Package pickup was different this year. They had a booth at the Gluten-Free Expo a week before the race and registered Chilly Chase runners were able to enjoy the Gluten-Free Expo for free. This is good and bad… good for those interested in the expo, bad for those like me who is not a fan of gluten-free products. I was literally in and out… but I did see the Nuun booth there and had a chat with the Nuun team. I had originally signed up for a 10K but I decided to change my distance to 15K. I was able to do that at the booth for a small charge of $5. They gave me a new bib and timing chip and of course the official Chilly Chase socks. If you couldn’t make it to the expo, you were able to pick up your bib at a Fit First location in Burnaby. Same day pickup was only possible if you’re willing to pay for it ($5).

Course

I was feeling kind of blue and unmotivated in the morning until I saw Richard and Graham from the November Project. Turns out they were leading the warmup for today’s race and I think for future Try Events races too. I was stoked… no burpees though! November Project is available in many cities, check their website to see if they have a group in your city! http://november-project.com

The course was a False Creek seawall run that included a loop of Lost Lagoon. I don’t think the course well marked throughout. I saw more kilometer markers along the seawall than Lost Lagoon. It also seems that the city has put on a detour barrier on the north side of Lost Lagoon so some runners were confused and ended up running on the road, instead of along the lagoon. I decided to keep going along the water anyway. A few runners decided to ditch me and went on the road, so I thought ok, I’m not sure who’s right but I guess we’ll see. Turns out I was right as I saw the Try Events cones and arrows at the end of the loop. I believe there were 3 aid stations with water along the 15K route and runners passed them twice (since it was an out and back race). Didn’t need it as I had my Nuun in my pack to keep my going. It’s a nice route, I run this seawall quite frequently so I knew what to expect. It’s 80% asphalt and 20% Lost Lagoon trail (but nothing really technical). It’s very scenic of course and relatively flat. There were volunteers along the course showing you which path to take and where to turn around. They were great and we all really appreciated their help.

Post Race

I don’t think there was really much at the finish line, but then again, I didn’t really stick around. Volunteers were there to take timing chips off shoes and it went very smoothly. We were then greeted by pageant queens and they put medals around our necks. There was a photographer at the start and finish line and the next day, hundreds of photos were posted on their Facebook page. If you’re lucky, they got a few photos of you :)

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