Mont Tremblant in 2012

Back to the index

For my third half marathon I chose the nice little town of Mont Tremblant (to the north of Montreal). This was only the second or third time they were organizing this event, so there were some problems at the bib pickup area before the race. The lines were long and it took me a long time to get my stuff.

 After picking up the bib, my wife and I went by car to the Mont Tremblant casino, where I would start the race. This proved to be a mistake, because all roads were closed as soon as the runners started the race, so my wife had the hardest time getting back to the finish line.

 We had left home with plenty of extra time, I didn't want to rush anything, but because I wasted so much time at the pickup line, we got to the start line just in time, my wife couldn't even be at the start line to take a picture of me. But she took a picture of the start from far away:



They make us do three laps around the casino before we take to the road. That part I didn't like too much...

And when we finally leave the casino area behind us, there is this huge downhill, you have to really put the brakes on in order not to trip over.

A little after km 4 I had to stop to tie my shoe laces again. And at this point we were in a narrow path through a forest, not a very good place to stop when you have a horde coming behind you...

The course goes through a forest and by a river, it's very, very beautiful.

By pure luck my wife had stopped at a certain spot and I passed by soon after, so she could take a picture of me:




At this point I was still smiling...

The second half of the race was really hard for me. Around km 12 I had to stop to take out the shoe pads that I was wearing, they were killing me. Soon after, my knees started hurting badly. By km 17 I had to walk a long time. I thought I would have to walk the rest of the way, but I found the strength to run (well, jog, really) the last two kilometers. It was painful...

Here I am, starting the final downhill:



And then, going to the finish line down there:




I was tired, of course, but happy:




We stayed for a while to see the medal ceremony and to eat the good food they offered us:




My official time was 2h30m, a new PB:




Back to the index

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Index

PB list Distance PB Event 5K 23m40s FADOQ 2019 (Montreal) (during the 10K!)* 10K 46m41s FADOQ 2019 (Trois-Rivières)** 3K (march) 18m46s FADOQ 2019 (Trois-Rivières)*** Half marathon 1h52m09s Montreal 2019 Marathon 4h00m50s Munich 2022 * The total distance of the event was 9.8Km instead of 10 Km, so this was not a full 5K; close, but not quite; ** The distance was 9.5 Km  instead of 10 Km, so this was not even close; *** The distance was not even 2.8 Km. Race list Click on the city name to read my full report of the event: Date City Country Race type Time Comment 2011/09/25 Montreal Canada Half marathon 2h52m56s Walking 2012/06/30 Båstad Sweden Half marathon 2h41m21s 2012/08/12 Mont Tremblant Canada Half marathon 2h30m22s 2012/09/23 Montreal Canada Half marathon 2h20m36s 2013/05/19 Copenhagen Danemark Marathon 5h24m33s 2013/08/11 Mont Tremblant Canada Half marathon 2h07m3
Read more

Jeux FADOQ 2015: 5 km

Image
Back to the index Last year I became a member of FADOQ , an organization for people 50 and older. I became a member in order to play ping pong in one of their tournaments. This year I registered again for ping pong and also for their 5 km race, which would happen at the Maisonneuve Park, very close to my house. On the Saturday before the event they called me at home to inform me that because the weather forecast for Monday was full of rain, the event would happen at the Centre Pierre Charbonneau. For me this was even better, because I train there three months of the year, so I know the place. This morning my wife and I walked there with our umbrellas, it was really raining. I received the bib 349. It was a simple paper bib, no chip like the ones we receive at marathons. It's a much simpler event... Little before 9 am the main organizer spoke a few general words about the many events of the day (there would be more running and walking after the main race). Then the per
Read more

Athens in 2023

Image
Back to the index Before the race As part of the celebrations of my 60th birthday, my wife and I travelled to Europe, to Spain and Greece more specifically. We didn't have a lot of time in Athens, so we didn't do  a lot of sightseeing. Our hotel (Mirame) was fantastic! A small, unassuming place, but with a lot of charm. The breakfast was more than we could expect: No trip to Athens is complete without a visit to the Parthenon: Inside the Acropolis museum they had an Acropolis made of lego: Getting the bib for my race was a nightmare, because the subway station near the expo had absolutely no signage, we did  not know where to go. We had to end up taking a taxi to get there on time: We also visited the national archeological museum. It was disappointing as half the place was closed. In 2013 we spent hours in there, there was so much interesting stuff. This time, after less than an hour and a half we were out of there: Race Day The mand atory selfie before le aving the hotel: A b
Read more