2013 Sea Wheeze Half Marathon Race Report, Part 1: Travel to Vancouver and the Expo
2013 Sea Wheeze Half Marathon Race Report, Part 2: The Merchandise
I enjoyed this Sea Wheeze just as much as
last year. The weather was very similar, maybe a touch more humid (though my friends from the Southeastern US say it wasn't at all humid to them). It stayed overcast with some sprinkles of rain. The next day it was about ten degrees colder with a stiff wind so we lucked out for the race.
Once again, Chip was on our timing chip and there were no bibs. I like having no bibs. I hate messing with them and I never buy my race photos anyway.
Check out who we spotted when we were walking down Burrard to the Convention Centre.
We passed the start arch on our way to the corrals - there was a Skull Candy guy cranking tunes at the start/finish arch.
The dynamic warm up just got over. Sorry for the hazy photo, my fingers gunked up my phone lens.
In the crowds walking down to the corrals. I wonder what this woman did with her jacket, no way she ran in it.
The entertainment started even before you got on the course - this was by the portapotties. That's my niece in the top photo. We wore Power Purple and Aquamarine striped Power Ys as our "team" outfit. It worked out well since only a handful of other ladies did, too, so it was easy to spot each other when the course doubled over on itself. My sister wore a Lilac High Noon Dot Power Y in the race last year which made her equally easy to spot so, note to self - pick out a cute print/pattern next year for easy visibility.
 |
| Back in the 2:30-3:00 corral. Where's the start arch? |
Like last year, we started in the 2:30-3:00 hour corral again. This one lined up next to the Urban Fare grocery store at the corner of Cordova and Bute. Can't see the start arch from here.
 |
| These people look like they should have had some pre-race coffee. |
View looking back to the end of the corrals.
Start arch comes into view. The race was supposed to have a 7:00 am start but didn't get off until 7:30 am. People were definitely entering the corrals at 7:00 and streaming in late.
And, we're off!
Heading up the first hill. My sister didn't consider this much of a hill but since I train on as flat a surface as I can find to minimize issues with my ITB and achilles this one kind of sucked. My quads were sore for two days after just like last year and they weren't sore for either Disney half I've run so I think the hills must be a factor.
And, heading down the first hill towards the Dunsmuir Viaduct.
On the viaduct.
Tai Chi group. They were here last year.
Not sure where these guys were but it was early in the race. (Thanks to Ms. S. for the photo.)
Down near the False Creek area of the race but not sure where. I am awful about knowing where I am in a race.
Heading up the Burrard Street Bridge. This is probably my favorite part of the course (well, the hill part sucks) because the race loops here and you can spot your friends who run faster/slower. I spotted my sister here and some eds from one of my stores spotted me.
The Ivivva cheer group right at the bottom of Cornwall. Last year they were in purple. They were probably the largest cheer group out there and very cute. They deleted the awful hill by the original store for this year's race.
View from the Burrard Street bridge heading back. The halfway point of the race is along the bridge though I must have missed the sign.
Still on the bridge - it's a long, slow climb.
Paddle boarders on the bay. They were there last year, too.
Mermaids on the rocks, right when you head out of Stanley park. They are probably my favorite entertainment since they are close to the end of the race.
I didn't take anymore photos from this point, I was just hunkered down for the finish.
The medal was a wooden disk that opens up to a photo frame. It's a cute idea but it's very lightweight and has no heft to it. It honestly feels like something you'd get for a 5K or 10K race. I am used to Disney medals that weigh close to half a pound and are a bit blingy. I much preferred last year's Sea Wheeze medal to this year's. In addition, the brown stain on the edges came off on my sweaty tank and I'm having trouble getting the marks out after three pre-treatments and washes. The glass in my sister's medal was missing, too. To me, this year's medal was a low note in an otherwise very well-planned event.
One of the best things at the end of the race is that we were handed cold, wet washcloths. They were heaven. Heaven!!! I would like those at the end of every warm weather race from now on. Just a fantastic idea and I hope it's repeated next year.
Runners also got a little gift of peppermint oils. This bag was clipped onto our medal.
We also got some earbuds from Skull Candy.
I stole this photo off the Sea Wheeze video but it shows the yummy brunch we got - a waffle with blueberry compote, a mini quiche, a muffin, and some fruit. Even a slowpoke like me got some brunch and they were giving away leftover waffles and muffins so my sister was able to take some back to the kids in the hotel room. The food was delicious and very filling. They controlled who got the brunch by marking your wristband with a check mark. A wonderful improvement over last year where they ran out of brunch food early.
Photo booths near the Convention Centre. We skipped these.
I ended up taking ten minutes off my time from last year and making a PR so I was very pleased with how I ran.
I ran with a GPS, a Garmin 610, this year and clocked the race in at 13.45 mi. Last year my sister clocked it at 13.7 so they took a little length out.
The water and aid stations were fantastic. They added one more station this year (perfect!) and they were well-manned and fully stocked with water, electrolyte, banana pieces, and orange slices even for a back-of-the-packer like me. Last year, the stations had oranges but I can't remember whether they had bananas, too. I had the bananas at a couple of the stations and hardly used any of the gel blox I brought with me. The potty situation was great. When I ran the Walt Disney World half marathon I had to wait until mile ten until there was no line for the bathroom but this race had plenty of portapotties. The entertainment was just as plentiful and varied as last year. All in all, it was a very well-planned event where I felt we got lots of nice extras throughout the whole weekend. My sister and I are planning to do it again next year.
