“-Hi, Bib #1116 here, but my friends call me Bib #1116. I want to tell you the story of my Fredericton Half Marathon. I waited with nervous anxiety on the table with all my 10 km, Half, and Full Buddies… and had to listen to Bib# 2342 brag to my girlfriend Bib # 733. But I digress.
Well the line up starts moving through, and now I’m getting excited…I can’t wait to see what kind of athlete my runner will be. Is it an elite athlete? a sexy first timer? The anticipation was palpable, so imagine my disappointment when the slightly round guy picked me up. I tried to introduce myself but then I as shoved unceremoniously into a yellow plastic bag, but I did get to meet some nice brochures from other races, and I did cuddle up to a Fredericton Half T Shirt, roughly the size of a three-man tent.
So I was pretty excited listening to this round guy talk about his training runs and telling people about his goals for the next day. “Hmm, not too bad” I think to myself as he mentions his goal is 2:09, with a whisper goal of breaking 2:00. So given how serious lard ass sounds I was hoping we’d go through some nice prerace rituals… Well this guy had the weirdest prerace rituals ever. He left me hanging on the pantry door in the cheap bag so the damn dog could sniff me endlessly. So while I sit there Lardo drinks six beers! I mean come on, are you serious, his logic is, well they’re LIGHT beers!!
All my training going for squat.
The next day was much better, as this guy seems to know some pretty cool people, some running the 10, some the Half. Soon I realize it’s time to “pin me to Buddha!” and I guess I was just lucky that drunk guy realized there were predrilled holed for the safety pins.
So we milled around a bit, the nervous energy oozing out of this guys pores, or maybe it was alcohol…but anyway we all got to pose for great pictures, pictures and more pictures, with hugs and words. Had to admit this guy was in with a cool crowd.
So while I’m still posing for pictures I realize,”whoa crap we’re moving” The technological wunderkind that I’m hooked to spent the first km trying to figure out how to start his watch.
After that it was pretty smooth sailing. This guy had a pace bracelet, cleverly crafted out of duct tape. He stopped and walked his way through most of the water stations, which he was kind enough to share with me most of the time.
It was a gorgeous day, with a little breeze lots of sun, and a lot of smiling happy runners. So I feel the guy start to wheeze a little feeling his energy flag a little at km 19. This guy had some gels with him but was too busy running to take them. The next thing I know we round the last corner and this guy is waning, when suddenly he kicks it in and I must admit the breeze felt nice…I see the Finish line approaching and I am yelling at this guy to slow down, I’m going to be all bunched up in the pictures…”
So his wife who was crushing us in these huge bear hugs after he staggered past the finish line told him our time…
1:57:49… he seemed pretty happy. And I almost forgave him shoving me in a plastic bag, until he did it again on the way home.”
Hey Scott here, damn thing is awful long winded. Any way, I’m pretty proud not just of myself, but of all the RM crew, James, Jaime thanks for all the training runs and the motivation, great way to cap our stay in Gagetown eh? (+CTRR). Dani and MrDani, great work on the 10km!! Sanders, Karen, Dan great to meet you/ see you again. And Trish great job, first race, first half, big smiles.
Oh yeah, hurray for me actually ran a smart race, minus forgetting the gels, and the beer the night before…I did beat 2:00 though-
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