Banff Marathon

The Banff Marathon last weekend was pretty spectacular, and that's despite a change of course having received the following message from Parks Canada just the day before:

"Staff had to temporarily close the Vermilion Lakes Road to the public last night due to the presence of two competing male grizzly bears that were both dominating the roadway and preventing safe passage by visitors. Both animals are in the height of breeding season and actively searching for females. One of them also travelled the length of the road yesterday, not yielding to people. Although both are ear-tagged, neither of these large males (500-600 lb range) are id radio-collared, so we are unable to monitor their whereabouts other than through visual observations. There is also another very large unmarked grizzly bear in the immediate area that appears more reclusive, but has been popping up in surprising places over the last week. Recent events in Jasper underscore the unpredictable nature of large male grizzly bear behaviour during breeding season and the potential risk to visitors.  We also have a female grizzly with two young-of-year cubs in the Vermilion area. It appears that she is successfully hunting elk calves and is seeking security from the 3 large males noted above. It is probable that she will have a very low comfort level near any humans due to her wary nature. And because of the high level of breeding male behaviour around her, we can anticipate that she will be in a state of extreme hyper-vigilance in defense of her cubs. Because of her young cubs, it is unlikely that she will move away from the area; distances travelled in the last 4 days have been short."

The original course would have taken us through Vermilion Lakes before joining the Bow Valley Parkway for an out and back course, but due to the risk of a bear / runner interaction, we would now be running in the opposite direction, eastwards back towards Canmore along TC1. OK, running the best part of 42km alongside a busy highway may not have been everybody's idea of fun, but the views were still impressive, the air was still fresh, and we were still outdoors being active on one of the most beautiful, warm, sunny days so far this year. In addition, despite the changes, everything still went like clockwork which is a credit to the organisers and their volunteers which were truly amazing.

Vermilion Lakes - but we didn't head this way due to increased bear activity

We'd spent the previous night camping again, this time at Tunnel Mountain, where we had a good few hours of chatting and relaxing around the campfire. I hadn't been feeling too well in the days preceding the race, so I sat contemplating how to tackle things on the Sunday morning, feeling that I was a bit stupid running a marathon with a bad chest but desperately not wanting to miss out on the opportunity to be a part of the inaugural Banff Marathon. I certainly wouldn't be up for a fast race and I eventually decided to just play it by ear and just go with how I felt.

Race day morning was absolutely beautiful and a 10am start meant a nice leisurely breakfast at the campsite before heading down to Central Park in Banff for the start. There was a lovely, relaxed atmosphere despite the 1,500 or so runners and I found that I was getting quite excited about setting off.

Leading the ladies race at the start of the Banff Marathon

The first few km took us through the streets of Banff and I had to keep reminding myself to look up at the scenery and appreciate where I was actually running, and each time I did, I got a little shiver of excitement and disbelief that I really was running here again - sometimes I really do feel so lucky!

I'm sure the scenery helped to give me a spring in my step as I was actually leading the ladies race for the first 11km or so, surprising myself by maintaining a comfortable 4.25 minute km pace. My legs and my mind were really wanting to go, but unfortunately, my breathing was letting me down with all the rubbish sitting on my chest and by 11km, I really was struggling and slowed dramatically. Not surprisingly, the second lady pounced and whilst she wasn't exactly pulling away from me too quickly, the gap was gradually widening and by the time we reached the turnaround point for the second time at about 23km, she had opened up a good 400m lead.

Still leading the ladies race but slipped back around 11km

The route wasn't exactly hilly but there were some inclines which caused me to wheeze even more and I found that I needed to alternate between running and walking. I did start to ponder about dropping out, but with the aid stations every 2km and with the volunteers being the most rowdy and encouraging I've ever met, I really felt that I had to keep going thanks to their enthusiasm.

By 30km, I had slipped to 5th lady but I really didn't mind. I was having a great time and with the run/walk technique, I was noticing things along route that I hadn't noticed before - hidden mountain peaks, eagles soaring overhead, picnic areas for those following the trail, the number of sneaky steep hills - it really did add a different perspective to things.

As time was ticking by, I knew that I wasn't even going to go sub 3.30 today, but I figured that if I could finish in one piece and without any injuries, that would be ok. It was getting extremely hot and I could sense that I must be burnt to a cinder by now and that I would be paying the price for it later on. For the last few km, all I could think about was a massive cup of root beer and the urge to jump in the river at the finish line to cool off - it took a lot of restraint not to jump off the bridge as I crossed the river with 1km to go - the crystal clear waters of the Bow River sure looked appealing!

I crossed the finish line in a little under 3 hours 42 minutes and having been passed by another 2 ladies in the last 3k or so, I ended up 7th but 1st in my age group. It wasn't an outstanding run but I was happy enough and I know that I will definitely consider coming back to do it all again next year.

Finishing a very sun burnt and tired 7th lady -
right, where's the river and the BIGGEST cup of Root Beer you can find?!

The best part about the day was seeing Andy and the dogs waiting at the finish line, and getting dragged in to the river by 2 overly excited dogs. It was absolutely freezing and I wasn't quite brave enough to have a swim, but it was so refreshing having a paddle in the ice cold water with the lovely cool mud squishing between the toes!

I've done so many fantastic races already this year, and there are still more to come, but this week I've been doing more cycling to give my body a bit of a break and to help recover from the cold. I am feeling much better and I'm eager to get back into my running, so the motivation is certainly still there despite a slower than average run for me at Banff. I'm entered for the Kananaskis Triple next weekend - 3 mountain trail races in 3 days - a 12km, a 42km and a 25km. I'm not sure whether I will now do all 3, but I know that with the carrot dangling there, chances are I will just for the experience. After that, my focus turns back to the roads again with Edmonton Marathon in August and Toronto Marathon in October and I'm really hoping for something special again in the not too distant future :-)