Get Runnin' Relay 2006

This was a fun, relaxed event. It was put on to support the PLAY foundation. Teams of 6 alternated by running 12 segments of a 40 mile loop. I joined up with Jon Gargulak, Stephanie Fleming, and Dave Putnam, along with two other runners to form a team which took first overall in the event by several minutes. Total running time was recorded, but I was unable to find the overall time of the event. This was the first annual race, and surely it will continue to be a nice community event.

Northshore Inline Marathon

My wife was kind to me this year. Instead of letting me fend for myself and not knowing when I would finish, she decided to do the event with me. We skated side-by-side, although she could have easily finished far ahead of me. Maybe she felt guilty for my getting hurt the previous year. I finished in 2:16:11. Not burning up the competition, but considerably better than last year. I was just happy I finished on my roller blades this year. I was 1,691th place out of 2,275 inline skaters. Not bad for not much practice.

Pride of Canada Marathon

My second attempt at a marathon was staged in Thunder Bay, Ontario. A beautiful park was the location for the run. I led the pack until about mile 12, which was fun because the course director was riding a bicycle and showing us the path on the two loop route. Eventually, I was passed up by Doug Scott of Thunder Bay, ON (shown in the yellow shirt above). I ran with him for a few miles, but eventually he outpaced me and he went on to win in 3:02:51. I finished second in 3:10:48. This was 11 seconds ahead of the 3:10:59 cutoff to qualify for the Boston Marathon. I had a blast and Doug was kind enough to treat me to a pasta dinner with his family after the race. I was definitely the ringer in the race, for the top ten finishing times were all from people from Thunder Bay, with the exception of my second place finish.