There’s a number of races I’ve had on my bucket list for the past few years. One of those has always been Melissa’s Road Race, held annually in September, in the incredible Banff National Park. When Chris and I moved to Alberta I knew it was a race we needed to sign up for. Fortunately this year the timing worked out perfectly with my training schedule for the NYC marathon, so one cold wintery morning in February when registration opened, I was on it!
At the end of September we drove the four hours down to Banff, leaving after work on Friday evening (the race was Saturday morning). We missed bib pickup on Friday night, so we had to go early to the race site on Saturday morning to pick up our bibs. Given that there was snow in the forecast we prepared ourselves for a potentially chilly run and tried to dress accordingly. Man, were we (and the weatherman) wrong.
The 22km race started at 10:40AM. Granted it wasn’t that warm while we were picking up our bibs or waiting to start, but boy, oh boy, I was smoking hot within the first kilometre or so after starting. In retrospect, I should have known better – it’s not as if I’m new to running and don’t know what’s appropriate to wear in different temperatures. I was wildly unpinning my bib, pulling of my jacket and tying it on my waist and stuffing my toque and mittens into any pocket that might fit them. It’s surprising nothing was lost! I ended up running with my jacket tied around my waist for 20-some-odd kilometres. Check it out below.
One surprising(ly sad) thing for me was that this was the first time my name has appeared in the women’s 30-something results Every other race I’ve done thus far I’ve always been 29 and under! Sure, I know I had a big birthday recently and it shouldn’t come as a surprise, but it was still strange for me to see. I’m now in a way more popular, and definitely more competitive age category. Darn!
There was another first for me in this race. My lovely fiancé decided he would run alongside with me! Chris had been joining me and supporting me on some of my longer NYC training runs, so he had been prepared for the distance, but definitely not at his usual speed. Even without much training (he had been spending most of July and August preparing for the bike for Challenge Penticton!), Chris was definitely capable of finishing the race much faster had he gone on his own. So now that I’ve accepted that my running partner is destined to set a “personal-worst” for this distance, what did I do next?! I enjoyed absolutely every moment of it, and didn’t worry about slowing him down at all! It was his decision to run with me because he wanted to, and he could have easily gone ahead on his own if it bothered him. I loved running with Chris, my own personal pace bunny, having him to talk to and being able to help push me through if I ever needed an extra boost.
The race course had spectacular scenery and at the finish line there was doughnuts and beer for runners, plus a ton of awesome door prizes. Historically, Melissa’s sells out right away, so if you’re interested, set a reminder for that one wintery day in February when registration opens! It’s a race I definitely recommend.
Next up, the Okanagan Half Marathon this Sunday in Kelowna (sadly my personal pace bunny has already told me he’s going to be running his own race). After that, it truly starts to become taper time for the New York City marathon. I couldn’t be more excited!