This was the first race of 2004. Luckily it was on a nice sunny day in the middle of winter. Grimsby is a small town on the Niagara escarpment about 45 minutes south west of Toronto. I drove from Toronto on race morning and collected my race kit about 30 minutes before the race. I was all dressed up for a chilly race but the weather was pleasantly warm for February. The race got underway in bright sunshine and the route was mostly through the vineyards and old country roads. The escarpment looked beautiful with the sun shining on the snow covered hills. The scenery and the mild temperature helped me finish the race quite comfortably. Along the route I met some nice folks. So, not a bad start to the year!

A week after running the Toronto Marathon, I decided to take part in the Niagara half. On race morning, I drove to Niagara and parked illegally in Travelodge beside the race head quarters. After picking up my race kit, I felt a sudden urge to hit the toilet! It turned out to be a good decision or else I would have been on my haunches 10 kms into the race. The bus took us to the starting line and we started the race in cold & windy conditions. The whole race was run along Niagara parkway. The scenery was awesome, with Niagara river on one side and beautiful estate houses on the other. The water stations were on every kilometer and the volunteer support was amazing. However, there weren’t too many locals cheering us on as most of the race was run thru parks and non residential areas….not to mention the constant drizzle and high winds. Finally, after over a two and quarter hours and totally drenched, I crossed the finish line. There was a warm blanket and a medal awaiting my arrival. I had some food and then the bus took us back to the race hotel. After changing into drier clothes, I drove back to Toronto.

This was my first marathon in the home city. My boss, Mickey Dearson was over from London and he decided to run the half.  When I went to the race head quarters to pick up my race kit, I was interviewed by City TV news team. In the evening, it was broadcasted over national television. After picking up Mickey from Royal York Hotel, we proceeded to the race start at  Mel Lastman Square. We barely got in time for the start of the half and the full marathon was 15 minutes later. One mistake I made was not having anything substantial to eat, which came to bite me later on in the race. The race route was a little boring as we circled around the north york area before heading down Yonge Street towards downtown. By the time I reached the half way mark, I was starving and low on sugar. Passing by Yonge Street where most restaurants were serving breakfast made the matters worse for me. I wished I had some money on me ! Luckily, I found Bill Premdas, my squash partner, who was there to support his wife complete her first marathon. Bill advised me that he’ll arrange some power bars and meet up with me at the 30km mark. So, I walked ran for another 5kms thru Forest Hill and found Bill at the corner of Yonge / Rosedale. Those bars gave me the necessary energy to go through the last 10 kms and I finished the race in 4:47. Bill and his wife were at the finish line cheering me on. At last, I finished my first marathon at home. A lesson I learned was to eat properly and carry a lot of power bars with you in order to avoid hitting the wall!

It was a beautiful sunny day in Toronto. Just before leaving for the race I was trying to delete some pictures from my camera of our trip to Eastern Canada. But somehow I accidentally deleted all the photos…I think Nadia was bugging me in the morning while that happened. Anyway, I left the house in a bad mood and drove downtown. The race was as usual packed with runners and was a great atmosphere there. I even saw the 92 year old Fauja Singh competing in the marathon. I ran at my own slow pace and as I was approaching the finish line, I saw Nadia with Aunty (Mother-in-law) there cheering me on…( that was a real surprise especially after what had happened in the morning ! ). After the race I went for a relaxing massage before we drove home. A few days later, I discovered that the photos I had deleted were actually still saved in the memory card. So that was a big relief!

A 10K that I was not supposed to run ! Nadia, Kiren, Lala & myself decided to drive to Montreal from Kingston on race day. I was registered for the half and the other 3 for 10K. However, Lala got us late in the morning and when we got into Montreal, we took a wrong turn and got late for the race. So since the only race left was the 10K I decided to run with them. In the end it turned out to be quite a fun affair. Most of the race we just walked throwing water on each other and chatting away. No wonder we were the last four people to finish the race. After the race we went to China Town for lunch and then drove back to Kingston. All in all, a fun trip. It was nice running with family for a change!

This is my first marathon. We went on a road trip to Eastern Canada and rounded it off with a marathon in Cape Breton Island. The field was quite small and although it was supposed to be around the lake, I didn’t actually see the lake until around the 20th km. Most of the course was boring  with hardly anyone around. I ran pretty fast and finished the race in under 4 hrs (my personal best). After the race, I had to wait for Nadia, Mama & Abu for about 2 hrs as the were too busy exploring the Cabot Trail. Around 3pm, we left Cape Breton Island and drove non stop for 9 hrs to reach Edmonston, NB. Then early following day we drove back to Kingston and then to Toronto. So, a pretty good effort to run a marathon followed by about 15 hrs drive back to Toronto!

A race I would never run again. A real killer!!! I thought it would be like the CTC I ran a couple of weeks ago. But it wasn’t. This 32K course comprised of creek crossing, 5 dangerous hills and poor route signs. To make matters worst, there was a thunderstorm half an hour into the race. The trails were so muddy that my shoe got stuck in the mud as I was climbing one of the hills. Then there were part of the trail with moss and algae on which one couldn’t even walk properly, let alone running. All in all, it was one race where I decided to quit about 20 times….but I found some strength in the latter part of the run and finished in over 5 hrs. Instead of a medallion, we received a painted finisher’s rock with our time on it. At least that was nice. However, I will never run this race again!

This happened to be my first trail race. I took part in the 25K where as some people were doing the 2 day 92.2K ultimate canuck challenge. The fun part about trail running is that it’s on a 5km loop so you keep on crossing the runners (unlike marathons). Most of the course was shaded with a few uphills. It was a hot day so around the half way mark, my hamstring started cramping up. Luckily there were 2 older gentlemen running beside me and they offered me some salt tablets. When they discovered that I was only doing the 25K and while they being twice my age were trying to finish the 92.2k, they just laughed and called me a “pussy”!!! I finished the race in under 3 hrs (no mean achievement). At the post race party while I was getting a massage treatment, the race director announced my name….I had actually finished 2nd in my age category and received a bottle of wine!!! So for the first time in 15 races, I actually went home with more than a medal!!!! That summed up a good day for me!

North Bay is 3 ½ hours north of Toronto and I decided to drive up on race day. Nadia as usual wasn’t too keen on me driving alone so decided to accompany me to the race. We left home at 3:30am and headed north. The drive was quite interesting especially past Bracebridge. We reached North Bay about an hour before the race. The race turn out was small and they did not even have the timing chip. It was an out and back course with most of it through the national park. My ankle was slightly sore after the last race and I aggravated it around the 16th km mark after tripping off a stone. In the process my Oakley’s fell and broke. I literally walked the remainder of the race and finished in about 2 ½ hours. Nadia, who mostly slept in the car was there to take a few pics of me. The medal was quite good considering how small the race was. We did some sightseeing in North Bay and then headed back to Toronto. So, all in all, after 7 hours of driving and about 2 ½ hours of running, we were back in Toronto around 4pm. Now that’s what you call time well spent on a lazy Sunday!

A very interesting race and a good turn out. The course and weather were so nice that I hardly got winded. Along the course, I started chatting with a gentleman from the Caribbean and he encouraged me to run faster. He was doing the full marathon (2 loops of the same course). After knowing that I had never broken the 2 hr mark, he made me run faster with him and encouraged me throughout the last few miles and also told me that I have to start running full marathons now ! I did thank him for his advice and proceeded to the finish line while he continued on to the full marathon course. About 500 yards from the end, I twisted my ankle and hopped to the finish line. Thanks to that gentleman, I finished the race in a minute over 2 hrs. That was also my personal best. I drove home a happy man with another unique medal. While I was driving, I saw the full marathoners on the course and decided that it’s time to move up!