July 25, 2021
It took a little longer than expected, but I finally got to run the Nova Scotia Marathon.
The annual event in Barrington Passage celebrated its belated 50th anniversary this year on July 25, after last year’s event was canceled (along with most other running events) due to the pandemic. I was determined to be there, not just because I wanted to run this one, but because I thought it would be a special way to mark the occasion of my Mom’s birthday, the first one since we lost her in January.
My mom was my greatest cheerleader in life. When it came to my running, her support was rock steady. Although I think she worried about me sometimes, she was always the first to congratulate me after a race. She didn’t always make it to the finish line in person, but she would always be online, waiting patiently for the results on Atlantic Chip. She would sometimes know my finish time before I even did.
She was always very proud of me. I don’t think anyone is ever more proud of you than your mom, and it sure leaves a hole in your heart when that person is gone.
So, when I heard this year’s marathon in Barrington would be taking place on July 25, I knew I had to run this one for Mom.
The Nova Scotia Marathon also happened to be the next one on my list, as I continue to run all the Maritime marathons. I planned to do it last year. After it was canceled, I continued to train, and ended up joining with some friends to create our own event, the Cobequid Trail Marathon, in Truro. It was an incredible day, and I postponed my Barrington plans for a year.
To be honest, I half expected this year’s event to be canceled as well, as a spring outbreak really seemed to set us back with regard to COVID in Nova Scotia. Credit to the organizers for holding out hope for it. I registered back in the spring with my fingers crossed.
Training did not go as smoothly as I would have liked. Like the previous year, I stayed active and ran over the winter but kept my mileage down, taking it a bit easier on my body. Despite that, I didn’t feel quite as fresh as I did in 2020 when I started training in March. The cold was a bit bothersome to my joints, and I didn’t feel fast.
That was where my body was at when, just a few weeks into my Barrington training, I decided to run the Nova Scotia Remembers Memorial Marathon from Portapique to Truro in April. In spite of my doubts, that race ended up going pretty well, giving me a shot of confidence for the months ahead.
However, my body continued to be uncooperative. I had a sore right Achilles dating back to Easter weekend. It didn’t bother me much during the April marathon, but it continued to aggravate me afterwards, and never did go away. Soon enough, my left knee was also giving me trouble. I didn’t notice while running, but I suspect my Achilles caused me to compensate with my gait, leading to increased stress on my left leg and knee. It also didn’t help that I was long past overdue for new running shoes. Sometimes it’s just not in the budget.
The result was weeks of slow times in my training runs, and increasing worry. I didn’t want to take time off, because I had already taken a week off for recovery after the April marathon. But as May began to turn to June and my knee was still hurting, I wondered if I should just pull out of the race altogether. Would it be worthwhile to hobble through a race just to be able to say I did it?
Somehow, I got through it, and the knee pain subsided. With about a month left to race day, I was feeling good to go. But would that be enough time to get enough good training runs in so that I would be confident at the race? Because of my knee, I hadn’t been thinking about a goal for this race. Now that I was feeling better, what was realistic? I honestly didn’t know. I ran a satisfying 3:40 in April, and I always have a 3:20 PB in mind for marathons now, but I wasn’t sure what was in the cards.
It was on my mind when I made the long drive to Barrington on July 24. I would be flying solo for this trip. Marlene and the kids got bored with my running adventures long ago, and seldom come along anymore. I was able to rent a room at the Starboard Inn, where several other runners were staying.
I grabbed my race kit at the local arena and asked a volunteer where I could get a good meal. Unfortunately, there was no pre-race spaghetti dinner this year due to COVID, so I had to grab what carbs I could from Pizza Delight. I drove the route and took in the beautiful surroundings. After picking up some cereal bars and orange juice for a quick breakfast, I was ready to call it an early night.
While chatting with Tim Duguay, he asked me what my goal was for the race. I instinctively said “I’d like to run a sub-3:20” but the words sounded wrong as soon as they came out of my mouth. “I’ll probably be around 3:30,” I hastily added.
I had a decent sleep and was ready to go in the morning. The start line and the finish line are in different places for this race, and the motel was located in between the two. Normally a shuttle service is offered back to your car, but this service was also unavailable this year. I decided to leave my car at the motel and hitch a ride to the start with Tim and Stacy Chesnutt. I’d worry about getting back later.
I had never run in Barrington before, but I had been there a couple times as a spectator, and both of those days were sunny and hot. For that reason alone, I hadn’t really been looking forward to this one. However, as we drove to the start, there was a nice blanket of fog settling over the community. This looked promising. I crossed my fingers and hoped the fog stuck around for awhile.
To prepare what little game plan I had for this one, I looked back at my marathon in Truro the year before. Despite having my cousin Mike pace me for the first part of that run, I still found myself going out a bit too fast, and hit the wall in the later kilometers. The humidity of that day also worked against me, but this day in Barrington was mercifully without humidity.
To control my early pace, I purposefully started a bit back in the pack, a strategy I successfully employed at the Johnny Miles Marathon in 2019. We headed out at 7 a.m., easing our way for the first 4 km through the quiet streets of Barrington Passage, where many places were decorated with Nova Scotia flags and signs cheering on the runners.
From there we crossed the Cape Sable Island Causeway, where the marathon route then becomes essentially a loop around the perimeter of the island, through its fishing villages. Any scenery one could expect from a setting like this was unavailable on this day due to the fog, but that was a sacrifice I was happy to make. That fog stayed for the duration of the race, a pleasant surprise.
Once on the island, I stepped my pace up a bit to around 4:45-4:50, and was able to hold that for most of the race. I ran alone, but always had runners in sight ahead of me, and my body felt good throughout the morning.
At around 24K, the route takes a quick jaunt out to the Hawk Beach, the southernmost point of Nova Scotia. I got a bit confused around this area, as I started to meet runners that were ahead of me, and then was meeting runners that had been behind me. I just followed the volunteers, and had no trouble staying on course.
The volunteers at the aid stations were very supportive. Because of restrictions, they sat the drinks on the tables instead of passing them to us, and I could tell it was a struggle for some to not be more interactive with the runners. Another memory from my Truro race earlier was how my belly rebelled against me late in the race, so I decided that I would drink water only during this race and would avoid Gatorade. If I don’t drink it during training, why drink it during a race?
I enjoyed seeing the people and the many flags. As we finally seem to be coming out on the other side of this pandemic, it felt like a great day to celebrate being Nova Scotian. One fire department had a big ladder truck parked outside their station, with a giant N.S. flag hanging from it.
There were also other supporters along the route, including one guy in a white truck who would drive ahead and park, cheering us as we went by. He was blasting some great music from his truck. At one spot he was playing “Freedom ‘90” by George Michael, and I was getting into it. I love that song.
Thanks to my restrained pace early on, I didn’t hit the wall in this race. I slowed a little bit but still felt strong for the last 10K, and was able to pass a few other runners. My belly also held steady. Whenever I started to feel myself slipping, I thought of Mom, and she would give me a little strength. This one really was for her.
Before I knew it, I was back at the causeway for the final kilometre of the race. As I started my last push, I heard footsteps behind me, and, before I knew it, I was being passed by one of the runners I had gone by earlier. Congrats to Kim Ramsay for clipping me.
I crossed the finish line at 3:30:30, 28th out of 109 finishers. Although my results seem to be getting predictable, it was a good race that I’m happy with. I seem to be a 3:30 marathoner, and I’m ready to accept that, but I will always try to be better.
What I’ve learned after running 16 of these is that the real benefits – the mental and the physical – come from the training and all of the hard work that goes into it. Whatever happens on race day is gravy.
I walked the 3-4K back to the motel from the finish line, and that took awhile, but it was a piece of cake compared to the long drive home. I had considered staying an extra night, but really didn’t want to spend the money if I didn’t have to. My legs didn’t like it, but I made it home.
As I post this article, I think of how I could always count on Mom to be the first to comment on all of my stuff. I’m a modest guy, and I’m ashamed to say I would sometimes be embarrassed by her comments, but I sure miss them now. She enjoyed reading these recaps, and encouraged me to continue them. So, I decided to look up one of her posts from an earlier race of mine.
Brief and to the point, and heartfelt. Mom.
“What a marathon you had, Andrew. Well done. You made us proud.”
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