The start of the run!
By Kari
Since I started running in 2016 I have generally told myself that I would never run a marathon, or even a half marathon. Honestly, I am still just thrilled that I get out and run (jog? amble?). But moms are persuasive and mine convinced me to run the Half Corked Marathon in Osoyoos this year. Its motto is “if you finish first, you missed the point” so I figured it might be a good intro half marathon for me.
Along the route!
The run starts at a different winery each year. The big yellow school bus picked us runners up at 7:10 am on Saturday, May 27 and took us to Rust Winery, where we were greeted with gorgeous views, granola bars and glasses of chardonnay. Never have I ever drank a glass of wine before noon, never mind 7:30 a.m., but, when in Rome…
The run organizers then got us organized (the run is organized in waves, each of about 50 people, starting at 20 minutes apart) and told us that, while last year the run was 24 km, this year the run was 18-20 km (no one really measured I guess). The first part of the run was up a long driveway, to our next winery, Culmina Family Estate. Our reward for ascending the hill was a lovely grapefruit/rose spritzer. Despite me promising to myself to not drink every wine that was offered, I accepted a glass. Then we ran back down the hill and were greeted by Road 13, where I indulged again. These are all small, sample sizes of wine but I am not a big drinker so by this point I had a stern talk to myself about not drinking at every stop. But the next winery had sangria. What winery was that, you ask? I don’t know as I was slightly drunk by that point.
Signs marking the way
After the sangria I drank a lot of water. It was starting to get hot – the day started out a bit overcast and cool but, in true Osoyoos fashion, the sun started to shine and the heat was coming on by 8:30.
Next up was Silver Sage Winery, which became my favourite of the route – they had a lovely spread for the runners, including antipasto, fruit, baked goods, real wine glasses, seating and loud cheering for everyone that came along. After I had some food (and a small glass of sparkling white wine), I headed off towards Nostalgia winery, the official half way point, where I limited myself to some apple fritter. From that point, I carried on, only stopping for a wine spritzer from Tinhorn Creek. At this stage the wineries become less frequent and the prickly pear cactus at the side of the road more abundant, but I could feel the end of my run getting closer and luckily, after one rather grueling and long hill, the rest of the way was mostly downhill (literally, not metaphorically) and, at one point, right through the rows of growing grapes of a vineyard. I ran across the finish line at the Oliver Community Park, happy to be finished and mostly sober. There is no official time keeping for the run and I am not sure how long I took – I do know that it took me longer than ever to hit the 10 km mark, but in my defense, I have never stopped for an antipasto platter mid-run and also there was wine. Did I mention the wine?
Once at the finish line I was given drink tickets for more wine tasting and ate delicious paella in the sun. After I was refueled, I danced with my mom to her favourite local band while we watched the rest of the runners come in. It was a really fun run and a great excuse to spend a weekend in Osoyoos with my mom.
Grape vines!
If anyone plans to go in the future (I would like to go back), costumes are encouraged and I saw some great ones – people dressed as bunches of grapes, the Cheshire cat and Mad Hatter, a bride and groom, T-Rexes, Care Bears, etc. The run itself is expensive ($265) and the organizers make way too much use of all-caps in their communication but it is a fun run and likely the easiest “half” in the world (there were many, many, non-runners in the crowd).
Now I am considering running the half marathon at the RVM. Does anyone know what wineries that goes to?