Ottawa in 2015

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I missed my sub-5 by twelve seconds!

The day before

To go to Ottawa, we rented this beautiful car:

My wife liked it very much, it has a few nice extras, like a rear camera to help the driver while going backwards.

Here am I, ready to start the trip:

On the way:

Leaving Quebec, entering Ontario:

The Shaw Centre, in downtown Ottawa, where I picked up my bib:

After getting the bib and visiting the Expo, we had lunch in a nearby restaurant:

At 1h30 pm, we were ready for our bus tour of the course:

It was quite interesting, our guide told us stories about Ottawa, the marathon and other things while we were going through the 42 km:

Near the end of the tour, the bus emptied out:

We find this graphic quite interesting:

My wife told me that she had a new respect for marathoners, now that she had gone through the entire course. She said that even on a bus that was exhausting... :-)

Later in the day we went to see the start of the 10K run. We passed by the monument to the unknown soldier:

Here am I, with our hotel in the background:

There was a ton of people participating in the 10K; 13K, to be more precise. And there was a ton of supporters as well:

Back at the hotel, we had the huge swimming pool all by ourselves:

The person in charge of the place said we were lucky, because the swimming pool had been crowded all day long.

After shower, we had dinner in the room:

And we went to bed early, because the next day would be busy.

Race day

A great day starts in Ottawa:

I had asked for a wake-up call at 5 am:

After a light breakfast, I got ready:

We left our apartment at 6h20 am and went to the starting place of the marathon. I did some warming up:

I started my race in the purple corral, which was the second to last, just in front of the red corral, where the five-hour bunny was. So, I left a few seconds before that group, a fact that didn't "sink in" until after the race was over...

It was cold in the early morning in Ottawa, the beginning was a bit hard because of that. I started slow, I didn't want to burn too fast. The five-hour people soon caught up with me and I followed them for the rest of the race.

Large crowd of athletes at the beginning of the race:

There was a drone filming us!

Our bunny was a very nice person. Not only did she keep the pace at a very steady 7'03'' per kilometer, but she also gave us advice throughout the race on how to run better and spending less energy. She also offered us gel, water, even Advil...

The mighty Ottawa river:

During the race my wife followed my development via an app in my daughter's cell phone:

I was going to finish in less than five hours!

My wife liked the energy at the water stations:

Talking about water, the one at the hotel was ridiculously expensive:

My kids came all the way from Montreal to see me (well, and to have breakfast with their mother as well, of course):

My daughter got this glimpse of me less than 200 m from the finish line:

My wife was even closer to the finish line and got this picture of me:

And this one as well:

She said she screamed my name, but of course I didn't hear a thing.

I took this picture after crossing the finish line:

My daughter told me that I had missed my sub-5 by twelve seconds! Here are my kids with me, after I finished the race:

The medal is quite impressive:

I got a bad reaction at the end of the race, I thought I would throw up...

We went to the car and started the journey back to Montreal. I was feeling sick during the entire trip. Next time I'll have to have something salty with me during the race.

Here are my splits:

And here is my diploma:

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