
Stage 2 of the Endurrun took place at Riverside Park in Cambridge, Ontario on 14/08/06 at 8am. We all started to arrive around 7am keen to be ready. I still didn't know everyone that well, and the fact that I needed to use the facilities, made for time to go for a walk with Steve and Bob to the washrooom and chat about yesterday, today, and a little about ourselves. Steve tells us of his ultra-marathon trail runs of 50km, 100km, and 50 milers. I'm starting to think that maybe I should have been training a little more for this event!. Steve's a very friendly guy. Bob is a little quiet though talks freely about yesterday's half marathon race. We talk about today's race on our way back to the starting line.
Elise hasn't made it to a race yet since she is totally exhausted and not feeling well. Poor Else!
Back at the starting line I chat with Kat. She was the first runner of the event that I actually had an opportunity to chat with [we finished and went for a cool down walk at the half-marathon].
We meet Jay too, he ran some of the stages last year. He is pretty gregarious and gets us all talking and relaxed.
The 15km course starts with a 1km loop around Riverside park, by the starting line, then onto the road. Shortly onto the road the course goes north and climbs a steep hill with a 30m vertical rise. At the top of the hill the road crosses the 401hwy and follows concession roads [now urban roads I guess] towards the Toyota plant. At 6km the course heads back south along aptly named Speedsville Rd. Over the 401 again then we turned east onto a nice footpath for about 2km, then doubled back. Back at Speedsville Rd. the course parallels the 401 and enters Riverside Park to the finish line.
This time trial race was a new experience for me. We started in reverse order of finishing the half the day before, but at 1 minute intervals. Lloyd called the runners to the starting line and briefed us on the course, the starting order, and last minute details. He clearly had directed many races as he was thorough but brief. A couple of guest runners and the relay runners started before me. Once they were off you could see them doing the 1km loop around the park. I had a nervous gut and wished a toilet was near by. Kat started off and soon was at the far end of the park. Gosh, I'll never catch her! she was going fast. So, my minute came and I started after Kat. While doing the loop, i wondered how uncool, now unrunner-like it would be to nip into the facilities again. I saw the next runner starting off and decided not. I was feeling good. The warm up jog and stretch must have worked. And I am decidedly not a morning runner either. The 30m climb was steep but it didn't seem to slow me too much. Over the 401 and I see Katrina and another runner up ahead. When rounding the corner onto Cherry Blossom Rd, a runner came past me quickly and was ahead quickly. I stopped for a few paces to drink gatoraide at the first water station. Just after 4km I passed Jody, then at 6km passed Kat. I had my fair share of being passed as Brad and Bob flew by. Down Speedsville Rd. the elevation drops 35m quickly and I tried to take advantage of it. I was working hard, I guess implicitly deciding that I didn't need to save too much for tomorrow's 30km trail run. My split times were around 4:11 to 4:17. Once I got onto the trail it was flatter with a few turns. From then on my km times were 4:28 to 4:30 for the next 6km. Afterwards I was quite supprised at how consistent my splits were. As I left the trail, I was feeling eager to catch a female runner who was ahead of me which kept my pace faster [4:06]. Near the finish line with no one too close I relaxed a bit and finished the run in 1:06:00 flat. My pulse was around 167-170 which is fairly high for me a long run, but still okay for 15km.

Here I am coming into the finish. I always look tired in my photos. At the finish line the runners cross the line relatively quickly since the slowest runners started several minutes ahead of faster runners. Makes for an exciting time - everyone gets a loud cheer.
The Price Chiropractic Clinic was all ready for us and their therapy was really making a difference. Mark practiced Active Release Therapy [ART] on my quads, quickly finding the knots and breaking them down.
Julie Schmidt and her crowd of volunteers had prepared an excellent meal of breads, cold cuts, fruit, and the highly favoured "salty things". Julie et al. really were doing an excellent job. She ask us if we had any suggestions/requests for food. But how could we want anything more than this. Well done Julie and team!
After spending time taking, Lloyd read out the results admist many cheers [everyone is a winner]. It turns out that Brad won this stage and would wear the yellow jersey for the 30km trail run on Tuesday. Congrats Brad!!!
Over the day I got to know the other runners, the volunteers, Bob's coach Ray, and Jeff's wife Joanne. This was so nice, friendly, and sincere for me. These people really are friendly, enthusiastic, and warm. I hated to leave as I wanted to get to know them more. But I had to get home for a shower and head to work. I could hardly wait till Tuesdays race where I'd be able to push myself on a 30km trail run, but more importantly to be amongst friends again. Too bad Elise couldn't be there to be able to enjoy herself with these friends of mine.
Tuesday's run didn't seem to daunting for me - I was feeling fit and not suffering from the two Endurruns plus the proceeding 5 Peaks day. My ankle was feeling okay and I was ready for one of the event's big days.



