Edmonton Marathon 2019
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Edmonton Marathon
Last year, when we were preparing our 2019 trip, our constraint was that we could only travel in July/August, due to my wife's work schedule. I tried to find a suitable marathon in Europe, but could find none that appealed to me. Too many trail events and other things that did not interest me.
So, I tried to find marathons here in Canada during that period. The Edmonton marathon would happen on August 18th, right at the end of our "window of opportunity", so we took that.
We have been living in Canada for more than 25 years and had never visited anywhere to the west of Toronto, so this was our chance to get to know more of our country of adoption.
We planned a twelve-day vacation that started in Calgary, passed by the Canadian badlands (to see the dinosaurs) and ended in Edmonton.
We had a blast, we went to many museums, did walking tours of the cities and even visited the parliament of Alberta.
On Saturday, August 17th, we went to visit the marathon expo:
They had the medals to be admired:
It's a small event (less than a thousand marathoners), so the expo was not big either.
Here is the confirmation that I'm all set for the big day:
On Sunday, August 18th, I woke up at 3 am, tossed and turn in bed for two hours and then finally got up to start my day.
By six I was all ready to go:
I had breakfast at the restaurant of the hotel, just fruits and yogurt and I was off to the race that would start in less than fifteen minutes:
There was some light rain to greet us in the morning:
My wife stood at the starting point to take a picture of me:
The little papers that I was holding were receipts for the baggage that I had left at the hotel reception. Fortunately I met my wife and could give them to her, otherwise I would have to carry them with me for the whole race...
To pass time my wife went back to the parliament and finished the visit that we had to cut short two days prior:
I had a very normal marathon: tremendous start, thoughts of getting a PB, good halfway time and then shutting down in the last twelve kilometers. Up to km 34 or 35 I still had hopes of making it under 4h30, but by then I was more walking than running. By km 38 the 4h30 bunny passed me and I couldn't do much about it. The last few kilometers seemed worse than in previous marathons...
Anyway, I crossed the line with a time of 4h37m45s, my third best time ever. Even though I didn't get my PB, I was still quite happy to have completed one more marathon:
Here are my official race splits:
We went back to the hotel, I took a shower, we got into our shuttle and went to the airport, our trip back to Montreal waited for us.
So, I tried to find marathons here in Canada during that period. The Edmonton marathon would happen on August 18th, right at the end of our "window of opportunity", so we took that.
We have been living in Canada for more than 25 years and had never visited anywhere to the west of Toronto, so this was our chance to get to know more of our country of adoption.
We planned a twelve-day vacation that started in Calgary, passed by the Canadian badlands (to see the dinosaurs) and ended in Edmonton.
We had a blast, we went to many museums, did walking tours of the cities and even visited the parliament of Alberta.
On Saturday, August 17th, we went to visit the marathon expo:
They had the medals to be admired:
It's a small event (less than a thousand marathoners), so the expo was not big either.
On Sunday, August 18th, I woke up at 3 am, tossed and turn in bed for two hours and then finally got up to start my day.
By six I was all ready to go:
I had breakfast at the restaurant of the hotel, just fruits and yogurt and I was off to the race that would start in less than fifteen minutes:
There was some light rain to greet us in the morning:
My wife stood at the starting point to take a picture of me:
To pass time my wife went back to the parliament and finished the visit that we had to cut short two days prior:
I had a very normal marathon: tremendous start, thoughts of getting a PB, good halfway time and then shutting down in the last twelve kilometers. Up to km 34 or 35 I still had hopes of making it under 4h30, but by then I was more walking than running. By km 38 the 4h30 bunny passed me and I couldn't do much about it. The last few kilometers seemed worse than in previous marathons...
Anyway, I crossed the line with a time of 4h37m45s, my third best time ever. Even though I didn't get my PB, I was still quite happy to have completed one more marathon:
Here are my official race splits:
We went back to the hotel, I took a shower, we got into our shuttle and went to the airport, our trip back to Montreal waited for us.
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