And then 6 months ago, when I said, "You bet Amber, of course you can run a half marathon. If you train for it, I'll come run with you, wherever you are."
So on June 19, Amber and I ran the Mayo Midnight Marathon together.
So I drove from Kamloops, BC to Whitehorse, Yukon to Mayo, Yukon. And back south, eventually. All for a total of nearly 6000 km in 2 weeks (ok, yuck...but totally worth it)
insect carnage - vegans and Buddhists avert your eyes
The run was TOUGH. Poor Amber was nervous and didn't really understand how concerned with FOOD I was.... so she was really nauseous for the entire race. Poor thing! She thanked me a zillion times for blabbing nearly non-stop. She figures there is no way she'd have finished without me. :) She told me a couple times that I could go on my own pace if I wanted, but I was like, "You are not getting rid of me with an effing crow bar, lady. I came to run with you, and that's what I'm doing."
pre-race: dinner by the fire, and then...2 minutes to start!!
We nearly missed the start of the race. Twice. I am not kidding!!!!The first time was because maybe I was a bit slack about leaving town and getting on the road. (story of my life...) So I was then zipping along in Central Yukon, and the oncoming police car flashed and pulled me over. Oh Boo :(
But let's hear it for being back in my old stomping grounds: he took one look at my driver's license, and asked, "Did you grow up in Whitehorse?" "Aaahh, yup."
"Did you grow up on Stewart Road?" "Why, yes!"
"Is your mom Nesta?" "Yes, Officer Ben, that's right!.... ummm, do I know you?"
"Yah, I lived at 6 Stewart Road." And I was at 18 Stewart Road. And yet I failed to LIE and say I remembered him....
So Officer Ben went back to his car, and Amber and I debated my luck. She figured my history would get me through. I guessed that he'd pull my file, see I got a speeding ticket last week too, and I didn't remember him so he'd be annoyed, and I'd be unlucky.
OK, he came back to the car, and did ask about my last ticket. Ugh. And then I set a new record for strange things to say to a cop: "Ben, how old are you? When did you move to my street?" And the pinnacle, "Oh, no wonder! I was in junior high when you moved, so why would I hang out with a little kid like you?" (I am soooooo smooth.)
But all's well that ends well..... He made me promise that we would race IN Mayo, and not race TO Mayo, so he let me have a warning. It took cruise control to keep to the speed limit for the remainder of the day. And we almost missed race registration.
The second time, we were hanging out at the campsite, having a fire and chatting, when SUDDENLY, the race was gonna start in like 10 minutes! ACK! Luckily, one of the other campers was just leaving in his pickup, so we hitched a ride on his bumper. We made it with like 3 minutes to spare :)
But other than Amber wishing for an early death for 19 of 21 km, it was awesome!!! I high-fived EVERYONE on course. OK, truly, I missed 1 cop (as he was on the wrong side of the vehicle), 1 conservation officer (as he was on the wrong side of the vehicle), and 1 EMT (as he was on the wrong side of the vehicle). I nearly got run over by both the RCMP and ambulance, as I was attempting to high-five the occupants. Ooops. The next morning, ambulance driver apologised to me for hitting me, and hoped it wasn't too hard. haha. He actually did not hit me, but he was bored, so probably woulda liked a patient!
at a Hawaiian water station
I ran up to one lady with my arm out for a high 5, and she thought I was offering hugs, so gave me a huge hug. YAY! Then another runner hugged me. And then much later, a couple marathoners were clearly struggling and HURTING (oh crap, marathon is hard and HURTS!!), so I hugged them. YAAAYYYYY! On-course hugs are a new development for me. So great!
We watched the sunset, saw the sun dip below the mountain, and watched the dawn at 1:30 AM. But of course it never got dark at all. :)
Amber running STRONG with only 2 km left
no flash needed - it's only 1 AM in Central Yukon in June
And then the food!!!!!! Runners are so into food!
At the end of the race, they offered tea and coffee, bagels, fruit and home-made soup!! I'm tellin you, every time you have soup offered to you, made by a First Nations lady, TAKE IT! I swear it's in their DNA to make delicious soup.
And the race put on a HUGE breakkie the next morning. (Did I mention runners are really into food?!) MASSIVE spread: coffee, scrambled eggs, potatoes, ham, lots of sorts of bread, muffins, bagels, the FRUIT was incredible - strawberries, kiwi, bananas, and WATERMELON - YAY!! And carrot cake! And banana cream pie!!!! Oh yes! Pie for breakfast! And just when it could NOT get better, they poured champagne cocktails!!! Champagne + cranberry juice + a huge frozen strawberry!!!
And we got a great race shirt.And all this for $45!!!!
the day after, at Pelly Crossing: Amber learned that Cold Water Therapy is fantastic, not crazy
1 comment:
What a great story. My partner, myself and my best friend are considering this race as our next conquest. My best friend and I just ran the Victoria Marathon on Oct 10th and it was my first and I'm hooked!!
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