Above: Some members of my work team at the Times Colonist 10K called “Plane Crazy”.
We were able to park at the View Street and then jog down to the start line. There were so many people at the event! I think this year’s crowds were bigger than last year.
I opted to wear a tank top and my Dream Nation Apparel shorts and a hat. Prior to deciding what to wear, I looked at the weather forecast and it was gorgeous. All I could think about was how beautiful the day was.
I made it to my corral just in time for the start because there were long line ups at the washrooms. I started my watch a minute and a bit before I actually crossed the start line. I’m not exactly sure why I did that. Perhaps, it was to keep track of my gun time as opposed to the chip time.
I had a good pace going for the first 4 or 5 km. I was averaging about 4:40 per km and was feeling pretty good. It’s definitely nowhere near as fast as I used to be able run back in 2014 and 2015 (before my early 2016 injury and subsequent illness in late 2022).
Above: at the 8k mark of this year’s Times Colonist 10k. Photo by Stan.
When I got to the 6km marker, I got overheated so I opted to slow down instead of pushing it. I didn’t realize how warm it actually was until I was about 6km into the run. Then, I saw my friend Stan near the 8k mark as well as a few other people cheering. It was great to see Stan.
I picked it up a little bit after the 9km mark but I should have picked it up earlier. As I headed towards the finish line, I saw that the clock said “49:xx”. At that point, I was beginning to feel slightly disappointed although I promised my friends that I wouldn’t complain about anything under 50 minutes. I had a bit of a tough time between the 6 and 8km mark which made my overall average pace slower.
Then, several minutes after finishing, I remembered that what I saw on the clock was the gun time, which started about 2 minutes before I actually crossed the start line. With that in mind, I realized that I was actually faster than 49 minutes.
Originally, I wanted to get sub 45 minutes but ended up with a 47:42 for a chip time.
Although I did not hit my target, considering that I could not even stand up in November, I’m happy with how the race went and the chip time I got.
Above: Great to see some friendly and familiar faces at the Times Colonist 10k 2023
Here’s some more of my stats from today…
- Overall place: 554/6734 (top 10% overall finisher)
- Gender place: 103/3853 (top 3% in my gender)
- Age category place: 21/565 (top 5% in my age category)
Most importantly, I’m so grateful to be back running even though right now I’m nowhere near my 40:56 10k personal best. I need to build up my endurance and strength again, which will take time and effort. It won’t happen overnight. It will be a challenge. I’m prepared to work hard to improve my fitness again.
Above: here’s what the finisher medal at this year’s Times Colonist 10k looks like.
Shout out to the TC10k organizing committee and volunteers for making it a great day for everyone.
Congratulations to the 2023 Times Colonist 10k winners. Thomas Nobbs finished first in the men’s category in 29:43.0. Dayna Pidhoresky finished first in the women’s category in 34:32.0.
I hope to do this again next year and hopefully a little bit faster.
On May 7th, I’m going to be in Vancouver where I will pace the BMO Half Marathon. I will help a group of runners cross the finish line under 2:30. Helping other runners brings me a lot of joy. 🙂