Possibly The Most Ironic Moment Of My Life

   Yesterday morning I had the happy opportunity to run in the 5th annual "Going the Distance for LDs" 5k walk/run, held at Springbank Gardens. This is a fundraising event run by the Learning Disabilities Association-London Region.
   This association's mandate is to assist people of all ages who have learning disabilities to reach their full potential, through either coping strategies and/or different forms of accommodation. So, all in all, a good cause to be running for! Doralyn and Callum and Quin were also supposed to be there but they got conscripted at the last moment to go help Oma close the trailer for the year.

Stephanie, leading the kids out on the
500m "Hunter's Kids Dash". The tall lad
in the middle with the white shirt is her son Michael.

   What makes this particular run even more special for us is that Doralyn's cousin, Stephanie Quigley, is the race co-ordinator and that her sons, Michael and James, were also running.

Michael, the birthday boy (13!!),
returning from the dash.

   So the day had kind of a "family" feel to it right from the beginning and, to top it off, the morning was beautiful.
   The run started from Springbank Gardens and headed along the bike/running path which skirts the river, towards Springbank Park. About half a kilometer into the run, I realize that I'd forgotten to start my Garmin, which was slightly annoying, but I figured I'd just wait til the next mile marker and start it then. I couldn't get it going then either so basically I thought to heck with it, this is a fun run anyway. The course was clearly marked for every half a kilometer, and this was awesome.


Steph's Dad, Uncle Doug, one of the
resplendent walkers.

   There was one water station and it was at the 2.5k turnaround (it was an out and back run) just past Storybook Gardens. Now, I'm still not exactly sure how this happened, but somehow or other I completely missed the turnaround! The water station was clearly marked as 2.5k and my math isn't that bad but somehow I missed it. So I simply continued to run. There were runners up ahead of me but I noticed after awhile that there were no runners coming towards me with bibs on, runners who would have been running the second half of the race. About this time I started to get a bad feeling and I turned around. I made it back to the water station, saw the mileage marker and realized what I'd done. The guys manning the station apologized for letting me slip by but I certainly didn't consider it to be their mistake! In retrospect, I remember seeing all the water there and thinking to myself should I or shouldn't I and then I just ran past the whole thing. I eventually made it back and there was nothing really too wrong with my time, given that I'd just run the 6k version of the 5k run/walk!


 "Wrong Way" Baker

   It then suddenly dawned on me that here I was running in a learning disabilities race and I hadn't even been able to figure out when to turn back! This, then, had to be simply one of the most ironic moments of my life! In next year's race, I can almost envision a giant "Brian Baker Turnaround Point" at the 2.5k water station...
   As embarrassing as this kind of was, I'm also kind of at the point in my life where I find it pretty easy to have a chuckle about stuff like this. This was also my last official run for awhile as today I begin my Efudex treatment. Steph pointed out to me yesterday that, seeing as how it was my last run, that it was probably good I got that extra "k" in!
   Steph, by the way, did an awesome job of organizing the race and it has a very fun and relaxed atmosphere to it so, if you happen to be a runner from London or thereabouts, you might want to keep your eyes open for it next year!