2008 Vancouver Sun Run
I really felt like I was insane to volunteer to run with the BCIT corporate team for the Sun Run this year. After all, it’s not every day you get to do the sardine dance with tens of thousands of people you don’t know. The size of the race has become ridiculous, but I’ll admit that traffic management and parking downtown really wasn’t much of an issue today.
The last time I ran this event, it numbered around 45,000 participants. Add 14,000 to that and you’ve got the 2008 version. Standing in the starting chute on Georgia Street was fairly unpleasant, as dozens of over-estimaters pushed their way to the front of the yellow zone. You know the kind - they guess a 43:00 minute 10k when the closest they’ve ever come to that number is 50:00, then proceed to clog the race course as they settle into their real pace and get passed by hundreds of more realistic people.
Plus, I now recall the other thing that really turns me off about the Sun Run starting line. Goofy retro-rock and Fitness World cheerleaders rallying the throng to throw their hands and feet in the air to warm up, despite the fact that there’s nowhere near six inches between you and any of your neighbours.
I figured if I could put up with this for 15 minutes and let the clogging clear over the first mile or so, I’d have a nice run through Stanley Park and down Beach Avenue and Pacific Boulevard. Well, I guess it really has been a long time since I’ve done this race because now it barely nicks its way into Stanley Park at all, crosses Burrard Bridge and goes east past Granville Island until it comes back over Cambie Bridge, where finishers sail down the off-ramp and still finish on Pacific Boulevard, right between BC Place and the Plaza of Nations.
It’s still a nice run, like pretty much any run is on Vancouver’s waterfront, but the route now forces too many runners through too many narrow spaces. When you factor in the huge field, what it really means is that it doesn’t thin out for a couple miles. In retrospect, it probably forced me to set a pace that I actually ended up holding through the whole run, but it’s kind of off-putting to play dodge-runner for so long.
Lest you think I’m down on the whole thing … not really. While this definitely was my last Sun Run, there were some positives. Despite forecasts that warned of possible snow or rain, while cool, the day netted only glorious sunshine. As well, I only lost three seconds per mile from the first to the last and, while my pace was not spectacular, I held a solid sub-7:00 mile throughout en route to a 42:44 time. There’s something wrong with their official times, but my Garmin only measured long by a few hundredths of a mile, so my 6:48 pace is likely pretty accurate.
My paces have been a bit up and down as I’ve been trying to get some of my former running mojo back. I’ve come through some injuries, aches and pains over the past year and I’m feeling better than I have for some time. This is probably the first somewhat lengthy run or race where I’ve been consistent and felt strong. I even felt like I probably could have pushed somewhat harder if I’d wanted.
While I won’t get my sub 1:30 half marathon in two weeks, I feel it will be a good solid run, and once I get past the upcoming New Balance Half Ironman in nine weeks, I’m looking forward to some solid run training and races to finish out this season.
April 21st, 2008 at 8:52 am
[...] Wanless - 2008 Vancouver Sun Run - I really felt like I was insane to volunteer to run with the BCIT corporate team for the Sun Run [...]
April 21st, 2008 at 5:53 pm
[...] Wanless - 2008 Vancouver Sun Run - I really felt like I was insane to volunteer to run with the BCIT corporate team for the Sun Run [...]
April 25th, 2008 at 2:54 pm
I can see how the retro-rock can get old: my bandmates and I in The Neurotics have been playing that bandstand for 15 years now. Still, we have fun, and the walkers and slower runners generally say they like what we do there. I admire the real effort you runners are putting in, compared to my sitting on a drum stool for a couple of hours, though.
April 25th, 2008 at 5:58 pm
Thanks for the comment Derek. My retro-rock comment was no dis toward the Neurotics. On its own, no problem whatsoever. With all the other starting line mania that is the Sun Run, it’s a whole different ballgame.