the finish line

We did it. It's all over.

We really couldn't have asked for a better day. It was a cool 15 degrees partly cloudy and little wind; ideal conditions for the race. Let me tell you though, 5:30am came very quickly Sunday morning. It was so early we had to force down food and hope we had left enough time to digest. We started in the lobby with hundreds of other runners huddling to keep warm for an extra few minutes before venturing out to the start canals.

When the time came we made our way to the purple canal, which was not an easy task with thousands of other runners lined up and trying to get to their spots too. We finally arrived and started looking for our pace bunny. We decided to make a finish time of 2 hours and 15 minutes our goal. This was a bit of a stretch from our training time but not so much to be unrealistic. Once we got going I stuck to that pace bunny like my life depended on it. At least for the first few kilometers until I got my stride. The pace bunnies run with a specific end time in mind so that you can keep up with them and know when you will finish approximately. Very handy!

From the start gun we started moving forward finally crossing the start line. Then it was game time - Kilometer after kilometer. It truly was an amazing experience. Looking ahead of me all I could see was a mass of people from edge to edge of the street and as far as my eyes could see. Crazy! The last two kilometers almost killed me but somehow I made it through. Finish time 2 hours and 10 minutes. What a feeling! Crossing that finish line was such an amazing feeling and such a rush. The whole event was just so exciting with all the people lining the race way and people calling out my name, all the music along the way and people dressed up in funny costumes and the pure energy of thousands and thousands of runners.

I managed to raise almost $400 for the Sunshine Foundation and I managed to cross the finish line at a personal best and do it with such great friends. What a great day!










Pre race bib problems





Vic and I at 7AM















Finished the race











Thank god for these blankets!













That's a big check mark on my bucket list! CHECK!!