The Rain in Barrie Falls Mainly on.....
Everyone, for the entire race :-)
I have to say that we chose this race, a Half Marathon on the waterfront in Barrie, ON, because I wanted the medal. It's HUGE, it weighs a ton, it's a bottle opener AND a fridge magnet. I managed to convince Lori that she wanted to run it too, so we packed up our gear and went to spend the night with my BFF Shannon in scenic Orillia.
We carb loaded like mad women on all-you-can eat sushi, and had a great time talking 'till way past my bedtime.
The day 'dawned' (right, sure) pouring rain, like 'build an Ark, Noah' raining. Lori was having the same thoughts as me, but neither of us said them out loud......so we got up, got dressed and drove to Barrie in a downpour. Amusing that I over-pack for every race and managed NOT to bring any kind of jacket, or plastic bag, so we schlepped to the start and hid under the tents waiting for the race start.
We watched the race team, and Jeff their fearless leader, set up the start line and do the last minute stuff, all while the rain beat down on them. I had to wonder how many people chose not to run at all, since the weather was pretty gruesome. We managed to start only a few minutes late, and off we splashed into the puddles, mud, dirt, wet boardwalks and flooded streets of Barrie.
Beats me how the race photographers got a shot of me where it's NOT raining, but somehow they managed. My Sparkle Skirt rocked the entire time too, even though it was sopping wet it never rode up and stayed comfortable.
It wasn't an easy race, it wasn't a flat course, it wasn't filled with slow walkers like the other races I've done recently.
As usual, Lori was in charge of keeping pace, of making me keep running when I was too busy inside my head trying to stop. As evidenced by the FREE (IKR, awesome, FREE race photos!) Lori literally dragged me sprinting toward the finish line so we could get there under 2:50. It wasn't my PB but it was the fastest half I've run (2:50:57 at Niagara, 2:54:59 at Goodlife) in a while.
Despite my speed, I was second last in my age group, and 13th from last in the entire field. Seriously, I think only the insane fast people came out in the rain.....only 248 people ran the half, they must have had a ton of DNSs.
chip time 2:49:09 age group placement 41/42 all finishers placement 235/248
Maybe next time I'm in Barrie I'll save myself the work and just jump fully clothed into the Bay....might get less wet. The race was beautiful even with the weather, our fellow runners were supportive and friendly, it was organized and the volunteers were great, standing the in rain smiling. The only thing I found odd was the post-race pizza. Somehow the idea of that after running was appealing.
