates about whether the Olympics were for sending our best in each event or only sending those who had a chance to medal. The Olympic qualifying time for the Toronto marathon today was 2:11:29. I'm not sure if it was just for this marathon (that is known to be flat) or they have lowered the standard more for 2012. Unlike in 2008, Canada will have at least one runner competing in the marathon (if he proves to be fit in the months leading up to the Games); and hopefully Eric (and/or others) will join him.
I managed to get a good photo of my Mexican friend at the 20km mark. It doesn't look like he's struggling at all.
I started walking north, figuring I would go home. As I approached Nathan Phillips Square, the half-marathoners were finishing. The atmosphere was so exciting. Realizing that the marathoners would be finishing soon, I decided to stay to see them one last time. Nathan Phillips Square was filled with people. There was no way I would get to see anything. I decided to go back down to Front Street East to catch them before the last kilometer.
I arrived in time to see my friend and give a few more words of encouragement before he finished 30 minutes behind the winner in 37th! I'll be interested to hear his thoughts the next time I run into him. To me it's amazing, but I wonder if he'll be disappointed at being 4th in his age group (not counting the overall winner) when the top 3 receive prizes or did he reach a personal best time?
I was so interested in seeing the runners go by. There were tall ones, short ones...old ones, young ones...athletic looking ones, and non-athletic looking ones. I am watching all these athletes and realizing that running is for anyone. You don't have to be coordinated. You don't have to look good or look like you're not struggling. If you can put one foot in front of the other, if you can have the determination to keep pushing, even if it hurts, then you can be a runner.
Then, as I'm considering leaving, I see another friend of mine. I'm not surprised knowing he has run the Boston Marathon (holding a Happy Birthday balloon for a friend the whole way), but still impressed by his finish in 3:29, fast enough to qualify for the Boston Marathon. I wish I had a photo of him but by the time you recognize someone, there is no time for a photo. The photo of my Mexican friend was from the second time I would see him. I knew when to expect him and knew what colour he was wearing so as he approached, I was ready.
If I had kept waiting, I wonder how many more friends I might have seen? I know quite a few marathon runners. I spent three and a half hours watching the marathon. One hour of which was near the finish line. It was so interesting to see the various reactions of the runners. Some were quite focused and not acknowledging the cheering. Some of them were appreciative, smiling, waving or nodding while others encouraged the crowd to be even louder.
The pace bunnies were also interesting. Unlike the elite pacers who are chosen for particular runners and run alongside, these bunnies hold a sign with the time they will finish the marathon. If you have a goal in mind, you follow those bunnies. There are also run/walk bunnies (run for 10 minutes, walk for 1 minute). One of the first ones was pointing at the runner who was about to reach the time he set as his goal to encourage the crowd to cheer louder for him. I was thinking, you have just run this marathon holding a sign and pacing someone. That's pretty incredible too.
A later pacer had a few runners with him and he was encouraging the runners he was in the process of losing to catch up. One of them had a resigned look on his face. With less than 1 km to go, he wasn't going to reach his goal.
I saw family and friends spot their loved ones. One in particular was so elated at her time, almost hopping while pointing to her watch when she saw her friend. I imagined she was about to beat her personal best (she was way ahead of the women qualifying times for Boston). She still had energy to finish.
I learned a lot of this information after coming home. I didn't know what the Boston qualifying times were. I didn't know who our best Canadians were, or the best runners for that matter. I didn't know there were pace bunnies (I had seen them at my kids' cross-country races - more to lead the way than pacing them though).
Next time, I will explore the website in more detail before going. I will also plan on spending more time watching more runners close to the finish. It would also be interesting to see those runners who have completing a marathon as their goal and seeing their reaction. The photo of Reid at the finish line after beating the Olympic qualifying time that he posted on his blog is worth seeing.
Simon or no Simon, watching the Toronto marathon is a fun and inspiring activity.