Bay of Fundy ½ marathon
I had this race on the schedule since last fall. My sisters
ran it last year and gave it rave reviews. The uniqueness of the event (starts
in Canada and ends in the USA) and the remote location offered a chance to relax
for a few days after Mt Washington.
I scouted out the course on Friday while visiting the
lighthouse on the very end of the island. The 800’ of climb/descent doesn’t
sound like much in a half-marathon. Heck, that is about 1 mile in Mt
Washington! Looking at the 800’ was another story. You would be either
climbing or descending constantly. Most of the hills were 30’ to 50’ but it
just seemed endless. My enthusiasm for the race was low and my focus has really
been on the upcoming Mountain running national championships at Loon Mountain.
The logistics of the race also made it hard to get properly ready as you needed
to board a bus nearly 2 hours before the start and then sit at the starting line
with nothing but your race gear. I understood this going in so it wasn’t a
surprise just a bit more of a challenge.
I headed out for a 2 mile warm-up and felt tired already. It
was sunny and warm (upper 6’s at 730am) and although it’d be “cool” for a June
day, it was warm for a half-marathon with little shade. The race was marked in
kilometers which made the math (for me) a bit easier. Worst case I wanted to
run 4:00 k’s or a bit over 1:24 for the 21.1 kilometers. I thought 1:22 – 1:25
would be do-able but really had no idea. My lack of long runs might catch up to
me on this day. I didn’t see many others warming up, which typically means
there wouldn’t be a lot of competition. I kind of hoped that would be the
case. My socks seemed to get a lot of attention. I was wearing high socks, one
with a USA flag and the other with the Canadian.
After a rendition of both countries National Anthem we were
sent on our way. I went to the front and about 200m in a guy went sprinting
by. He hammered the first downhill, but came back on the uphill. For the first
kilometer I stayed close as he buried me on any down and I caught back up on the
climbs. I checked my watch at the kilometer and was 3:58. That was right in
the ballpark of what I wanted. The next few kilometers were very rolling and
the guy (John Cullen, Rumford RI) slowly pulled away. I felt like the pace was
where I wanted it to be and figured if he could run that much faster there
wasn’t anything I could do.
I hit the 5k turn in 20:10 and was 32 seconds behind the
leader. It was nice getting cheers from the pack as they headed out toward the
turn. My brother-in-law, John, gave me a cheer and we slapped “high 5’s” as we
passed. My sisters (Denise and Rose also decked out in matching Canada/USA
socks) looked to be having fun, shooting selfies and taking video as they went.
I started feeling a lot better as a few more kilometers passed and then at 8k (5
miles) it looked like the leader was coming back. I checked my watch and had
cut his lead down to 15 seconds. I kept my pace steady and by the 10k mark I
had the lead! I didn’t up the tempo, I just kept doing what I was doing (and
hoped he’d fall back). After a minute or two I didn’t hear him behind me.
Robert Ashby flew by on his way to the turn (and a win in the marathon) and he
shouted across the road “Dave Dunham, what are you doing here?!” I just gave
him a wave and kept rolling along.
From that point on it was really just a matter of not blowing
up. I’d check each Kilometer split and tell myself “he has to run faster than
that to catch me, I’m not going to slow”. It got warm out there 75 degrees but
they had plenty of water, 8 stops during the ½ marathon. I took advantage and
took a sip at every stop and doused my head. I was pretty sure I could win the
race but did worry about blowing up. I’m certainly lacking in the long runs but
6 weeks at 80 miles should be enough to get through a half. At least that’s
what I kept telling myself.
With 1,500 meters to go the last climb over the bridge into
the USA loomed. I crossed the mat in Canada and got a shout of encouragement
from the Canadian border guards, then climbed the bridge which seemed steeper
than any hill on the course. After that it was a short downhill to the U.S.
border and a turn down the final stretch. I was a bit surprised to see the
clock still in the 1:22’s, I knew I was on sub 1:24 pace but had really picked
it up from the first 5k on. I ended up taking the win in 1:22:23 a full 1:22
ahead of 2nd place and 11 minutes up on third place. John came in a
little over 2 hours (which was his goal) and had to be the first finisher in
cargo pants! Denise and Rose came through looking none worse for the 13+
miles. This was definitely a fun event, maybe the marathon next year? J
1 1:22:23 Dave Dunham Bradford, MA M
1/20 M5059
2 1:24:45 John Cullen Rumford, RI
M 1/9 M2029
3 1:33:42 Sean Eaton-Robb Columbia, CT M
1/2 M0119
4 1:34:57 Peter Williams Lubec, ME
M 1/15 M3039
5 1:36:11 Mike Greer Quispamsis, NB M
2/15 M3039
269 finishers, 20 50-59
|
Half-mile
|
Splits
|
Kilometer
|
Splits
| |||
|
3:06
|
03:59
|
3:59
| ||||
|
1m
|
3:21
|
08:17
|
4:18
| |||
|
3:08
|
12:28
|
4:11
| ||||
|
2m
|
3:19
|
16:17
|
3:49
| |||
|
3:04
|
5k
|
0:20:10
|
20:10
|
3:53
| ||
|
3m
|
3:06
|
24:09
|
3:59
| |||
|
3:11
|
28:10
|
4:01
| ||||
|
4m
|
3:15
|
31:48
|
3:38
| |||
|
3:16
|
35:34
|
3:46
| ||||
|
5m
|
2:54
|
10k
|
0:19:19
|
39:29
|
3:55
| |
|
3:08
|
43:41
|
4:12
| ||||
|
6m
|
3:12
|
47:29
|
3:48
| |||
|
3:03
|
51:24
|
3:55
| ||||
|
7m
|
3:12
|
55:13
|
3:49
| |||
|
3:03
|
15k
|
0:19:36
|
59:05
|
3:52
| ||
|
8m
|
3:13
|
1:02:46
|
3:41
| |||
|
3:04
|
1:06:21
|
3:35
| ||||
|
9m
|
3:12
|
1:10:35
|
4:14
| |||
|
3:06
|
1:14:19
|
3:44
| ||||
|
10m
|
2:57
|
20k
|
0:19:11
|
1:18:16
|
3:57
| |
|
2:57
|
(1.1km)
|
1:22:23
|
4:07
| |||
|
11m
|
3:21
|
|||||
|
2:57
|
||||||
|
12m
|
3:06
|
|||||
|
3:13
|
||||||
|
13m
|
3:03
|
|||||
|
0:56
|
||||||
|
1:22:23
|
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