Sunday, October 18, 2009

Run4Rett, Toronto Marathon and more

What a whirlwind of a weekend! My head is still spinning, but let's see if I can do a quick wrap-up so I can finally catch up on what you've all been up to.

***

First and foremost, congratulations to Yumke who has been chasing Boston for some time now. Today he achieved his coveted BQ at the Toronto Marathon with a 3:12:36. Amazing! I spotted him around 37K (I think) and he was looking strong with the 3:15 bunny. Congratulations Kenny!!!

AND... my girl Lacey may have run a little BQ herself... in her debut marathon! Way to go, girl!

***

Run4Rett was a tremendous success yesterday. It was a long and busy but rewarding day. My volunteers were outstanding, we had a great turnout of participants in the 1K and 5K and we raised over $56,000 for Rett Syndrome.

I'll share plenty of photos from the event once they're available, but for now here is one of hubby finishing the 5K with a PR of 19:36 for 4th place overall.



I also snapped one of Jean-Marc Genereux (of So You Think You Can Dance Canada) finishing the 5K. It was great seeing he and his family out there to support the cause.



After being on site at 7am, we wrapped up around 2pm. I only had a quick break at home before heading out to meet some friends for girls' night. I sat down to have a tea and check up on a few things online at the same time... and somehow managed to completely dump a mug of hot tea all over myself and my laptop. NOT COOL. It's still not working, but we're drying it out and trying a few other tricks to hopefully get it working again. Ugh.

Other than that, girls' night was fun, but a late night after a long day and I was exhausted when I crawled into bed.

Sleep in on Sunday? No way. I was up dark and early to head downtown with more than 30 people from my training group for the Toronto Marathon. It was an exciting morning with many running their first marathon, some going for BQ's and all of them out to see several months of training pay off. There were just as many of us out for support as there were runners and it was incredible to be a part such an important day for all of them.

After seeing everyone off, we all separated in order to spread ourselves out on the course and offer as much support as possible. I headed to about the 2K mark with a few others where we picked up some of our people and ran with them to 10K or so, which included running up the infamous Hoggs Hollow hill. I ran up ahead a few times (huffing & puffing!) to snap photos of the girls I was running with. I had a predetermined spot where I would pull off to meet up with others and head to our next stop together, but somehow I totally missed it. Must have been having too much fun! Not a total disaster, as I was able to hop on the subway and head to the next stop to find everyone.

We positioned ourselves next just past the half way point. Everyone was looking amazing at this point and it was so great to see them and give them a boost. Once everyone had run by, we took a walk to about 36K where we would catch them on the 'back' portion of an out and back along the lake shore.

I had arranged to meet my friend Micki at this point and bring her to the finish in under 4:00 for a BQ. She came along right on time (a couple minutes ahead!) and going strong. I jumped in immediately, asked all of the essential questions "How are you feeling?" "Do you need anything?" "Can I carry something for you?" She was running fast and picked it up as we passed the 4:00 bunny. She was focused and strong and I didn't doubt for a second during that entire 6K that she could do it. As we reached the lase few kilometres, another lady from our group jumped in to help bring her home. We yelled to the crowd that our girl was going to Boston and got them to cheer like crazy. It was such an amazing thing to share with her and what a great feeling. We finally sent her on her way with the finish line in sight, which she crossed in 3:56! BQ with time to spare! Fantastic.

I didn't waste any time turning around and running back along the course to see who else I could pick up. Over the next half hour, I successfully located four others and brought them in one at a time. Some were thrilled with their run and some were not, but watching someone finish a marathon, sharing those last minutes with them when it seems like the finish line is NEVER going to be there, watching their face light up when it finally comes into sight - what an incredible thing.

So many of these amazing people have supported me all summer long and during my own marathon and it was a true pleasure to be there today.

At the end of the day, I ran 18K and loved every minute of it. What a day! Photos to follow.

And now? I need to go to bed. I'll catch up with everyone tomorrow!

35 comments:

Anonymous said...

juuuuust got major goosebumps reading about you running in your friends- amazing! i wish I had seen you- i was the crazy girl jumping all over the place, screaming names!
glad that run4rett was amazing!
xoxo

Mel -Tall Mom on the Run said...

HUBBY IS SPEEDY! I need that pacer bunny..

Amazing money raised for a great cause, I bet this weekend flew by.

OK confirmed we could be best buds if we lived local...I am the queen of spilling crap on myself. The worst was mushroom bisque soup on my mouse and mousepad at work...it looked like vomit.

Hugs to helping people finish.. I am over the moon excited for Lacey...and I heard it rained like CRAZY.. that is one tough fast chick..

Mark said...

That is so cool...helping people finish. Congrats to Hubby! That is fast!

Unknown said...

very exciting weekend! :-)

Marky Mark said...

Good for you for giving back so much-I'm sure it felt good and that people really appreciated it-what a great day!

I hope you have similar weather for Niagara Falls this weekend and for your husband's Hamilton full in two weekends!

Boris T said...

Looks like a heck of weekend. Always good to know people are outhere supporting others during big events like Toronto Marathon and not honking thier horks becasue they feel 'inconvinienced'.

B.o.B. said...

wow crazy weekend! sorry about your laptop but all the running sounds amazing!!! way to be such a great supporter.

Jamie said...

That is one heck of a weekend!

X-Country2 said...

Awesome spectators like you make me smile. Even if you aren't cheering for me, I just love seeing people like you on a course. :o)

macnic said...

What a great weekend! Glad to hear about the great fundraising and great support at Toronto! Way to go!

Runner Leana said...

Wow, BQs all around!! Congratulations to your friends! I'm sure those you were pacing really appreciated you being there and bringing them in. And congratulations on the Run4Rett as well!!

{will run for margaritas} said...

Sounds like a GREAT (and busy) weekend!! Congrats on an AWESOME Run4Rett - you raised a ton of money, so amazing! (Hubs is fast, too!!)

And congrats to all of your friends who ran the marathon (and BQ's). Sounds like a blast! :)

Patrick said...

You are a busy bee!!! COngrats to your husband and I am sorry about your laptop--- that is awful when something like that happens.

I hope you get it fixed!

Jen Feeny said...

After having B.o.B support me at Chicago I've realized I def can't wait to do some cheering for my fellow runners in upcoming races I'm not running. Spectators are so important and individual supporters are even more so! Good job girl!!!

Random item... so because you're up in Canook Country you always talk in k's and I never can compute it because I talk in miles, anyway... while running Chicago as we hit the various k's I thought of you! :)

Jess said...

What a busy gal you are!

Congrats to your hubby on an awesome 5K performance!

ShutUpandRun said...

You can be a model and example for me in San Antonio. You are such a great runner and a great spectator. Both are SO important!

RunToTheFinish said...

wow two days in a row of being an awesome person at a race...way to go!! love that you were able to raise so much and then support so many friends

joyRuN said...

What a fantastic weekend supporting so many runners!

And wow - speedy hubs!

Hope your computer dries up soon.

yumke said...

Hey! Thanks for the shoutout and was great to see you again in person. You are owed major karma for doing such good deeds, both on the net and on the course. Good luck to you in Niagara -- and your hubby in Hamilton. If I survive MCM next weekend, I have this crazy idea that I may run in the Hammer. Just an idea for now.

J said...

Wow what an amazing weekend! SO many BQs this weekend too! Hope you got some rest! I feel like i need all week just to catch up from the weekends festivities!

Denise said...

I got the chills reading that...all those BQs!!! So exciting. And Hubs...speedster!!

Irish Cream said...

Wow, sounds like you had one busy weekend! I'm so glad that Run4Rett was so successful! (And boy is hubby fast! Dang!).

Also, how cool to get to run everyone in like that during the marathon--I was getting all goosebump-y while reading it and craving another marathon . . . uh ohs! :)

Anonymous said...

Wow! Your hubby is fast!!!! I'm glad that the race was a success!!

Felice Devine said...

Sounds like a great weekend! How fun!

Congrats to your SPEEDY hubby.

Anonymous said...

Busy weekend! It must be exciting to be around all of the activity . Hope your laptop recovers!

Mel-2nd Chances said...

Job well done on your efforts with the Run 4 Rett! Congrats to you for that and to for being out there for your friends for their special days! I bet they really appreciated you being out there for them! Hope the laptop isn't totalled!!

EndorphinBuzz said...

Good job on volunteering and helping people finish their marathon! And congrats to Kenny as well!

Mel -Tall Mom on the Run said...

I was just looking and you have a race this weekend. Why is it not on my calendar??? Hmmmmm??

HAlf Marathon, right? Are you going for a PR or running for fun?

Toni said...

What a great weekend! Congrats all around!

No Longer Using said...

AWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW :) thanks marlene!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

look at your hubby!!!!!!!!!! he is lookin' GREAT and FAST FINISH 19:36 pr!!!!!!!!!!!! woo woo!!

i really really want to be able to support friends in their marathons, now if only y'all lived closer :) i think it would be so much fun to be there in the action and help someone as they need it. cheering, water, etc. etc.!!!!! that's what we do for each other and it is such a great feeling all around :)

Anonymous said...

That hubby is FAST!!!! Wowow. So pumped for Kenny and Lacey! :)

I am so obsessed with this idea of running with marathoners towards the end - seems like a lot of bloggers I love have been doing this recently and it's AWESOME! Hopefully I can recruit someone around here to hop in with me, I think I'll def need it and what better way to spend a few miles than running with a friend? yes yes, I love it!

Lindsay said...

i, too, got goosebumps about you running with your friend! very, very cool :)

glad the run4rett went well! congrats to hubby on a crazy 5k time!

Unknown said...

That's so sweet of you to go out and cheer people on and help them make it to the finish! Congrats to your hubby on his PR.

Erika said...

How cool that you got to run people in! One of these days I'm going to spectate a race instead of running it. Hopefully when the boys are older, I can take them with me to cheer.

MCM Mama

ShirleyPerly said...

So wonderful that you guys would be there to help support the others. Just make sure you don't do that for friends participating in a triathlon as that could result in the athlete being disqualified (usually tries are much more strict about running/riding alongside others and doing anything that might be construed as providing outside help, to include taking anything or giving anything to them).

Hope your laptop dries out and works again!!