Uxbridge 5K Done!

Sherri and Doralyn in the chute for the 5K walk.

   Yesterday, I completed the Uxbridge Half Marathon 5K Trail Run division. I had been training for this reasonably intensively for the last three or four months, although the last month has been not easy due to the p-fash.
   Doralyn did the 5K Trail Walk, along with Sherri, her brother's girlfriend.

Sherri and Doralyn, pre-race.

   Saturday, we drove through a couple of blizzards to get to Uxbridge but yesterday, though it was still pretty cold, it was also bright and sunny with not a lot of wind.
   The run was held at Wooden Sticks Golf Course in Uxbridge and was partially run through the adjacent Countryside Preserve Trail System.
   Before the runs began, there was an emotional moment when a moment's silence was observed for the victims of the Boston Marathon bombings. As well, both the American and Canadian national anthems were sung. It was quite difficult to not choke up during this.


Me, happy that race day has finally arrived!

   Not too long after Doralyn and Sherri set off on their walk, I headed off on the 5K run.
   It was much more difficult than I anticipated!
   I had heard that it was quite a challenging run and I had been trying to spend more time training on hills here in London. Not good enough! My "hills" were simply the hilliest paved streets I could find in my neighbourhood. The "hills" in Uxbridge involved mud, tree branches, frozen ruts, roots and inclines that occasionally felt like they were going straight up. On top of all that, the route also needed to be shared with another couple of hundred runners, in sometimes narrow confines.
   In spite of all this, I (and we) had a marvelous time. The organizers, headed up by Katharine Granger, ran a very well-organized event, the post-run brunch was awesome and the awards ceremony came off in timely fashion. I personally enjoyed a bit of a surprise myself when my name was called as the bronze medal winner in the men's 60+ division. There turned out to be a bit of an asterisk around this, however, as we discovered that I had actually come in fifth out of six runners upon checking the website when we got home. Still some investigating to do there!


James' kids, Ben and Shakira, joined us near the finish line.

   As a group, we have decided to return and run the race again next year. Doralyn's brother, James, has just taken up running, along with Sherri, and has said that he'd be keen to enter next year as well. Many thanks to him this year for getting us to the race and back, without having to worry about parking!

Our tees and bling!

   So, currently, there is not a race on the horizon to train for. This is probably a good thing, as it will enable me to simply rest up and let the p-fash heal, hopefully permanently. With the addition of orthotics, a revised pre- and post-run stretching routine and a better idea of when I might be overdoing it, perhaps the p-fash can be held at bay.
   In the meantime, happy and healthy running to you all!