This year, I was unable to run the Edmonton Hypothermic Half Marathon due to an ankle injury (though I did manage to run the 5K—very slowly!), so I’ve invited a guest blogger, Ed Gallagher, to give us his review of the race. I’ve known Ed for a few years since we’ve both been part of the 109 Street Running Room Run Club. He’s a great runner and an all-around friendly, encouraging member of the running community. Before we get into Ed’s race review, here are a few general notes about the race for anyone contemplating running it in the future. The Hypo Half here in Edmonton is split into two separate races: Hypo 1 (this year held on Feb 2), and Hypo 2 (Feb 16). Each race is capped at less than 500 runners, making it a small, fun race where you can easily keep track of your friends. The Hypo Half 1 this year had 460 registered participants. The reason it’s kept so small is because the venue for the post-race brunch is the Highlands Golf Club, which can only hold so many people because of fire regulations. And trust me, you want this brunch! It’s no ‘folding tables in a gym’ or ‘brown bananas and stale bagels at the finish line’ type of deal. It’s a full, hot, lovely golf club brunch, and it’s even licensed so you can have a post-race beer! The brunch one of the best reasons to drag your butt out on a cold, February morning. This year, event proceeds went to the Help Us Help charity, which works with local organizations in Ukraine to send children in Ukrainian orphanages to summer and winter camps, where they get to play sports and participate in cultural events such as Ukrainian Christmas, which many of these children will never otherwise experience. The swag is usually pretty good for this race: this year we received an insulated tumbler and toque with the Hypo Half logo. In the past, race swag has included duffle bags, hats, jackets, and hydration packs. All participants also receive a themed race medal. ED GALLAGHER’S HYPOTHERMIC HALF MARATHON RACE REVIEW About me: I have been a runner for 40 years. I have completed 9 marathons, one ultra-endurance event, 5 half-marathons, and more 10K races than I can easily remember. I enjoy the camaraderie of running with others at the Running Room. My favourite race in recent years was the California International Marathon in December, 2019, in which I acted as a guide for a blind runner who is a friend of mine. When I am not running, I am a lawyer practicing in a small town west of Edmonton. Race day: Sunday, February 2, 2020, had finally arrived. Race Day. I had trained for this in the same Running Room clinic as Kathy. Early October 2019, when we started, seemed like the distant past. In the rearview mirror were 16 weeks of training that saw the transition from fall to a mild start to the winter. Then there was the shock of almost two weeks of intense cold weather (-35C plus a nasty wind-chill) in mid-January. This made training outdoors very difficult and on occasion bordered on dangerous. Then, an unusually warm period followed until just yesterday. Both those weather extremes present challenges in winter races. Cold weather requires additional layers of warm clothing, which can restrict movement and add extra weight. Warm weather brings melting, and footing issues: snow covered roads become rutted and uneven, and old snow when churned up by vehicle traffic can assume the consistency of sand. The day before the race, the weather changed again, turning back to seasonal temperatures. A weather front passed through, with the wind taking above-zero temperatures below the freezing point again, to almost the seasonal average for this time of year: -5C (23F). Some freezing rain marked the occasion. As a result, we faced very icy roads on Race Day. The main event was the half-marathon, commencing at 9:00 am. There was also a 10K event and a 5K run, with start times 30 minutes and one hour, respectively, after the half-marathon started. Most runners gathered at the club house at the Highlands Golf Course, a posh facility on the north side of the North Saskatchewan River (which bisects Edmonton flowing from west to east). Our route was simple enough: head east to loop around a well-to-do residential neighborhood, then back west, passing the Golf Course at about 10K, and then continuing a further kilometre or so, past a small Catholic university, until the turnaround point, making for a short “out and back” to the Golf Course again. Then, do it a second time. I had run this course last year, and knew what to expect. There were no hills as such, but some steady uphill (and on the way back, downhill) grades. My GPS watch tells me now that we climbed a total of 100 m (about 110 yds) throughout the entire race. The main challenge was the footing. The freezing rain, falling temperatures and wind from the day before had combined to create a very icy surface for much of the route. What wasn’t icy was sand-like in texture. Both of these made traction challenging to achieve. I was fortunate to have chosen trail runners with built in spikes, so the problem was reduced for me. There were quite a few runners who had no traction aids, however, and they found the footing treacherous, particularly on corners. I saw a runner take a tumble right in front of me at the western-most turnaround point during my first loop. Luckily, she was unhurt; I helped her up and she was on the way again in seconds. On the other hand, the temperature was perfect at start time: about -6C with a moderate wind from the west that deceased further during the race. As we were running east to begin with, this meant that we had the wind to our backs for the first 5K or so. This allowed us to be warmed up before turning west into the wind. As a result of the forecast, I dressed relatively lightly: unlined track pants, a short sleeved t-shirt, a medium weight running jacket with wind protection up front, a Buff (neck warmer), thick gloves (like Kathy, I have Reynaud’s) and a beanie. I also wore bone conducting headphones to allow me to enjoy some background music but still hear what was going on around me. Overall my clothing choices worked well, although my hands were pretty warm by the end. My main challenge was what to eat during the race. I’m experienced enough and fit enough to go without food or water during a race of this duration, but I wanted to run as I had trained. In training I used to eat small “date bites” (I'm vegan and these are a plant-based, whole food). In early January, however, I got braces (at nearly 58 years of age!) and since then I have been unable to eat the date bites. I don’t like gels (far too sweet for my liking) so I’ve been searching for a new, easily chewable alternative. Regrettably, I didn’t have a good choice for this one. So, I ran without. I never carry water during a race - I rely on the water stations. There was a single water station on the course, but it was located just before the big east loop. So, we all passed it at the beginning and end of the loop, a total of 4 times during the race. Given that it was well below zero, the water was served warm out of the thermos containers - quite pleasant to drink, actually. Like most of my races, the first third of it was spent finding my spot in the pack. Because I will never be in a position to actually win a race, I start well back to allow the really fast runners unimpeded (by me) access to the front of the line. I also start a bit more slowly, taking an extra 30 seconds or so for the first 1.5 or 2K until I hit cruising speed. Along the route there were relatively few volunteers, although the number was consistent with last year. Because it can be potentially very cold, volunteers for this race need to be a hardy breed indeed. In the main, they were positioned at the water station and at key intersections. I thanked all of them as I passed by - I was grateful I was running and could thus stay warm. They didn’t have that option. The next third of the race involved settling into my position and attempting to improve it here and there by cutting corners (in the permissible way). At this stage, I was among a group of runners that did not change much for the rest of the run. One or two who had started too fast dropped back by about 14 or 15K, but they were replaced by a few others who had obviously started behind me in the pack and eventually caught up and left me behind. During this phase, my pace was steady and I was feeling good about how things were looking. The last third of the race was, not surprisingly, the most challenging. By 17K, and with only 4K to go, I knew that I would finish well (ahead of my goal time), but I could also feel my energy waning. I ran beside a young fellow from the University of Alberta triathlon team, and he and I passed the time for a while, which distracted me from thinking too much about how tired I was. Eventually, he moved ahead of me at 19K. This was my low point from an energy perspective. We were on a slight uphill grade and still had to do the “out and back” distance of 1K each way. I found the first of those kilometres pretty tough. But, once I hit the turnaround and knew that we were not much more than 1K away from the finish line, I checked my watch and knew that I would be several minutes ahead of my goal time, even if the wheels fell off. This gave me the last boost that I needed and before long I was at the gate leading to the finish line about 200 metres away. It was fun to have the finishers’ medal placed over my head and neck. Kathy was at the finish line as well, and she took a couple of photos as I crossed the finish line. In one of them, I am checking my watch, the universal pose of the amateur runner coming across the finish line! Overall, the race conditions were as good as could reasonably be expected. Given the choice of an icy surface or extremely cold weather, I prefer the first option and that’s what I was fortunate to face during this race. Races that take place in winter conditions are quite rare, overall, even in Canada. There tends to be only one significant race of this size in most major population centres. It’s not the kind of race in which to expect to get a PR, but I think that every participant gets some bragging rights by completing a distance that is challenging even in moderate conditions, and then topping it all off with cold, snow and ice and wind. Thanks Ed, for the great review. Way to go on achieving your goal time! -Kathy
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AuthorKathy Istace runs and races in one of the coldest cities on earth. Archives
December 2020
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