Lord of the Chainrings: Race Report - Toronto Womans Half Marathon Spectating

Mrs LoTC's (Fran's) first Half-Marathon EVAR!

4am on a Sunday. WTF.

Actually, it was her first ever running race come to think of it!!

The Toronto Woman's Half-Marathon is popular among the ladies. It's known for the CHOCOLATE-stations along the race course. Yes, they actually give out some kind of specialty chocolate at feed zones. I'm so jealous!

It's also popular because there is a feed zone they cross by many times that is manned by the local fireman. Shirts off and hosing down the ladies as they go by, all while flexing there calendar boy muscles. I'm not so jealous, but you can see why it appeals to the woman lol!

Not-My-Race Day. 4am. Phuck off.

So one of the cool things about the event is that the trails are technically not closed. The public is riding bikes and walking dogs along the narrow path which could be annoying but was also a blessing in disguise! Open race course means that the 'guys' can run with there wifes/Gurlfriends/Moms etc. How cool is that? Except I was explicitly told I am NOT allowed to run with Fran. She made it clear that I am not welcome because I have a habit of smacking her ass and pinching her waist and overall plain humping her as she tries to concentrate on her workout.

Sadly I would be running alone. Not a problem though, as there is alot of nice 'scenery' to keep me distracted :)

So I left 30 minutes early from the race start. The race has 3 out and backs so by running the course ahead of the race, I could get photos of Fran IN ACTION and on many occasions! The best part was I could do it all while getting my scheduled LSD run in at the same time! It couldn't be better!

Cougar, leading the wolfpack

Even with a 30 minute head start I passed the lead woman going the other way, I was only 4km in front of them as I stopped to take a few photos of the course on the way out. The day was overcast and cool with a hint of rain so the Fireman had their shirts on and nobody was getting hosed down with water. I wonder if that was just rumours ladies used to convince other ladies to join in the pain. I can certainly confirm there was a small army of Fireman manning the main feed zone though!

Even with a wave start, Fran was right behind the leaders! Wow, she came up way faster than I expected and I had just barely enough time to get the photo. She was leading a pack of cougars and smiling so either she was having fun or had some gas.

Yay Fran!

I continued to run ahead but of the race and as I approached the volunteer stations I would put my hands up in the air and shout 'I think I am winning!' which of course would be true if my gender were changed. I came up on one volunteer and after I shouted 'I think I am in the lead!' he promptly replied with a 'Yah but you are about to get CHICKED!'. Damn. He's right, because even with a 30 minute head start I was getting run down by a pack of hot babes! I picked up the pace and concentrated on putting some serious speed in. Before I knew it I could feel their breath on the back of my neck. I felt like the fluffy white bunny out front the pack of rabid dogs getting chased down. By the 18km mark it was too late, they caught me! Wow, they were fassssst! Oh I I didn't mind though because I had a great view :) Yum!

Bounce..bounce..Bounce... I love this race!
oh nevermind

Oh and ummm... so I got to a small bridge crossing and snapped some perfectly timed pics of the wife. She looked strong, still smiling and her pace never slowed. I'm pretty sure the smile had to do with the fireman that she just mingled with but I would like to think she was smiling at me. On the other hand I was still smiling from the race leaders that just went by going the other way so I guess we can call it even ;)

Race Leaders - Number 2 is the hottest. She smiles alot too.

Fish lips?

The chocolate station sounded like a great idea at first, until I got to see it in action. Who wants to eat gooey chocolate at the 20km mark? Like really, people could barely walk and eat because it was hard to breath after it goo'd up in the mouth. I would say at least 60% threw out the chocolate, the true phatties stuffed it in there bra to save for later and the few that ate it were clearly only there for the chocolate as they stopped on the side of the road to have a picnic with it. Chocolate on a race course, not such a great idea afterall!

I watched for a bit and called out ladies names to cheer them on. 'Go Samantha!' 'Keep it up Andrea!' 'Keep smiling Jennifer!'. There bibs had their name on it so you could cheer them on. I loved reading the bibs.... I mean the race numbers were so conveniently located just below their chest that you couldn't help to ummmmm read the names. Yes. I made sure to call out the names to justify the stare. I was looking at the ~~boobs~~ bibs, honestly!

What a great race.

At the finish line Fran finished exactly on the time that I predicted! She did awesome! Considering 20 weeks ago she could barely run 5km non-stop, that's a loooong way to come in a short time! I'm so proud of her! They gave out an awesome medal too - it was a small pendant size that could be ACTUALLY worn as a necklace! No big huge medallions that break your neck, but a proper sized jewellery that you could proudly wear in public. Thats a pretty sweet idea actually.

Our friends joined us for most of the day, Renu also crushed her first half-marathon too. We went back to their place and lounged on their deck for the remainder of the day. Perfect weather and a great end to a successful day!