My 90th marathon in beautiful Victoria, British Columbia today. Flew out from last Thursday from Toronto, and hubbed through Edmonton. Got into Victoria just after 3pm, got my rental car and settled into my Airbnb room. Did a quick trip downtown and the Victoria harbour area to get a quick lay of the land.
Airbnb has a grocery and Starbucks within 10 minutes walk, so meals will be cheap if I so choose.
Spent the following Friday morning at the Royal BC Museum which was almost next door to the race expo. Race Expo was efficient and not too big. In and out within 45 minutes. Race premium for this year's 45 anniversary was a nice Underarmour jacket, instead of the usual t-shirt. Walked a bit more around the downtown tourist areas, with a Chinese food lunch break.
Spent Saturday sleeping in and going out for coffee and food supplies, such as bananas, bagels, OJ and Gatorade. After surfing the internet a bit and waiting for the morning drizzle to subside, l headed for a scenic beach, about an hours drive away. The trail to the beach took you through a rainforest for about a kilometer. Beach was rocky and the Straight of Juan de Fulca mist covered., barely making out Washington State across. A couple of waterfalls and a dead seal on the beach made for some photo opportunities. Made a quick stop at the Naval museum in Esquimalt, where the Canadian navy makes it's West Coast HQ. Then a quick visit to Canada's oldest Chinatown in Victoria, with a small museum visit. Finally back to my Airbnb with some penne bolognese takeout to rest up for the next the day.
Wakeup was just before 6am, with a race start at 8:15. Usual pre marathon breakfast of peanut butter bagel, bananas, Gatorade and a coffee to go. After the necessary washroom visit, it was off to the races. Drive only took 10 minutes and the parking spot l scoped out on Friday was open for the taking, just a ten minutes walk from the event area in front of the BC Provincial Legislature Buildings.
Forecast rain showers had yet to arrive and it was a cool 50F out. Took my warmup stuff off, dropped it off at bag check, and went to my corral. I had put down a projected 4:15 finish time, but training and past race performances probably closer to 4 hour finish. Decided not to jump the rope into the corral ahead. There was 3-5 minutes between starts of corral.
Took a bit to get the legs loose, but I settled into about a 5:35/km pace for 25 km, when I caught up to the 4:10 pacer that started in the corral in front of me. I decided to stick with her the rest of the way home, as fatigue was creeping in. Plus since she started around 5 minutes earlier, I knew I would be chiptime faster. Slowed to around 6 min/km after that. Course was somewhat hilly, but with no major elevation changes. Some beautiful views when running next to the coastal waterways. Good support from the residents along the race route, and great volunteers. On and off rain showers through the middle of the race.
There has one long hill at 36-37K, where the pacer gapped me by about 100 meters. Able to close the gap a bit, and finished in 4:02:38. Good enough for a 2027 BQ, as I turn 65 next February and get a 15 minutes jump in qualifying time. Maybe not enough cushion though. But my first BQ in a couple of decades.
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