Boxing Day 10Miles

There is a 10 mile boxing day race in Hamilton. It is held at the YMCA. A nice and warm place to get your kit and on the day of the race (very nice). You can take a shower afterwards, also very nice.

The race itself started off without a bang, literally. I was about 20 feet or so from the start. The front lines just started moving. It was a shock to the Jesse, Chris and Pat of the Whitby Tigers as well. I should have lined up closer to the start, because there were a number of people I had to dive around before settling at a pace with others at the same around me. There were a few turns and a slight downhill to a paved trail along the bay. Then my damn shoelace came undone. I quickly told myself don't fret, just get it tied up and get going. I think I lost about 15 to 20 seconds. As I got going again Jesse yelled out, "did you get your shoes tied up", b@st@$d guy! It was about 2ºC outside with overcast. I took my gloves off at about this point, somewhere around 3 miles. My pace was a good, not much ahead of target, but just right for this race. The hills came next around 4 miles, then a small bit of flat, then another hill at 7 miles. One that seemed steep and long, but I passed instead of being passed. At the top of the hill was a trail covered in hard packed snow. It had a number of grooves and dips, I thought for sure my foot would have twisted, but it didn't. Then a good downhill. I went too fast down the hill. I had to catch my breath at the bottom. Then a couple little bumps around 9miles. Near the end I could hear some people catching up, I kept the same pace until they passed me. I went too hard to catch them, I got a feeling like I was going to puke so I backed off, then gave it when I saw the finish line. If I would have had another 10 to 20 ft I think I could have caught them. It worked that my chip time was faster anyways..hehehe. My chip time 1:07:13.

I would definitely enter this race again, especially for the soup after the race. yum!