You know a run is going to be rad when it also includes a skateboard race. The skateboard race started first, then, after a warm up to music and cheers, the runners followed them along the seawall at Stanley Park. Many of them were wearing fun costumes, including some very fast runners! It was fun and surprising to get passed by an armless Shark, though also a bit tough on the ego. The volunteers were perfectly spread out throughout the course and very supportive. Once the race over, the choices of snacks to recover was diverse and delicious. The after-party included a DJ with amazing tastes in music, beers, randomly drawn prizes all in a friendly pub-like atmosphere. I did not win anything, but I did not care because I was having so much fun.

I signed up for this race shortly after finding out I was pregnant, so I had no expectations at all. I thought it would be a fun way to motivate myself to stay active early in my pregnancy. During my workouts leading to this race and on the day of the race, I ended up feeling surprisingly good. It was pretty cool outside (the biggest risk in early pregnancy is overheating) and so I felt I could run a pretty decent race. The race uses a building inside Stanley Park so that meant access to real washrooms and the possiblity to do part of one's warm up indoor. There were also various promo stands and carts near the start line area and a fun makeup and photo booth. The lineup for it was a bit long, but it was worth it. There was some motivating music, a great pep speech before the start and an energetic high-school cross-country running team participating in this event. I could feel my adrenaline levels rising. I decided to line up at the front and see how things would go. The race starts on a downhill, so it made for quite an exciting and a little bit scary start. Once we ended up at the bottom of the hill, people started slowing down and settling to whatever pace felt right. An interesting thing about night races is that runners often end up running at a pace slower than normal because running in the dark makes you feel like you are going faster than you normally are. Once we moved out of the park to the seawall, I realized that I actually had built up quite a lead: there were a few boys just ahead and just behind me, but no female runner within sight. This got me quite excited and helped me with maintaining my pace once my legs started tiring and once I had to get up some hills getting back in the park. Once inside the park, I got to an intersection that seem to not have any race marshalls or clear signage. Confused, I turned right, but after a few seconds I heard someone shouting at me to come back and run straight. Thankfully that mistake ended up not being enough to allow someone to catch up with me: I did not want to finish this race with a sprint to the finish because I was pregnant. On the final hill to the finish line, which is relatively steep, I decided to look back to see if anybody was behind me and seeing that I was alone, to relax a little and celebrate my first ever overall win at a road race. I was quite excited, I think I even shouted. After that, I went straight back to the bag check to get my change of clothes and then lined up to get my warm post-race meal. The post-race buffet includes a free beer, but I had to find someone to give it to, so I am not sure what it tasted like. The food was pretty good and satisfying and included vegetarian options. I recommend that people line up as early as they can as I saw that, towards the end, they sometimes run out of some popular food item. Inside, there was music (a bit loud in my opinion) and overall party atmosphere. I waited for some kind of awards ceremony as I had seen pictures from friends who had won in previous years, but did not hear any announcements being made. decided to go check with some volunteers. They said there was no awards ceremony, which got me quite disappointed (it is less fun to win if your friends cannot cheer for you after and you do not get some prizes to go with the medal too). Then they told me I could get my 3rd place medal. Third place? That was not possible, I know the race was in the dark, but I could see the boys leading the race for most of the race and not any female runner passed me at any point. I told the volunteer that, but they got quite defensive and said they could not give me my first place medal as that was what the printed results they received showed. I asked to see the results and it showed two women as having finished together in an incredibly fast time and in front of everybody: including the boys from the cross-country team. So I found the high-school boys to ask them if they had see any women in front of them during the race and they said they did not. However, the winner said that he did see some women slowly walking across the line holding hands as he was finishing the race. I returned to the volunteers with that information and they seemed even more lost and confused, unsure about what to do. They also still seemed to not really believe me, which was quite hurtful. So I tried to figure out who I could see to get the results corrected if possible before I left for the night. I remember having to go to the finish line multiple times until I could finally get the person leading the timing system to remember that yes, some ladies walked across the finish line and that they actually went to the timing tent to say they had turned around before completing the full course and just walked back to the finish line. In fact, they had started with the 10k runners earlier, so their result should not have appeared in the 5k at all. The head of the timing team helped me get the medal from the volunteers, and, thank to my very patient and friendly running friend Zahida, I got to celebrate my win a little and take pictures with the official race backdrop. I later emailed the race organizers to explain what happened and was told they will change the timing system and team next year. I also asked that they should bring back the award ceremony for the sake of the runners who finished top 3 and their friends. Also, if there was a ceremony, I am sure none of the issues I had with finally getting the results corrected would have happened: those ladies would have re-explained what happened when their names were called or the other race leaders and I could have explained right there what we had seen. Else, until this issue spoiled a little bit of my fun, I really enjoyed the race, seeing the seawall lit up by hundreds of head lamps at night, and the pre-race and post-race party atmosphere.

As someone who loves short distance races, but also loves being in the wilderness, Five Peak races' Sport distance race in Mt Seymour, which is about 5k long, is a dream come true. Add to this some steep downhill sections and some very technical sections with wooden planks, fallen trees, rocks, mud, deep puddles, and tight turns, and this adrenaline seeker is in heaven! This is a very fun course with beautiful views throughout and at the start/finish line too. It might be a bit intimidating for a first-time trail runner, but because it is so short, it allows people relatively new to trail running to discover the joys and challenges of technical trails with less risk.
This race was a good one for me, I ended up finishing 4th overall and 1st in my age category. I was not supposed to get a prize, but an issue with the results got them to call me on the overall podium and give me a prize. The person who was 2nd on the podium then said she remembered a woman being just ahead of her who was not with us on the podium. The woman was called and I was told to step off the podium. The crowd did a big pitiful "Awe" and someone said "Can she at least keep her prize?" when I had to give my prize back to the race organizer, so she felt bad and allowed me to keep it. I was really glad as it was a great knitted infinity scarf that I ended up using quite a lot after. I also ended up getting a medal for my age group win and it is one of my favourites: it is made of clay and hand painted! Another great souvenir from this race was the Five Peaks buff. Each Five Peaks race comes with a different cool and practical running accessory. It is a great change from the usual t-shirt and finisher medal combo.

This race is where I ran my official 5k road PB. The package pickup, race expo and post-race party were held at the Brockton Clubhouse and Brockton track. There is a little paid parking lot right near the track, which made getting there by car easy. If taking transit there, it is a little bit of a walk from the bus stop, but it can be part of your warm up. Package pickup was smooth and easy and the package included a choice of fun stick-on mustaches to put on to go with the theme of the race. I then had to quickly get to the start line to connect with the race organizers as I had volunteered to lead a fun dance-inspired warm up. The race DJ allowed me to put my song of choice on and some of the runners joined me for the warm up. The skateboard race started first, then it was the turn of us 5k runners to go. For the first time ever, I chose to put on earbuds and listen to some motivating indie rock at about 180bpm for the race. It made for quite a different experience, especially towards the end where I must admit it helped me keep my motivation and cadence up. The race started with a slight uphill on the seawall, then went for a short section through the park and then back on the seawall for a flat and fast finish. The other runners and volunteers were very supportive and their cheers helped me finish strong and with a PB. The finisher medal was shaped like a mustache, which was quite unique. The after-race expo was on the Brockton Track with many delicious treats and drinks from sponsors and the after-race party was inside the Clubhouse where a DJ spinned very danceable funky tunes that actually got a few of us dancing. There, we could also get some beers and hot dogs while waiting for the awards ceremony. Thanks to the music, drinks and food many people actually stayed to cheer on the winners during the awards ceremony. The prizes from the sponsors were quite generous and the winners all looked very happy with them. It was one of these events that was actually hard to leave and I ended up staying with some runner friends until the DJ spinned his last tune.

This race was my first ever relay racing experience. This race goes from sea level to the top of Grouse Mountain, then down to the "chalet". It is not the kind of race I would ever consider doing on my own, but I thought it would be a fun one to build a team for. The first section is a fast and flat 4km run going from West Vancouver to North Vancouver. The second section goes from sea level in North Vancouver and slowly climbs up to the bottom of the Grouse Grind (about 300 meters above sea level): at 6km, it is the longest climb of the race. The third section is the steepest. It is a mix of trails and steps at 300 metres elevation and climbs to 1,100 metres over a distance of 2.9 kilometres. The final section is on trails and up a ski run to the top of the mountain and then down to the chalet. So to build the perfect team I needed a track or road speedster, a mentally tough endurance runner, a mountain goat or Grouse Grind addict, and a fearless trail runner. I asked a gym friend whom I knew was a really tough lady if she would be interested in doing the relay with me and she accepted. She was a strong energizer bunny who was always up for challenges and would bounce higher and longer than everybody else during the dance fitness class. She also had done some long races recently. A perfect fit for the 6km section of the race. I then asked a friend of mine whom I knew was doing the Grouse Grind hike at least once a week if she wanted to race with us. She first said yes, but then, closer to the race found out she would not be able to do it. So instead my boyfriend joined us: he had recently started doing the hike regularly to get back in shape for the soccer season. Finally, my gym friend said her own boyfriend was up for doing the last leg. I ended up with the first leg, which, as a track runner, was best adapted to my lack of hill running experience. But then, the day before the race, we found out that my friend's boyfriend would not end up coming. Because the other two members of my team were already doing quite tough sections of the race, I did not want to make them also do the final leg, so I decided to do it myself. I had done a few uphill and downhill running repeats as part of my track training and hoped that would be enough to stop me from falling on my face. The race was very well organized. We had little timing tags we had to hand off in special hand-off areas with timing mats and could then jump in shuttle buses that were perfectly timed to allow you to see your teammates finish their section and pass the tag to your other at the bottom of the Grind climb. The bib then allowed us to get in the gondola to the top of the Grind for free. That is where I waited for my boyfriend who told us he had managed to pass quite a few competitors during his section. I was so proud of him! I then started my section to the cheer of both of my teammates. It was a tough, but progressive climb up to the top of the mountain on rocky terrain followed by an exhilarating downhill run to the finish line. The rocks on the path made it a bit scary, but the adrenaline rush got me extra competitive and I just ran as fast as I could do pass as many people as possible. In the end, we were very pleasantly surprised to find out we had won the co-ed team category for the race! The prizes were great: big medals and a Columbia hiking backpack! The after-party food, music, and sponsor booths were also all quite good. We ended up hanging out quite a while after the race, until pretty much they were ready to pack up.