Kingston 2003
Kingston my first race of the Half Marathon variety. Also my first race in my new shoes - the best pair of running shoes I've ever had, to be more precise. New Balance 764s. Also the first race I've ever run with someone. Dan, a friend I've known since my first year of university, agreed to run with me. I'd been joking when I asked him six weeks before the race, but he said yes and started doing some longer than normal runs. Easier for him to get ready for something that length in a short time than me - while he's the only friend I have who is in better shape than I am, he's in far better shape than I am.
My time goal for the race was 2:20, which I felt would stretch things a little bit and give me a good idea if I could maintain the pace I needed for Ottawa two weeks later. Had Ottawa not been on the calendar, I'm confident we could have run five minutes faster. Had the course actually been the mostly flat that the web site claimed, well, maybe five minutes faster than that, but a couple of the hills were a little brutal and one was very nasty. Had the last kilometre and a bit not been entirely uphill, maybe even a little quicker than that, but I was thrilled with the time we came in at.
As things turned out, I finished with an official gun time of 2:14:51.9 and an unofficial start line to finish line time on my watch of 2:14:13. Going strictly by the numbers on the website, I finished one position ahead of the bottom ten percent overall and that only because I hit the mat .4 seconds before Dan did. Still at about the middle of the back of the pack for men and 48 of 51 for my age category. But a solid improvement any way you look at it.
So, my thanks to New Balance and particularly to Dan. We're already thinking that we might run it again next year. A couple of photos are here.
Page last updated: 02 May 2003.