By Leslie Ann Bent
Across Canada on Saturday, several Running Room stores held their 10k Run Crew Relay event for the Movember Foundation, and Victoria was no exception. The Victoria race is a clocked-timed 5-person relay, hugging the Esquilmalt shoreline on the Songhees Trail. We were in luck as Mother Nature shined on us, and it was the perfect race-day conditions. Four runners from STARR plus another runner from Sooke made up the Sooke Fab 5 relay team.
Carol is off to a great start.
Leslie Ann coming into the transition.
The path along the shore is fairly narrow, cement paved, and offers spectacular views of the harbour, marina and park. Rowers, kayakers and landing sea planes created an unusual but scenic backdrop for the race. I wondered at first how a race might fare on this narrow winding trail on a Saturday morning as the course was not blocked for the race. Walkers, joggers, strollers, dogs, toddlers and wheelchairs all needed to share this trail. The path is winding and has it ups and downs, making it a course requiring a runner’s attention not only to what was under foot, but also to what was in front and behind, and it surely got the ol’ lungs working. This is not a pb course.
Solo races and relay races each have their own incentives and goals for the runners. A relay team needs to be in sync in order to put their best foot forward. While running a solo race, you have only yourself to think about – your own race goals, your own logistics and performance. With a relay you need to consider the team. An optimal relay result requires good planning. One thing I learned over the years is that the transition area can get confusing as a runner sprinting at full speed into the transition and in their race zone, look for the next runner and wonder how the transition will work (whether timing chip transfer, bib transfer, baton transfer, place in transition to find the runner, any rules?….In the zone they forget what they’d been told.). Having matching bright coloured shirts can help the runners find each other in the zone and spot the runner more easily on the course before he or she reaches the transition. Without meaning to brag, our team was the most organized. We all showed up on time in matching bright yellow Quebec City Marathon tech shirts and were easily distinguishable from the other runners. We knew the order in which each runner would run and had approximate run times of each runner in our heads so that the next runner was ready and not surprised when the hand-off was about to happen.
Fortunately there were no batons for this relay. (Remember the madness in the women’s Olympic 4X100 relay when the baton was dropped?) Instead, each runner had to carry a small ball and place or toss it into a bag after the finish line arch as the hand-off move for the next runner to start his or her leg. Balls not making it into the team ball bag required the runner to run another 2.1k lap. This rule was an incentive to keep the transition area less hyped and more organized, and added a little fun to the event. Runners tended to slow down at the transition to ensure that their ball went into the bag. No balls were missed or lost en route from what we could tell.
Jenny at the start line.
Jenny was our first runner. At 10:05 the countdown was on and off she went, paired with some very fast men from other teams. This inspired her to pick up her pace and she easily made her section in under her estimated time despite encountering a stroller on the way up the last hill. Next was Carol who was just recovering from pneumonia. Her thought was to walk some but with the other teams running and whizzing by, it was all the incentive that Carol needed to run her whole leg in a great time. She managed to notice the scenery and especially noted the majestic view of the mist over the harbour on the last turn of the outbound section. In no time at all, Leslie Ann was on the course and running faster than she had in practise. Runners on her section were high fiving each other and shouting words of encouragement – “looking good, “way to go, “and so on. Lots of comradery on the course and off was experienced for sure, and felt by all of our team members. Once my uphill sprint was done and my ball was in the bag, Kari was off on her section. She had been training with a run/walk program and was unsure if she could run the full distance without a walk break. Good on her, she did, and before we knew it, the crowd was cheering her on as she ran the last hill up into the finish line. Now it was our anchor’s turn – Jordan. Jordan had just turned 20 earlier this month and clearly represented the youth and speed on our team. It was his first race ever. I had been joking with him that he was half our age and therefore should be twice our speed. Not shy to prove me right, he took off like a bat out of Hell. Several of us decided to time him and I think it was Carol who predicted 8 minutes for the 2.1km section. The race director called out to all of the runners to make a tunnel and announced that this was Jordan’s first race. Just enough time to catch our breath, position our cameras, and make the tunnel, Jordan came flying up the hill as all of the runners were chanting “Jordan, Jordan, Jordan…” In a record time of 7:51, our anchor had done his first official running debut - finishing it through the tunnel, to a sea of cheers. I do believe he is now hooked on running and racing.
We all agreed that it is a fun and exciting race to do – great swag (long sleeve shirt and tuque), fun atmosphere, spectacular scenery, comradery from the teams, low key/low cost, and the Running Room gave out prizes and covered non-alcoholic drinks at Spinnakers as part of the post-race party. Jordan came home with a free entrance into the TC10k, and the ladies won a pair of socks and a hydration system. Come out next year if you’d like to challenge the Sooke Fab 5 team. We are ready! Sadly as the race reporter, I neglected to check the clock for our official race time but believe it was 1:02 for 10.5km. A special thanks to the husbands who came out to cheer, take photos, provide general support and hold our gear while we ran.
Kari running her last few steps.