Fitness Swellness: Sporting Life 10k Calgary in support of Starlight Children’s Foundation race recap

This Saturday was the Sporting Life 10k Calgary race (aka #calgarysfastestroad race). It was my first time running it and I was honoured to run it on behalf of Starlight Children’s Foundation.

I haven’t been training consistently nor done much of any speed or hill training, and with my focus on taking in this race for such a great cause, I intended to run it as a tempo, that is, comfortably hard. Which is just fine by me because for a 10k race you can push yourself to go a lot harder than the distances I usually race (I tend to gravitate to halfs and marathons), and I don’t especially love that feeling that comes with running at a fast pace (as though my heart’s about to explode!).

The weather Saturday morning was just about perfect for a race: about 12 Celsius, which made it a tiny bit brisk to be waiting for the race to start, but thankfully the race started at a transit station so runners were able to wait for the 8 am start in the station or wait in the bus shelters to keep out of the slight breeze.

The race is smaller in size than ones I have run recently, so the start was quite relaxed; normally you’re shoulder to shoulder in the start chute, but this morning I found myself with plenty of personal space, and instead of being herded toward the start line by being in the  thick of a crowd, I was able to pause and get my music and NRC app started just in time as I crossed the start line.

As with most races, I found myself swept up in the excitement of the race and ran the first two kilometres at a very fast pace for me, but for the remainder my pace fluctuated a lot, partly due to the change in elevation (the race is net downhill, which I prefer, although I know many runners find downhill to be hard on the body). Being a small race, I found it motivating that I felt I could always more or less see the front of the pack.

In terms of race organization, there were two water stations, and kilometre markers at every kilometre (although I admit I did not notice the markers until I got to the 6k marker; I think the flags for all the previous markers must’ve been blowing in a such as a way that I didn’t realize they were the distance markers). There is virtually no entertainment along the route, and very little in terms of spectator support (which made the smiling cop directing traffic and the few cheerers especially appreciated!), so I was happy I had decided to listen to music (however, I always just use one earbud for races so that I can be aware of traffic and runners around me).

Crossing the finish line as always is a great feeling, and an adorable little girl handed me my medal. In the post-race area, there was a nice variety of fuel (Kind bars, watermelon, Old Dutch chips, Clif Bars) and it’s the first time I’ve seen a PG gong, so fun!

I ran a 51:32, which is far from a PB for me so I didn’t get to hit that gong but love the concept and wish there were one in some of  races in Toronto! I finished in 232nd place out of 717, 91st out of 431 women, and 19 out of 68 in my category.

I don’t have the final numbers yet, but I believe upward of $15,000 has been raised thus far for Starlight Children’s Foundation. And that’s what’s really important here: raising funds so they can help bring some lightness and joy to the many sick kids they work with.

I was reminded of this at dinner that night after the race, when I checked my Instagram inbox, and saw a message from Heather, the mom of the ambassador family for this race (you can find her with all of her truly inspiring positivity on Instagram @happilyheath). I unfortunately saw Heather’s message well after the race (or else I’d have made plans to meet IRL that morning), but I got to reading about her daughter Evelyn on her Instagram, and Evelyn’s recently just had a shift in her cancer treatment plan. Looking at her smiling photo, well, it certainly puts life into perspective and I’m inspired by how courageous she is. She’s been through much too much for her age, and I’m grateful that Starlight Children’s Foundation exists to provide experiences that allow her to be a kid, in the middle of so many tests at the hospital and the endless series of treatments.

If that sounds like a cause you’d like to support, consider sponsoring a runner (you can still do so now even though the race is over; this is my fundraising page but there are also several hundred runners you can support!).

Thank you Starlight for asking me to take part in this race and for the work that you do!

Leave a Comment June 21, 2019