When Dave asked me about the run, I kept it simple: hot and hilly. I found out later than a large number of athletes had decided to not to run the half-marathon distance because it was simply too hot. Either they called it a day after their ride and didn’t finish or walked through most of the run course.

Even the lead triathletes struggled with the heat. I heard from one male finisher that he turned a corner when he was just a few kilometres from the finish and saw a number of lead men walking, not running. When the fastest of the athletes are walking, you know it is a hot day. We had a few minutes of rain at one point but it didn’t give us any relief from the humidity that had temperatures in the high 30s (celcius).

I have always believed that I need to train in heat so that I can race in it; I was glad for the hot weather running that I had in the weeks behind me. I knew that I needed to run slower than I normally do and would likely need to take a few walking breaks. “Listen to your body. Don’t look at your watch. Drink water at every aid station.” By the half-way mark, I was also putting handfuls of ice under my cap to help keep me cool. My goal was to run as much as possible without beating myself up, and I did exactly that.

I have a few favorite memories from the run course:

The Volunteers: They were absolutely amazing. Aid stations were set up every 2-3 kilometres and friendly volunteers were ready to cups of water and Nuun, gels, snacks, ice and encouraging words. The further along I ran, the more I heard “Are you okay? Do you need anything? Would you like some ice?” Not once did a volunteer look hot or tired; they were sincerely concerned about how we were managing the heat on the run; they took care of us.

Toilet Tales: Around the 15k – 16k mark, I wanted to talk to some dude that I was about to pass, but I was hesitant. Should I or shouldn’t I? I had to say something. “Um, you have a piece of toilet paper stuck to the back of your leg?” I said when I was within ear-shot. He looked at me. “It’s behind your knee, your left knee.” And I kept running.

The Walk of Shame: When I was about half-way through the course, I realized that I had an extra Maurten gel in my shorts. “I’m saving this until closer to the end.” With less than 3km to go, I pulled it out and sucked it back, hoping it would give me an extra boost to get to the finish. It did not. When I turned a corner and I saw another hill, I whined out and started to walk. Ugh. Everyone around me was walking. I said to one guy “I would call this the Walk of Shame but everyone is doing, so now it’s normal.” About 100m later, I dug deep and started to run again – straight to the finish line.

Without a doubt, this was one of the toughest runs that I have ever had to do. But my pace ended up being better than expected with the heat (it was the fastest run in my age group) and it brought me up to 3rd place standing in my age group. So while it wasn’t the run that I wanted, it was still a good run for the conditions of the day.