When: September 10, 2017 Where: Drumheller, AB, Canada
Well, I said it last year and I will say it again this year. The Dinosaur Valley Half Marathon is a great event put on by the Drumheller Rotary Club. They offer 5K, 10K, and Half Marathon distances. I ran the half marathon again this year and my wife and daughter did the 5K.
This year the shirts for the Half participants were better than last year. They were New Balance dry fit shirts and while they only had unisex sizes (no women’s sizing), mine fit great. They had cotton shirts again for the 5K and 10K.
The race started at the Badlands Community Centre so there were indoor washrooms and was lots of room to prep and stretch indoors. I started this race with a plan, and for the first time ever, I stuck to it. It only took me 18 half marathons to realize that I shouldn’t start so fast. I stared at my watch constantly over the first 6 kilometres to make sure that I held my 5:30/km pace. It was the same route as last year: through downtown, along the river, through the badlands dirt paths to the Tyrell Museum and then along the highway, back to the paths and finishing back at the start. There were 6 water stations with water and Gatorade and enthusiastic volunteers.
I lost a little time in the hills by the museum but because of sticking to my plan early, I was not tired in the second half of the race and made up the time. Who knew right? That is the fun thing about running; you are always learning things about yourself and improving.
I finished the race strong and sprinted across the finish. Earned my medal. Felt good.
Then I hit up the refreshments. There was water, bananas, and oranges. McDonald’s was serving free McCafe drinks to order and Freson Bros were cooking free hot dogs and roast beef buns and giving away cans of pop.
This was a great event on a great course. The only draw back… The medals were exactly the same as last year, apart from the ribbon which listed the year. I love running in Drumheller but I think that next year we will try out the Canmore Rocky Mountain Half on the same weekend. I saw their medals this year were glass! I love my bling and am always looking for new fun races.
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