Peter Dobos's Staging Area

I have ran the Hope2Run half marathon every year since its inception in 2007. It’s location (an easy 45 minutes drive from my home in Guelph), the date (the first Sunday in November, ideal racing temperature), and the availability of ample free parking (just off the QEW and and a bare 50 meters from the finish line), made it an ideal venue for me. The nice, warm gym, meters from the start line is an extra bonus.
The course may be divided into three sections: (1) a flat 6-7 km section on the top of the Niagara escarpment; (2) a 5.5 km down hill section along the Red Hill Valley Parkway (practice down hill running, for come race day you will trash your quads!); and (3) the flat Waterfront trail by Lake Ontario. The construction of the Pkwy in 2007 made this route possible and we were the first to use it (before it was open to traffic.
For me, the 2007 and the 2018 races were the most memorable. The first race was a shocker! Just before the Barton street exit there was a gap in the divider, and race marshals waved us to the other side of the Pkwy to run the other half of the course back up the escarpment to the top! At 71, totally wiped out, I barely made it to the uphill finish under 2 hrs. In subsequent races we exited the Pkwy at Barton, ran West, turned North on Woodward then under the QEW to the Waterfront trail. The problem was that there was a level train crossing on Woodward, and if the timing wasn’t right, runners had to stop to let the train pass. So in 2011 the course was re-routed: after exiting the Pkwy at Barton we entered the Red Hill Trail and crossed over the QEW on a pedestrian bridge to reach the Waterfront trail. This solved the train problem permanently. Also, at my request, the race organizers graciously extended the five year age groupings from M65+ to M80+.
The second most memorable race in 2018 started during warm-up; the first time ever the full-marathon started 15 min after (as opposed to before) the half marathon. I couldn’t find out why. Also THE FIRST TIME EVER I DECIDED TO RUN WITHOUT MY WATCH! Knowing that the clock at the finish is started with the gun, I lined up in the front. My goal was a 2:06:00 finish (an even 6min/km pace). At 4 km the 2:00 hr bunny passed me, I saw the 2:15 bunny running toward me after the 18+ km double-back on the Waterfront trail (I gestimated he was 6-7 min behind me). The last two km was a struggle. At the finish line I looked up at the clock and couldn’t believe my eyes: 1:53:40! I thought maybe the clock stopped, so I looked again – no, it was moving. It never occurred to me that if this was true, I should have caught and passed the 2:00 hr bunny! After I changed in my car, I walked back to look at the posted times. I couldn’t find my name around the 1:53 times, not even around 2:00 hrs (I should have looked at the back-side of the bulletin board). After the award ceremony Michelle, the MC, and I walked over to the timer’s trailer to sort it out. On the way she asked “Which clock did you look at?” “What do you mean? The one above the run-in chute!” I said. “That’s the clock for the full-marathon! They started 15 min after the half.” Sure enough, add 15 min to 1:53:40 and you get 2:08:40. The timer in the trailer confirmed it. Mystery solved. I didn’t make 2:06, but, at my age, 2:08 is more realistic. Next time I will wear my watch!