It's official! I put money down! I'm confirmed! I'm on the list!
I finally bit the bullet and entered the Canmore Rocky Mountain Half Marathon! Canmore is about 110 kms west of Calgary and just east of Banff National Park. This town is famous for it's Three Sisters, as seen above and also for the Nordic events of the 1988 Winter Olympics. The town was officially named in 1884 by an employee of the Canadian Pacific Railway. Much of the area to the North-East of Canmore is located in a critical wildlife corridor. (I wonder will we be running there?) This will be my first time for running a half marathon in the Rockies. I am feeling a bit intimidated! I have done Melissa's 10km in Banff a hand full of times and I did some very short trail runs (4 km) at the Canmore Nordic Center a few years back. Also included in my list of running in the Rockies was the 8km Canmore Rocky Mountain Run (it's a 10km now). My memories that stand out for that race are that there was a snowfall the night before, I had my camera in my belt and because the scenery was so awesome, I ended up stopping and taking photos along the way. Needless to say, it was not my fastest 8 km, but I could not resist the scenery. The other memory is that the start times were delayed about 45 minutes because a bear was on the route for the half marathon runners. They needed to clear him out of the way before the race started. With less than three weeks to go, I'm beginning to feel the anticipation, the excitement, the intimidation!
Cool! I just signed up, too.
ReplyDeleteAnd yes, that was the course I checked out this past weekend. If I read the map right, we do the 10K route through town (all flat) and then head up through some good bike trails for the 2nd half.
Personally, I tend to do better when the hills are in the first half of the race, so I decided I'm going for fun, good times and beautiful scenery and will not kill myself trying to go for a PR.
Compared to the Death Race, there are no hills, but for us mere mortals, I would call it a continually rolling second half with spectacular views.
See you there!!
Good for you! If only I were nearer I would put my name down too!
ReplyDeleteCongrats on signing up! I've heard good things about the race, but since I'll be racing Melissa's the weekend after I think I'll sit this one out.
ReplyDeleteThat looks very cool and very challenging but we know you're up for that ;-)
ReplyDelete