Race Notes on Chilly by Doug Austin

The Chilly was great (and the race was even better!). This year's Chilly Half Marathon may have been the warmest race ever held in Canada in March. What a perfect day - the weather was more like May with +10 Cel and not a cloud in the sky. A slight cool breeze from Lake Ontario kept the body running cool. I understand there was 3,000 plus runners signed up for the Chilly

Fellow BTC member Paul Harber, "Soon -To-Be Member" Greg McMormack, and I drove down together. A few other Baydogs bused down with RR and were seen throughout the race.
None of us were running for PB's but rather just enjoyed "steady to stop" paces. Greg started out faster than Paul and I, and would have finished easily with a sub 1:45 if he hadn't dilly dallied around waiting for me to catchup at the 18km mark. I never actually did catch up to him as I experienced early "wardrobe malfunctions" at 7km (too many bloody layers!) and had to stop, not once but twice, to derobe a few long sleeves. My Ipod also refused to play at the start of the race so I stopped once to try and figure it out but with no avail. At first I was really pi$$#! and gave up on the thing, but then after 5 km or so I started to enjoy the sounds of the day and of the strangers around me. Everyone, it seemed, had their ear buds dangling rather than inserted. What a chatty bunch! Even received a few hi's from other runners outside the Club along the way. That always helps the pace a little! Who knew Spring could put the spring in your step.

Greg came in around 2:00 after slowly walking 18 and 19 waiting for me (thinking I was fairly close but wasn't). I trotted across at 2:06 which was about 11 mins off my goal for my first Half of the year. Paul came in at 2:17 which was 2 mins better than his first Half race last year. Mildly acceptable times I guess, but we all agreed more base mileage training would have given us better finishing kicks down the stretch. Wes Reid also finished the Half Walk in a stellar and steady 3:26!

No worries though, we were really out just to enjoy the day and knock one off the "Do Before I Die" list.
We enjoyed a few bowls of post-race chilly and bananas, and then tooted our way back to Barrie (well, at least I did!).
I can't beleive I didn't remember to take a camera to snap a few pics. Oh well, hopefully the organizers got a few shots worth sharing!

That's it in a nut shell. Definately need to organize a Baydog group for 2011.
Cheers,
Doug