Holy cow. What a day! The Valley Harvest Half Marathon was a huge success.
The wee hours of Sunday morning were freezing cold, but as we were cruising along Highway 101 towards Wolfville, the autumn sun rose blazing above the forest horizon and lit the fall colours on fire. The sky was a deep, magnetic blue, and the wind was barely shifting in the leaves. The day was perfect for running.
Despite the beauty, for me, the hours before this race were fraught with gastro-intestinal drama (it’s always the same!). I prefer to run with empty guts, so I try to cultivate a bit of anxiety well before race start – nothing gets things moving like nerves! But this strategy never works perfectly in terms of timing. Things will get going when there are no bathrooms to be had (on the road) – and they will resurface when there are mile-long lineups for the toilets just minutes before start. It’s a crappy situation, but I can’t seem to find the secret to well-timed bowels!
Anyway… my brother, my nephew, my wife, and I all made it to Wolfville, and although we were a bit late, the package pickup worked great and we somehow made it into the lineup a couple of minutes before the gun went off. I rarely line up right at the front, and this race was no exception: I decided to stand about three people back from the line. I find that I go out way too fast if I line up in front – it feels like I have hundreds of people chasing me if I’m in front. If I’m stuck in a pack for the first few hundred metres, then I won’t go crazy out of the gate. This strategy seems to work for me. It also gives me a chance to feel out how the race is going to go with other runners.
In this race, there were a couple of guys who shot out in front very early. I was running with a pack of guys – maybe four or five of us – but there were two runners a number of seconds ahead even after the pack crossed the first kilometre in a fairly quick 3:32. There was a guy last year who ran the half in 1:10, which is uncommonly fast for a local race like this one, so I figured that those two lead guys were just superior runners, and I decided to forget about them and just stick to my plan – run 3:44s.
I ran with the pack for the first 5k or so, and by that time we had absorbed one of the two early leaders. The other guy was still out in front – but he wasn’t getting any further away. At 5k, I began to wonder if the lead guy had simply gone out too quickly. At the same time, I stepped up the pace slightly and began to pull away from the pack. I felt like I had a little more in me, so I decided to test my legs for a bit. Things felt good, and very slowly I began to close the large gap between me and the lead runner.
The first 8k of the course are the most scenic in my opinion. This is perfect because runners are still able to look around early on: fatigue hasn’t narrowed our focus to a pinpoint yet – there’s still energy in the tank to enjoy the view a bit. The initial kilometres provide the most spectacular views of the Minas Basin and the fertile dykelands that surround it. This is old Acadian country, and despite its troubled history, there is a deep sense of peace and contentment that pervades this land during an early-morning autumn run.
From 5k to 10k, I ran alone between the pack and the lead runner. I felt strong, and with every inch of gap that I closed, I felt stronger. It was just before we turned north towards the turnaround that I finally caught and passed the leader. He had slowed, but he wasn’t struggling. We exchanged words of encouragement, and I took off for the turnaround.
I’m glad I’d run the course last year and knew that the hilliest section was the few kilometres after the turn-around (the course is mostly a loop course, with one short out-and-back section, where the turnaround lies). I wanted to put distance between me and the other runners, but I knew enough not to blow it on the hills. Instead, I stayed relaxed for the hills and then turned it on for the last 6k. In fact, my Garmin shows that my last 5k was my fastest 5k – I’ve never been able to do that before. I had some extra kick in the final quarter because I’d made some good decisions early on – another first for me!!
I worked hard for those last 6k, running as if the pack were breathing down my neck. In reality, they were over a minute behind – but I never look back in a race, and in this race, I stopped looking at my Garmin to see if I was going to make my goal of 1:18:40. I figured that I was running as fast as I could without risking disaster, so it was useless to become a slave to the watch. Instead, I just kept thinking about keeping proper form and cycling my hips and extending my stride back.
And it worked. As I turned the corner on the track at Acadia University for the last 100m of the race, I looked at the clock and saw that I was going to get my goal. I was almost bowled over by a rush of elation, and I pumped my fists for joy. I was happy that I was going to win, but my exuberance came much more from the fact that I was going to beat my goal. In the end, I crossed the line at 1:18:02.
My brother also had a great run, and I was so proud of him. The last Half he’d run was in London, Ontario 5 years ago, where he ran a 1:53. He flew in from Ottawa to run this one, and he flew across the course in 1:43 – a 10 minute PB! He’d gone out a bit quick and had some unpleasant moments in the last few kilometres, but he gutted it out and crossed the line with a burst of speed. It was inspiring to watch.
I must admit, a big part of the reason the day was so special was because Julie-Ann, Patrick, and my Aunt Jane were in the stands supporting us. Patrick (only 5 years old) held up signs to encourage us across the finish line, and he was so proud of his daddy and his uncle (who, he told anyone in the stands who’d listen, had “won the game”!). He was so cute. And I’m not sure what I would do if Julie-Ann weren’t there at the finish, cheering her crazy husband across the line. More than anyone, she knows how much goes into the training and what each finishing time means. It’s so nice to share the experience with her.
So many runners ran incredibly well that day. The first woman in the half came across the line in a blistering 1:28. And the woman who won the marathon – who also trains with Cliff – absolutely killed the course and came within 13 seconds of breaking 3 hours. That’s an amazing accomplishment. The guy who won the marathon ran 2:57, which I think was a PB (but I’m not sure). I also knew the woman who won the 5k – Leah (the team captain of the Rum Runners team “The Outiliers” and another runner who trains with Cliff). She smashed her PB by almost a minute to win in 19:19 and to place second out of all runners. Improving that much over 5k in a season is astonishing – I can’t wait to see her marathon results from Moncton next weekend.
All in all, the day was amazing. The race directors and the volunteers put on a first-rate race. I was proud to be a part of it.
After the race, we headed for some lunch in Hantsport and then to the Pumpkin Regatta in Windsor and then home to a turkey dinner. It was an exhausting day, but a memorable one for sure. This may be my last Valley for awhile – Julie-Ann and I would like to have a more relaxing Thanksgiving weekend in the future, so I’m glad the race went so well – run it or not, Valley will always be special to me.
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