We woke up a little late on Saturday morning, due to the fact the off button on the alarm got hit instead of the snooze button. Luckily both hubby and I are always organized the night before. So we were able to just get up and go!

After a quick stop to get some coffee, we drove down to Eglington/Leslie and to Sunnybrook Park, where the event was taking place. We made our way to the start and managed to find my BFF Marlene and a friend, who she was pacing. After some pictures, a quick potty break and a good luck kiss from hubby, I headed to the back of the start line. Since I was walking the race, and there were at least 500+ ladies, I didn’t want to get in the way

The gun (or horn) sounded promptly at 8 and we were off! Here I am crossing the start line:I had no real goals going into the race except to finish…….but as I got going, I felt great. And I thought that maybe I could possible beat my personal best in a 5k. My first 2k felt good. I passed a few of my fellow walkers, as the runner were also making their way back around to finish their own races. I saw some familiar faces on my way back, which felt great.

We continued onto the turn around and soon came to the only water station on the course, manned by firefighters! While they weren’t in full uniform (bummer) they were still not so hard on the eyes! I managed to stop for a photo at their request (very cool) and began to make my way back to the start (or finish?).

A familiar problem made itself known at about 3k. No matter what distance, around the halfway point of EVERY race I have participated in, it rears it’s ugly head.

Blisters.

I have two “hot spots” and both were up to their usual tricks. And it started to slow me down. But when I hit 4k and saw I was quickly being gained on, I really began to pick up the pace. With just a few hundred metres to go, I rounded the corner and saw the finish line. I was joined by M, and began to run a few metres with her. She brought me in and I finished a strong 51:07:04 (chip time 50:19:01). I DESTROYED my previous personal best by over 4 minutes.

I grabbed some grub (including chocolate….yummy) and got a celebratory photo:

Overall, I was really happy with my finish. I think I could have been under 50 minutes if I hadn’t had my feet flare up. I really need to find a way to stop blisters. Anyone?

Up next, The Scotiabank 5K on September 27th. Again, I have no real goals except to finish. But we’ll see what happens!

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