Quebec City Marathon 2018
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Quebec City Marathon 2019
The day before the race
This year my wife couldn't go with me to the Quebec City marathon, she had something else happening that same weekend in Montreal, so on Saturday, October 13th, at 8 am I took a bus to go from Montreal to Quebec. The trip seemed long, I wrote my diary, read my book, did crosswords and when I looked at the watch, only one hour had passed. Phhh...
Anyway, I arrived safe and sound in Quebec shortly after 11 am and walked to my hotel. It was a long walk, more than half an hour.
At the hotel I did all the check-in bureaucracy but could not take the room yet, of course, it would only be available at 4 pm. I left my heavy bag there and went to the Convention Centre to get my bib.
Getting the bib and t-shirt was straightforward. The t-shit is long-sleeved. Nice touch, considering that on race day the temperature would be in the single digits.
I walked to the Café du Monde to have my lunch. This is our favourite restaurant in Quebec, we always go there when we visit the city. The food was delicious.
Then I walked back to the area where my hotel is located. They were just starting the 5K race, I saw the leader pass by km 1. Then I walked to the finish line (which was nearby as well) and waited for the end of the race. The winner did it in 17 minutes. The woman winner arrived just one minute later.
I went then to the hotel and finally had my room. It was a bit disappointing, quite small. But I guess for one person it was enough.
The hotel has a convenience store inside the premises! Yay! I went there and bought a few things for my dinner and breakfast.
After my shower I put on all my running clothes to check that everything was in order for the following day.
I spent the rest of the evening watching TV (there was absolutely nothing in their more than fifty channels), reading, doing crosswords.
Before going to bed I called reception and asked for a wake-up call for 6 am. I knew I wouldn't need, but you never know...
The big day
I had my small breakfast (yogurt and chocolate milk), got ready and went out to check how cold it was. It was cold, less than 5 degrees Celsius. But I decided not to wear gloves. I would suffer a bit in the beginning, but later in the race it would prove to be the right decision.
I got back to the room and did the last preparations. Fortunately the hotel management had agreed to let me have the room until 2 pm, so I didn't have to do the checkout before the race.
I left the hotel at 7h30 and walked the 500 meters to the starting line. There was a good crowd already there. I did some warm-up and stretching and five minutes before eight o'clock I was at the start line.
This year they changed the course, we no longer leave from Levis, the course is entirely in Quebec City. It is much worse than before. Before we would run most of the race by the river or in the woods. Now it's mostly bike paths, cobblestone, unnecessary hills that go on for three kilometers. I guess I won't be coming back next year...
Anyway, the marathon in Quebec is not so big, less than 1500 participants, so I was crossing the starting line just two minutes after the start.
My strategy for this race was to go slower in the first 12 kilometers, around six minutes per kilometer and then increase the speed after that to get around the halfway point in two hours. After that I would have to see how my body was doing and go from there.
At the beginning I caught up with the 4h30 bunny and stayed with his group for a few kilometers. I did the first 5K in 29m24s, just half a minute faster than my plan.
But I was full of energy, so I left them behind and went ahead to connect with the 4h15 bunny. I stayed with them for a few kilometers as well. I did my 10K in 58m28s, a minute and a half faster than goal.
Those guys also seemed a bit slow to me, so I left them behind and went on to connect with the 4h bunny. They were the run/walk group, so when they would stop to walk for a minute, I would continue running and put some distance on them. Later on they would catch to me, because I was already slowing down.
But I was able to stay with them until the halfway point, I crossed it in 2h00m05s, only five seconds off my goal. I was feeling pretty good. They took off then and I could not continue with them
My Garmin stopped working around km 28, I guess I didn't charge it well enough.
The hill that starts in km 24 and goes on until km 27 wasn't as bad as I expected. There were many small plateaus on the way, so it never felt too hard.
But by then I was already getting tired and going slower. I used every water station to walk a little bit and every time the little bit was getting longer...
Somewhere around km 30 the 4h15 people caught to me and I couldn't keep up with them either. But I tried to maintain a good pace, I didn't want the 4h30 people to catch up with me, I wanted a PB (my previous best was 4h33m).
I really slowed down around km 35, it was hard going. Two or three people talked to me a little bit, I was looking bad, I knew.
By km 39 the unthinkable happened: when I stopped at the last water station and looked back, I saw the 4h30 bunny coming up at me. I got all the rest of my strength and started running the most that I could. I was just three kilometers away from the finish, I would not let that bunny pass me!
I must have looked hilarious in those final three kilometers, I was doing small steps, putting a lot of energy in them. But it was all worth it, I crossed the finish line when the official clock was turning to 4h25m. As I had left almost two minutes after the start, my chip time was 4h23m03s, a new PB by ten minutes!
I went back to the hotel, took a hot bath, rested a bit on the bed and then by 13h30 I was checking out of the hotel to come back home. Wow, what an adventure!
This year my wife couldn't go with me to the Quebec City marathon, she had something else happening that same weekend in Montreal, so on Saturday, October 13th, at 8 am I took a bus to go from Montreal to Quebec. The trip seemed long, I wrote my diary, read my book, did crosswords and when I looked at the watch, only one hour had passed. Phhh...
Anyway, I arrived safe and sound in Quebec shortly after 11 am and walked to my hotel. It was a long walk, more than half an hour.
At the hotel I did all the check-in bureaucracy but could not take the room yet, of course, it would only be available at 4 pm. I left my heavy bag there and went to the Convention Centre to get my bib.
Getting the bib and t-shirt was straightforward. The t-shit is long-sleeved. Nice touch, considering that on race day the temperature would be in the single digits.
I walked to the Café du Monde to have my lunch. This is our favourite restaurant in Quebec, we always go there when we visit the city. The food was delicious.
Then I walked back to the area where my hotel is located. They were just starting the 5K race, I saw the leader pass by km 1. Then I walked to the finish line (which was nearby as well) and waited for the end of the race. The winner did it in 17 minutes. The woman winner arrived just one minute later.
I went then to the hotel and finally had my room. It was a bit disappointing, quite small. But I guess for one person it was enough.
The hotel has a convenience store inside the premises! Yay! I went there and bought a few things for my dinner and breakfast.
After my shower I put on all my running clothes to check that everything was in order for the following day.
I spent the rest of the evening watching TV (there was absolutely nothing in their more than fifty channels), reading, doing crosswords.
Before going to bed I called reception and asked for a wake-up call for 6 am. I knew I wouldn't need, but you never know...
The big day
I had my small breakfast (yogurt and chocolate milk), got ready and went out to check how cold it was. It was cold, less than 5 degrees Celsius. But I decided not to wear gloves. I would suffer a bit in the beginning, but later in the race it would prove to be the right decision.
I got back to the room and did the last preparations. Fortunately the hotel management had agreed to let me have the room until 2 pm, so I didn't have to do the checkout before the race.
I left the hotel at 7h30 and walked the 500 meters to the starting line. There was a good crowd already there. I did some warm-up and stretching and five minutes before eight o'clock I was at the start line.
This year they changed the course, we no longer leave from Levis, the course is entirely in Quebec City. It is much worse than before. Before we would run most of the race by the river or in the woods. Now it's mostly bike paths, cobblestone, unnecessary hills that go on for three kilometers. I guess I won't be coming back next year...
Anyway, the marathon in Quebec is not so big, less than 1500 participants, so I was crossing the starting line just two minutes after the start.
My strategy for this race was to go slower in the first 12 kilometers, around six minutes per kilometer and then increase the speed after that to get around the halfway point in two hours. After that I would have to see how my body was doing and go from there.
At the beginning I caught up with the 4h30 bunny and stayed with his group for a few kilometers. I did the first 5K in 29m24s, just half a minute faster than my plan.
But I was full of energy, so I left them behind and went ahead to connect with the 4h15 bunny. I stayed with them for a few kilometers as well. I did my 10K in 58m28s, a minute and a half faster than goal.
Those guys also seemed a bit slow to me, so I left them behind and went on to connect with the 4h bunny. They were the run/walk group, so when they would stop to walk for a minute, I would continue running and put some distance on them. Later on they would catch to me, because I was already slowing down.
But I was able to stay with them until the halfway point, I crossed it in 2h00m05s, only five seconds off my goal. I was feeling pretty good. They took off then and I could not continue with them
My Garmin stopped working around km 28, I guess I didn't charge it well enough.
The hill that starts in km 24 and goes on until km 27 wasn't as bad as I expected. There were many small plateaus on the way, so it never felt too hard.
But by then I was already getting tired and going slower. I used every water station to walk a little bit and every time the little bit was getting longer...
Somewhere around km 30 the 4h15 people caught to me and I couldn't keep up with them either. But I tried to maintain a good pace, I didn't want the 4h30 people to catch up with me, I wanted a PB (my previous best was 4h33m).
I really slowed down around km 35, it was hard going. Two or three people talked to me a little bit, I was looking bad, I knew.
By km 39 the unthinkable happened: when I stopped at the last water station and looked back, I saw the 4h30 bunny coming up at me. I got all the rest of my strength and started running the most that I could. I was just three kilometers away from the finish, I would not let that bunny pass me!
I must have looked hilarious in those final three kilometers, I was doing small steps, putting a lot of energy in them. But it was all worth it, I crossed the finish line when the official clock was turning to 4h25m. As I had left almost two minutes after the start, my chip time was 4h23m03s, a new PB by ten minutes!
I went back to the hotel, took a hot bath, rested a bit on the bed and then by 13h30 I was checking out of the hotel to come back home. Wow, what an adventure!
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