This Sunday, I ran the Dempster’s Global Energy Race (GER) for the third year in a row and as always, I had so much fun, and managed to run a GER 10k PB!
My race plan
I went into it planning to run it as comfortably hard a pace that I thought I could maintain for 10k. I don’t enjoy that feeling of my heart feeling like it’s going to explode, and my focus is training for the Detroit Marathon and Istanbul Marathon so my plan was to run it fast but not so fast that I felt too awful. I knew going into the race that I’d have run 29k on Friday as per my marathon training schedule, and my legs would be tired (and they were). So the plan was always to run it with some effort, but not full out. This race is so family-friendly and chilled out, I was really more keen on just having a fun morning with my friends there and running a decent time.
Hello, race day!
The route, from memory, was slightly different this year; they shortened the part of the route in the “peanut” (I used to run in the Beaches and this is what the curvy path in Ashbridges Bay was nicknamed thanks to the shape of the route if looking at it from above) and instead they extended the route going out east and back along the path and boardwalk to the start/finish line. As for the weather, would you believe I didn’t check the temp? That’s how relaxed I was about this race. It was overcast and probably in the high 20s if you factored in the humidity (I didn’t check the weather in the morning but in the late afternoon, it was 32C with the humidity) and we had some drizzle for maybe 10 minutes of the race, which was a nice cool relief from the heat.
What was my finish time?
I did not run a 10k PB, but I wasn’t aiming for one as I mentioned above. I’m realistic. I know I’m not as fit as I was in 2015 (which remains my 10k PB). My focus is my two fall marathons. While I didn’t reach the goal I had in mind (which was a sub-50 min) but I did finish 9 seconds faster than last year, even with the warmer conditions. (As an aside, I don’t think I can even really ever factor in my 2017 GER race as that day was ridiculously hot and humid on top of the fact, I was extremely under the weather with a cold.)
Even with what I consider a modest time of 50:10, that time ranks me 14th women to finish out of 263, and 61st out of 528 runners in the 10k race. And I’m happy enough with that.
The Global Energy Race is perhaps one of the best stocked in terms of food: hot dogs, burgers, apples, oranges, coffee, ice cream, chips, granola bars. I devoured a Klondike ice cream cone and drank some coffee as we watched the race winners hit the stage (congrats Brittany Moran!) and the 3k race start. If you’ve got kids, the 3k race is a great race in which you can run or walk together, plus there are loads of lawn games to entertain the kiddos pre- and post-race.
After the race, my friends and I went straight to brunch to celebrate our morning well spent: we’d run 10k and in the process, helped in a great cause: for every kilometre completed, Dempster’s will be donating two slices of bread to the North York Harvest Food Bank.
Thank you Dempster’s for the opportunity to help promote this race and cause (I did partner with Dempster’s on this sponsored blog post promoting the race ICYMI). The race has become an annual tradition I look forward to!
Now, back to marathon training, it’s peak training week!
September 24, 2019
Stoked to run the Global Energy Race by Dempster’s 10k again this year. If you recall, I had a blast with my friends in last year’s race. I may bring Billie Jean this year (dogs can take part in the 3K family run/walk, btw). I’m hoping the weather is not as insanely hot and humid this year, and that I don’t have an awful cold again (check out my race recap from last year here)!
Need more incentive? If last year was an indication, there’ll be loads of snacks at the finish!
Hope to see you there! Register now to take part in a good cause (for every kilometre completed, Dempster’s is donating two slices of bread to the North York Harvest Food Bank). Also, be sure to use the code KAREN for $10 off of your registration!
(sponsored)
August 28, 2018
I was excited for the Global Energy Race by Dempster’s on Sunday and planned to race it. I haven’t tried to PB in a 10k race in years so I was curious to see what I could do (although I wasn’t sure if I could beat my current PB of 47:51). I also thought it was a good opportunity to see how I felt for my upcoming Chicago Marathon (in 2014 I PB’d in Chicago and it’s still my fastest marathon).
But as luck would have it, after my speed work on Tuesday night with Nike, I noticed my nose was running. And, sure enough, on Wednesday, I woke up with a full-on cold.
My cold did not let up at all by Sunday, and I was very tired and congested. I’d had zero time to rest as I was on an overnight trip right before the race (I’d gone up to Blue Mountain to check out the first Creemore Springs Oktoberfest at Blue). My legs were still sore from the speed work (it was a very tough night of track work!). And when Olympian Adam van Koeverden (and Global Energy Race ambassador) lead all the runners in a warm up, I couldn’t even bear the thought of lifting my knees high because I was so exhausted so I didn’t warm up with the crowd.
Add that it was very hot (I think it was 25C but that’s not factoring in humidity) and I knew the race would be rough for me. My plan was to run the race as a tempo, which, dialing back my expectations (given my cold and the sticky humid weather would slow me down) I figured I could finish in 55 minutes if it went well as I could hope for. I also threw caution to the wind and tried out two new pieces of gear that I’d never used before: the Nike Zoom Fly shoes and the Nike Lean Runnign Waistpack. That’s a no-no (to try new things for race day) but I was pretty confident they wouldn’t cause me issues, and I’m keen on testing them out as much as possible to see if I want to use them in Chicago.
Given I had zero energy leading up to the race, I barely looked at the race info and had no idea what the route was, and I hoped it was not two loops (it was not). For the start corral, I went into the middle of the pack given I planned to run comfortably hard and I wasn’t aiming to PB.
But once the race started, I quickly discovered that I was faster than most of the people I was surrounded with. As I worked my way forward, I could see there were not a ton of women ahead of me since I could see the runners when the route looped back, so I felt like I was doing decently even in my congested state. I didn’t push myself to run so fast it hurt or that my heart would explode out of my chest. I recognized I needed to give my body a bit of a break.
So how’d I do? I crossed the finish line with a chip time of 52:50.6. I finished 5th out of 26 women in my age category, 15th out of 114 women, and 50th overall. And I’m pretty stoked with those results given I was down and out with a cold and the weather was awful for racing.
And how can you not love small races: I feel like if I’d been healthy, I could’ve gotten into the top 10 women. Makes me keen to do this race again next year!
Another reason I’d be keen to do this race again: there was one of the biggest spreads of food I’ve seen after a race: a taco truck! Brunch foods like French toast (with berries and whipped cream to top it with) along with two different breakfast sandwiches! Hot dogs! Hamburgers! Juices! Coconut water! And let’s not forget the table with a huge range of packaged snacks that you could help yourself to. Snacks for days!
Two ways I think the race could be improved: the race results need to be clearly available on the race sit. They currently are incredibly difficult to find. I googled many times, and finally after many attempts I found them on the site RunSignup.com (although the results have the race as being in Hamilton!). Secondly, there needs to be a better way to manage both the 10k race and the 3k race: for a certain period of time, with the start of the 3k race starting and going in the direction of 10k runners finishing their race, 10k runners had to contend with a big wave of 3k runners and walkers coming in their direction on the very narrow path, and those 10k runner were directed into a skinny little chute on the side where there was grass underfoot to finish their race. As I stood there to cheer my friends in, I saw many 10k runners confused as to where they were going (as it wasn’t very clear that this grassy chute would bring you over the finish line).
The adorable Bimbo mascot (of Grupo Bimbo, the Mexican bakery company) was there dancing up a storm, too, even in the intense heat and humidity. Props to Bimbo!
Thank you, Dempster’s, for the chance to take part in this race that helps to provide food to those in need and aims to encourage active living.
Now, Chicago Marathon is in less than two weeks, and I suppose I’m thankful the cold came now rather than right before that race! Eep!
September 26, 2017
