Keeping her running obsession on course, Kathy Carter was all smiles at the Niagara Falls Women’s Half Marathon.
It started almost two years ago, when I was approaching the dreaded age of 50. I had always been able to run a slow 5km, but had met a woman close to my age who was enthusiastically telling me about her training and how she had run a marathon; that news changed everything. For my 50th birthday, I asked for, and received, a Nike sports watch and my goal became completing a 10km run before I turned 51. With the help of my Nike motivator, I was awestruck as my mileage changed from 9.99km to 10km; I had done it!
As the days went by and I became accustomed to my new 10km distance so I decided to push further. I started reading about running and discovered that the long run I was pushing for each week was actually a key component of long distance running. Then I found out about a 16km run that our town was hosting, but I debated whether I should give this a go. I didn’t even tell my husband until early the morning of the run when I got up at 6am to eat my high carb breakfast! My fear was finishing last and embarrassing myself. For a beginner, the run went well and I learned a few things like always carry water because the aid stations can be spread far apart.
After my hometown race experience, I registered for my first half marathon with my niece that October for the Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Half Marathon. I finally did the full distance on a long, hot run in August and was rewarded by my Nike watch recognizing my half marathon achievement of two hours and 20 minutes! But when the big day finally arrived my niece had injured herself so I was running on my own. Arriving late in Toronto, I told my husband I’d see him in over two hours and raced off to my corral while they were playing our anthem. With tens of thousands of runners participating, it was organized chaos but one of the most exciting moments of my life to be running in my first half marathon. The route was flat, the weather was cool, and the crowds were amazingly supportive. I was drinking and eating chocolate every few kilometers and watching my pace. With the full marathon winners completing at the same time that many half marathoners were, the finish line was amazing as the crowds were going wild. They greeted each runner by name and we received a finisher’s medal. I expected two hours and 20 minutes but managed to knock six minutes off my expected time, and I realized that you can usually beat your personal best in an organized race due to your adrenalin and keeping pace with other runners.
After a winter of treadmill training, by spring my obsession started with the Toronto Yonge Street 10km in April; I was stoked! I followed this by the Uxbridge Half Marathon a week later, a challenging course with numerous hills, trail running and ending on a 7km route through a hilly golf course. After running a 5km event in support of our local food bank, I ran the GoodLife Fitness Toronto Half Marathon in May and I gave myself two weeks off until another 10km charity run. Having run the
