THOSE FINAL Ks
In the last kilometres, I became grateful for that shake-out run the day before. I knew when the last few turns would arrive and that it would be a slight downhill to the finish line. My fellow travel companions felt the same way. Even though you can never predict how tired you will be near the end of a race, there is comfort in knowing what to expect from the course.
Crossing the finish is the end of a significant journey. Two of my travelling companions had just finished their first halfs. The decision to take on that new challenge and dedicate themselves to the training was rewarded that morning in Cambridge. Looking at the faces of runners as they finished, it was clear this is something we all feel, even if it is not our first time. As runners, we are a community of people who dedicate themselves to a goal and seek to i mprove no matter where we started from. After my race, I met up with Denomme, a self-proclaimed “non-runner” who travelled with us. She’d been watching the race from the finish lane, and her eyes were wide in surprise. “I can’t believe how emotional it is to watch a race,” she said. “I just saw a runner being helped across the line by a total stranger and a dad high-fiving his daughter on the way to the finish line. This is really something.”
It really is something. Racing, and in particular racing in a foreign country, brings to the forefront how much of a community we really are. It never fails to amaze me how complete strangers will line up outside for hours to cheer on people they don’t even know, how hundreds of volunteers will hand out water along the race course and how thousands of runners all move in the same direction with the same goal of crossing the finish line.
Following the race, the Toronto Five boarded a van and drove to London to enjoy an essential part of the destination race: the fun. The hours and days after a race can be unpredictable. I find the amount of soreness and mental fatigue varies, but the thing about a destination race is that you’ll be more motivated to get out in the city and have fun.
For the next couple days, we enjoyed the great restaurants and sites that London had to offer, including a trip to the Eye, an appropriate option for a post-race seated activity, and the types of meals that we had been reluctantly avoiding before the race. I also enjoyed a couple of easy recovery runs in Hyde Park before we headed home.
As the trip was nearing its end, I asked my travel companions how they felt about the trip and the race, and for Etty and Bent, who had just run their first half-marathon, they were already excited for their next race. What moved me the most was that Denomme now wanted to become a runner and sign up for a race. It’s not all that surprising. Running, like travelling, is contagious. Joan Chung is the producer of The Shakeout Podcast.