Steve shows off his Around The Bay shirt.
This weekend should have marked the 126th anniversary of North America’s oldest running race, Around the Bay (ATB) 30km in Hamilton, Ontario. As we all know at STARR, the coronavirus pandemic has had severe implications to our communities across the country, and for runners, club runs have been cancelled, and road races have been cancelled or postponed. This included the ATB race as well as our STARR club run in its honour. We originally had planned to simulate the race here in Sooke this weekend by offering a club run with the same distances as The Bay – 30k solo, 2-person relay (15k each) and 3-person relay (10k each). For those who “registered,” we changed the race from a simulation one where we’d all be running the same course at the same time to a virtual one. While a virtual run doesn’t have the same as the vibe as an in-person run with a group of people running together or chasing each other down, and cheering each other, the virtual run offered some fun, on-line comradery and bantering, and some stress relief after some challenging weeks of uncertainty. We left the rules loose and suggested that everyone do their own run when they could swing it.
Although some results may still come in this week, I thought I’d share some success stories from the virtual run and hope that they might encourage you since there won’t be any races nor race reporting for the foreseeable future.
Stephanie
First to complete the course was the 3-person team of Robin, Jackie and Steve with an estimated time of 2:52 for the 30k. As I understand it, each runner ran the mapped course along the Goose. Poor Steve got shamed into changing his own route to the official route and so as far as I know, they all completed and tested the official route with lots of enjoyment. Yeah! Robin said, “My run was nice. I started just before 8. It was cool and only a little rainy at a couple points. Very nice! I hadn't run 10K in a whole so I did 8 and 1 intervals to ensure I survived it.” Jackie was next to run. This was a lesson learned for me, the organizer, as I hadn’t been clear about the turn arounds because we had planned to have marshals there. so Jackie may have gone a bit long or short (no watch!) but close enough. “Well my time, I will call 53 min. Wasn't 100% sure where the second turn was so I went to the second falling rock sign must have been close.“ Jackie later said she will “up her game” when she has some competition out there to push her along.
The second team to check in was the two-person of Maggie and Jenny. Maggie went a bit far but together they covered about 26k or 27k. The ladies clocked 3:17. Jenny went short (10k) but might just make up her 5k later on this week. Here is what Jenny had to say, “Well I finally got out for a run today. I opted for the last 2 thirds of the distance I had registered for, running 10k. I will aim for the 15k when we are able to reschedule :)” Later she added, “…already thinking I'll go out for 5k this week...have to make up my portion and support my team partner, Maggie :)” This is what encouraging friends can do, push us to go further.
Andy and Stephanie have also been out pounding the pavement. Stephanie is splitting her 30k into manageable parts as is Andy. Yesterday, she completed 10k in the rain. Andy ran a 20k this week mostly on the 30km official route. Stephanie is sticking with beautiful, hilly Shirley.
We will re-schedule the club ATB run when it makes sense to do so. Check out the facebook page for updated photos as they are added this week. In the meantime, I hope these runners have inspired you to continue running and reaching for your goal.
Updated April 5 – We had a few other teams complete their ATB virtual runs this week. First was Wayne to complete his 15k section on Monday with a time of 1:39:59. He said that the running gods were with him as he dodged the rain and had cool fresh conditions. Later this week Vanessa, Kari and Leslie Ann completed their three-person relay with each achieving 10k. Vanessa and Kari slugged it out in the rain so an extra kudos for them. Liz and her daughters scraped through also each completing their mileage. Congrats to everyone and hope you all enjoyed your runs.
