Tag Archives: Fun Run

Race Recap: Brennan’s Ugly Sweater Run

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Remember that one time when I said that the Run 4 Donuts was going to be my last race of the year? I liiieeed …

I heard about Brennan’s Ugly Sweater Run back in September, I believe, but it took me a while to decide whether or not I wanted to participate. (I had no ugly Christmas sweater, after all!) After canvasing social media to see if someone wanted to join me, my mom said she’d come as long as she could walk, and I told her she could as long as she didn’t mind if I ran. She didn’t, so finally at the end of October we registered! Isla even decided to join in, so she walked/ran with my mom.

A little back story on the run itself: It’s a 5k Fun Run organized by a young lady (Payton) whose brother was killed by a drunk driver when he was 10 years old. He was a lover of all things Christmas, so in honour of him, Payton created Brennan’s Ugly Sweater Run, with 100% of the proceeds going towards the Boys & Girls Club Power Start Program.

Our “ugly” sweaters! A homage to John McClane and a sweet little llama!

We had been fortunate enough to have really nice weather so far, but alas, on Thursday we finally got a little dump of snow. Thankfully, the weather stayed relatively decent, so the trail/path we would be running on was mostly clear of snow and ice. The only downer was that on run day the wind had picked up and it was fairly chilly, but once we all got moving it wasn’t so bad. (Thank goodness I opted to squeeze a Santa hat on my head, or else my ears probably would’ve froze off.)

I’m so thankful that the ran was being hosted close to my house on a trail/path that I’ve ran before, so I knew what to expect! The hills were tougher in the cold, but manageable, although having to slide down a path to get to the trail wasn’t ideal. (No fault to the race organizer – Mother Nature doesn’t care about your plans!) I believe Isla slipped a couple of times, but she insisted on finishing the race, much to my mom’s dismay, haha. (The race was two 2.5k loops, so instead of stopping after 1 loop like many of the other walkers, Isla protested and said they HAVE to finish properly!)

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I finished with a time of about 35:15, which I’m pretty happy with considering the weather, course condition, and the fact that I made the silly decision to try out weight training the Friday before the race and exhausted every muscle in my body, haha.

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I’m looking forward to next year’s Ugly Sweater Run already and want to congratulate Payton on a job well done in honouring her brother! The support from the community for the race was unbelievable for it only being the second annual event, so it will be exciting to see where this goes in the future!

Now I’m done racing for the year ;)

Race Recap: The Starting Block 3km Fun Run

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I’ll start off by being completely honest: The day before I wasn’t even sure if Isla and I were going to do this race! While Kyle had already signed up for the full 10km race, I wasn’t completely feeling up to doing the 3km fun run with Isla the day before. The weather wasn’t really all that great and the roads were going to be icy, but of course after asking Isla if she wanted to run in a race she said yes, and who could deny her? Certainly not me …

So on Sunday off we went to just outside of Vernon for the race. We had a decent drive in but then motion sickness sunk in for Isla and we had just, JUST, parked the truck and got her out of her seat when she barfed in the truck. (Thank goodness for rubber floor mats!) I asked if she still wanted to race and she said yes, so not wanting to disappoint her, I got into my running shoes and she hers and we signed up while Kyle warmed up.

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The 3km fun run started immediately after the 10km runners left the starting line, so Isla was excited to start. She got off to a good pace, but the roads were snowy and icy and her feet eventually got cold and she wasn’t enjoying it. Norah was having a grand ol’ time just being pushed in the stroller, but she eventually grew weary of it all and also started whining. Fun times!

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And she’s off!!

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And she’s spent.

 

There’s one thing that never fails to impress me, and that’s the encouragement that everyone gives one another; Isla was cheered on by the race volunteers and even the other runners to keep going and that she was doing awesome. Even the few 10km runners who were passed us on their way to the finish line told Isla she could do it. (I’d be out of breath and dying if I were running that far!)

I think the big cheering section at the end gave Isla an extra bit of adrenaline, because she managed to run one last time to get through the finish line with a smile on her face. Yay! We managed to finish the 3km run with about 10 minutes to spare before we expected Kyle to finish his 10km, and both girls were excited to cheer him through. :)

Overall, it was a pretty decent start to the 2017 racing season! The cold weather is behind her and Isla’s already looking forward to the next one!

Race Recap: Blackwell Dairy 3km Fun Run

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This race was exactly what it’s titled: Fun! We signed up a week before race day and it twas a family affair, with Isla, Norah and I “running” the 3km fun run and Kyle doing the full 15km race.

While we’ve heard a lot of things about the Blackwell Dairy Race, this is the first time we decided to participate. (Obviously, since Kyle only recently started entering races.) He wasn’t feeling 100% prepared for the 15kms, and I had no idea how Isla would do running in the fun run, but we geared up Sunday morning and hoped for the best!

Kyle headed out to the starting line with his mom ahead of the girls and I so he could pick up our race packages. (We forgot to on Saturday and there was no way I could get myself and the girls out to the race location by the 8:30am pickup deadline.) I met up with them about 15 minutes before the 15km race was going to start, so we got to wish Kyle luck on his run before he lined up for the 9am start.

The 3km fun run didn’t start until 9:15am, so the girls and I hung out with Kyle’s mom until it was time for us to head out.

Like I had mentioned before, I had no idea how Isla was going to handle the run. She’s been asking non-stop to “race with daddy,” so this was the closest thing she could do for the time being. And honestly? She did SO good! She ran her little heart for about half the course until she started to get tired, but she didn’t give up once. (The ice cream promised at the finish line was a HUGE motivator for her, haha!) Once she saw the finish line, she kicked it into high gear for one last sprint and finished with a smile on her face.

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And Norah did awesome as well! She was happy as ever in the stroller and fell asleep around the 1km mark and slept until after we crossed the finish line and got our ice cream, about 40 minutes all together!

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She had to get the ice cream that matched her shirt ;)

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I have no idea what our “official” time was, but I think the girls and I finished in about 35 minutes. We ate our cones while we waited for Kyle to cross the finish line, and Isla cheered loud and proud for him as he finished! My heart most definitely burst when she ran up to him for a celebratory hug. ;)

(Kyle did awesome with an official time of 1:27:07. Not too shabby considering how challenging this course is, and I’m so proud of him!)

Oh, and I got a great little workout pushing Norah along in the stroller and cheering/encouraging Isla on! While Isla ran, I managed to keep up/set the pace by speed walking. At one point I tried to get ahead of her to take a photo but she started sprinting because she though I was going to leave her behind :(

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Norah was the family cheerleader!

We’re already looking forward to running this race again next year! It was a great challenge and like I said before, I’m super proud of how well both Isla and Kyle did! Her dad really is her hero <3