We were treated to a gorgeous sunny morning waiting in our corral for the 2016 Vancouver Sun Run. I was running pushing my son Toby in the stroller, so I had to start in the very last corral behind all the runners and walkers. This proved a challenge along the course!

As I would normally be running in a much faster corral, I quickly found myself having to weave and bob around thousands of walkers and slower runners to be able to run at a pace close to my regular speed. It was an exercise in patience and tactical maneuvering. My friends Brie, Chris, Jesse, and Greg agreed to run with me (despite also being way faster than the corral) and ended up acting as blockers for my stroller to get in and out of the crowds of people we were passing.

The course weaves through downtown Vancouver's beautiful waterfront and over the Burrard Street bridge into Kitsliano and back to downtown Vancouver again via the Cambie Street bridge. We were treated to live music, super soakers to beat the heat, and lots of cheery volunteers along the way. This is a really fun race to enjoy- as long as you aren't overly concerned about achieving a PR!

The course is mostly flat with a few undulating rollers and a couple short, steep climbs (really not bad- I managed to run them all pushing the stroller without stopping so definitely runnable). It finishes with a downhill from the Cambie bridge to the finish (nice for a sprint and great photo).

The post- race area was chaos- very very busy (with 50,000 people I guess that is to be expected) and they ran out of some foods, but I managed to get some chocolate milk and bananas and get out before claustrophobia set in!

I was so glad I put on sunscreen before the race, as I still managed to get a gnarly sock and short tan! This time of year in Vancouver is always a toss up for weather- so having a hot sunny day was a nice treat compared with the cold and rainy day the last year I ran it! We got to sit outside and soak up the sun and relax.