On my way home from Bill’s on Friday night, I decided to follow the race’s itinerary to see where the uphill parts would be, and plan where I would need to pace myself. The thing started at the Tamtam site on Park, then west on Pine, up Côte-des-Neiges (the scary part) past the Oratory and U de M and back through Outremont. I went to bed early, worrying I hadn’t eaten adequately. The night was restless, and I kept dreaming I forgot my pledge money, I got up late, I forgot my bib, my timing chip, I got lost, hurt my knee, etc.

Got to the race early and watched as hundreds of “serious runners” in high tech gear were drinking high tech sportsdrinks and going through elaborate preparatory routines. “What have I gotten myself into?” I thought, remembering my stupid little training routine (2-3 times around Parc Lafontaine, 2-3 times a week) and my pizza dinner of the night before. I munched on a power bar and tried not to think of the Côte-des-Neiges hill.

Then they announced that the medal ceremony would be at 10 am, one hour after start time. I was planning on taking 1h10 just to do the race! I reminded myself that my personal goal was just to finish it. I wondered in what state I would finish, if I did.

And then it started. And before I knew it, the Côte-des-Neiges bugaboo loomed ahead. Amazingly, it turned out to be the most encouraging part of the run! I was surprised to see many of the “serious runners” stopping, panting, walking, stretching all along the hill. As I slowly jogged up, my mind kept thinking “I’m not the worst!? I’m not the worst!”

And the rest was pure fun. Crossed the finish line at one hour, two minutes and couldn’t stop repeating “I’m so happy! I’m so happy!”. Can’t wait for the next one.