It was a beautiful day today. Minus 2 degrees and very little wind. The race started at 8:00am and the sunrise was 8:11am. There was a great group of runners and happy volunteers. The course marshals all had big smiles and the course was very easy to understand. 2 loops on residential streets around the Highlands Golf Course in Edmonton.
There was a lot less bare ice than last year. I didn’t see anyone fall this year. A few spots with loose snow but overall this light winter created a great day to run. There was one water station that you pass 4 times as you navigate the course.
I started the day really strong, setting a new 5K personal best. This was not my intention and caused me to run out of strength around the 14km mark. I really struggled to the 19km mark and then pushed to finish strong and did set a new personal best Half Marathon but did not reach my goal to finish under 2 hours. All and all it was a good race.
I earned my finishers medal, with a fuzzy yeti, and then went into the golf course clubhouse for the buffet breakfast. There was muffins, croissants, bacon, sausages, French toast, eggs benedict, scrambles eggs with cheese ham and onions, juices, oranges, coffee, and of course bananas.
While we ate they drew for door prizes and a spokesperson from the Federation of Alberta Naturalists thanked everyone for the portion of proceeds of the race that were donated and described what the federation does.
This race does cost more than others but it is worth it. This year we got a Knit Running Room Toque and a lightweight Running Room bright orange back pack. Not to mention a great finishers medal, meal, and one of the best organized runs going. I recommend this one for sure. It was also a total sell out this year, so register early.
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