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Vancouver Scotiabank Half Marathon

By andre ⋅ June 26, 2008 ⋅  Email This Post ⋅  Print This Post ⋅ Post a comment

So the Vancouver Scotiabank Half Marathon just passed this weekend (on June 22nd) and it couldn’t have been a better day, sun with a mix of cloud and cool temperatures. I decided to try the what is called the easiest half marathon in Canada or maybe even the world. It starts at UBC with a flat loop down marine drive and back towards Spanish banks. It’s once you reach the beach that you’re hitting the 10k-12k mark and that was when I realized my body was only ready for a 10k. I have no excuse, I had plenty of time to train but decided to run it off the couch, like so many others probably did too. Although it is perhaps one of the easiest half marathons, I’ve only done one other (Royal Victoria Marathon), it’s still a 21km+ of running. In the end, the downhills don’t seem long enough and the up hill battles, especially the Burrard street bridge, are enlightening out of body experiences.

Why run a half marathon? Well, if you’re a runner it’s the easiest challenge without doing a marathon or something crazier like an ultra marathon. A 10k is not really that long and does not require much training whereas a half marathon will hit you hard if you don’t train, unless you are a competitive runner who can run it off the couch in the less than 1 hour and 30 minute category. Also, the recovery from a half marathon is not that bad, I felt decent after a day.

So… why run a half marathon if you’re not a runner? Well the runner’s high hits you at this length, at least it does for me, I’ve read that technically it may take a full marathon. I felt euphoric and mellow for the entire day, and really for the next few days. This is despite the fact my foot is in major pain and I can’t walk that well at the moment.

Okay, it’s not just the personal satisfaction from running but it’s a fun activity to do. It’s nice to run along people who share a common goal, getting to the finish line, and it’s all personal battles for the most part, well at least for most of the thousand of people out there. For those top two Kenyans I think it’s not really a personal battle nor a competition, it’s a walk in the park :). There’s a nice feeling when you finish and everyone is in the same boat, you’ve just accomplished something before 10am, in some cases before 8:10am. In my case, I hit the 1 hour 51 minute mark… not great, but I only had a lofty goal of beating 2 hours off the couch. I learned that training does do something, compared to my RVM time of about 10 minutes faster on a much harder course.

If you don’t run, and are looking for something fun to do and keep in shape, I highly recommend training and running a half marathon. I know some people find running boring, I used to be one of those people… and I still find it boring at times. The question can be, why not play tennis or some more stimulating sport? Well, you can always run and can control when you go and for how long. It’s not necessarily as fun, but it does help with staying in shape and keeping limber. It’s something easier to do when you’re older too and have less time to spend on recreation but need to maximize your free active time.

Tags: fitness, health, june