mickey mouse

mickey mouse

Tuesday 21 October 2014

A Rubber Chicken and a Clown Costume

Well, about 6 months ago I entered a contest with Brooks Canada for an entry into the Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon.  The question was 'what would you do for an entry into the race?'

I said I'd wear a tutu and sing songs that were requested by people.

Yep, they picked me.

This was my last race of the season. In true form I didn't train at all, just got out of bed in the dark and took the 5:55am GO Bus to Toronto. Since it's better to look funny if you're going to run funny, I got suited up in a clown costume and tutu, complete with a smiley face balloon and a squeaky rubber chicken.


Nobody even flinched on the bus....and I arrived at Union Station with my gear and coffee.  Found the start line and got situated in the corral to wait. And wait. And wait. And we're off.

And it is proven to me that a season spent on a couch, with a desk job, and not running except to a food truck has not been a smart training choice. Good thing my goal was to finish.  At about 6k I considered throwing in the towel for my first DNF, 'cause I figured 4 hours of wogging was going to be so blerg.

Then the little voice in my head starting wonking about the medal, and the fact that I was supposed to be singing and how was I going to explain on FB that I quit?


So I started to sing, and in a true show of technical prowess I recorded all the videos sideways and have no clue how to figure them out.



You'll notice amusing (at least to me) themes with some of the songs. AND the fact that I've apparently lost my singing voice since theatre school (or should not sing while I've been running).  I also tried to show some part of the course, to prove I didn't stand in one spot and sing all the hits :-)



How could I not take the opportunity to sing Strange Animal to a bunch of geese?

every now and then someone would ask me what the heck I was doing. I explained it, but that didn't seem to help make it make sense.  

Finally I figured out that I'd need to run a medley together in order to not have to keep running past the finish line to sing them all.

Since a PB wasn't in the cards I figured I'd have fun, and pose for photos whenever the opportunity presented itself.  I ran into the same couple twice, so the second time I had them get in my race photo. I have no clue who they are but they were so nice.


And I managed to get in a jump....I LOVE when photographers play along with my silliness.





At long (long, like 3.5 hours long) last I ran up Bay Street into the finisher chute. Figured I would high five the entire group cheering on the left hand side, then have a conversation with the announcer as I crossed the line.


I can't remember the last time I had as much fun running. I honked the chicken at strangers, at spectators, at kids and animals. Then in the friends and family area I met a mom and a little girl who congratulated me on the run. They said they'd watched me start and watched me finish. I figured that if anyone needed a rubber chicken it was the adorable little girl. So she got the 21.1k chicken and a nice kid on the course got the balloon.




I limped back to Union Station, stopping for a couple #Runfies along the way.

 

Not sure how I got back onto the train, it did involve cursing my way up the stairs.  However, I can't remember the last time I felt more a part of the crowd and then entire spirit of a run. Maybe next year I'll run the Pride and Remembrance run in costume too....but I don't think in that case I'll even come close to sticking out like I did today.


Thank you Brooks Canada, Canadian Running Series, all the volunteers (especially the ones at the Zoo water station who posed for a photo with me). Thank you to the medical team (which I didn't need but I saw working hard), the folks who lived on every street we ran down (and the understanding folks who could not get across the city 'cause of the closed streets).  Oh, and thanks to the team at Another Mother Runner because their costume podcast led me to the pet section of the store for my dog-toy rubber chicken!

http://eachcoach.com/img/EachCoach_October-22-2014.pdf
AND Chris Hadfield answered MY running question! I'm SO cool!!


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