It was such a crazy busy weekend, I’m having trouble catching up on the blogging of it. The past is slipping away while the future comes slamming into the present and I’m blogging as fast as I can but it’s not fast enough!
Dramatic, eh? Heh heh.
Okay, here’s the weekend in a nutshell:
Friday night I went to a vernissage where I ran into a couple of readers of this blog and they told me of the existence of some new (to me, at least) street art. Today I walked a different route to work so I could see it – pix to follow.
Saturday I went to the Great Glebe Garage Sale. I bought a bunch of stuff (including warmer clothes; I was freezing) and then I met XUP and her daughter for lunch and checked out all the stuff they bought. Our lunch was made by Juno Award winner Drew Nelson.
As I was walking back home along the Canal I ran into Robin from Watawa Life blog, and we stopped and talked. We had both been at that exact same spot earlier in the day (but at different times), doing the exact same thing: taking pictures of geese and goslings and ducks and ducklings. I won’t post my pictures because Robin’s is so much better: if you haven’t already done so, I urge you to go look at his picture. You don’t want to miss this one.
Saturday evening I watched the running of the 10k, which I’ve already blogged.
I managed to convince someone to come watch the Marathon with me on Sunday! It’s not easy to get people to do that, and I understand. It sounds boring, watching people run. But it’s really not. However, I did lure him out there with the promise of all kinds of marathon spectacles that never materialized. I told him he’d probably see a blind person running, and a woman in a burqa, and a soldier with a pack full of rocks, and people so blistered they’d be carrying their shoes, and men with bleeding nipples and people collapsing from exhaustion and clowns juggling fire while running on stilts. These are all things I’ve seen at past marathons.
All in all this year’s was a pretty tame marathon: we did see a man with bleeding nipples, but that was about it. Oh – and we saw a man with a pulled muscle. This is him. He was pretty dramatic about it. And we saw a couple of marathoners chatting on their cell phones. And a Habs fan. One of the front-running female marathoners had taken the time to put her makeup on.
Mostly, though, it was just a sea of runners running followed by a sea of walkers walking.
We timed it perfectly – he picked me up around 8:15 and that gave us just enough time to get there, park, and find the perfect spot at the 37km mark before the first of the elite runners came flying past us.
We were troopers: we stuck around from the very beginning til the very end. We watched the very last weary marathoner limping along, 4km from the finish line 7.5 hours after the marathon began, while a pickup truck tagged along behind him, picking up the pilons.
We even stuck around for awhile after that, because by then it was such a lovely day.
And that pretty much wraps up my weekend. I hope yours was interesting too!
Here are a few random pictures from the Marathon.
Oh! And before I forget, here’s a question for the runners: Do you find any of the spectators annoying? Does it bother you that total strangers are standing on the sidelines and giving you advice like “Stay focused – keep your arms moving and your legs will follow.” Does that get on your nerves? There was a woman standing near us and she kept repeating stuff like that and it was getting on MY nerves.
TAGS:
So I just saw over at Popwatch Canada that a team of 8 recovering addicts from Harvest House ran the marathon. Apparently they were profiled on CBC, and they all finished.
Unrelated to your post, but thought you’d still be interested… There is a very interesting plexiglass case with a bouquet of picked flowers mounted on a hydro pole on the north-west corner of Gladstone and Percy (one east of Bronson). Didn’t see anything indicating who made it or why, but still very cool.
My first marathon was the Kentuky Derby in ’06. It’s normally a half-marathon, with far fewer runners completing the whole marathon. One thing that totally pissed me off was when I was at the 10-mile marker and folks were telling me, “You’re almost there! Only three more to go!!” I wanted to drop kick them, cuz I really was like not even half-way through with the run.
But, overall, I like the spectators. The cheers and “You can do it!” really do help. Then again, I only hear it in passing. I can see how it would be annoying if you’re standing right by somebody and hearing it for a few hours straight.
Oh, my favorite one from the relay marathon I just completed: some guy told me, “Hey, only 5K more to go and then you can go have that baby!!”
Tres Chic, but you forgot to Menton Maureen, the Mounties and the others.
Sin, good for them! I wish I’d known that when they sailed past me.
Alicia, that’s exactly the piece of street art they informed me about, and which I took pictures of yesterday!
Sharon, I did see a pregnant woman running the 10k. Isn’t it hard on the ligaments that support the uterus??
Teiresias, you’re right, I forgot to mention that part. (For everybody else – after the marathon Teiresias & I tiptoed through the tulips and memorized all the tulip varieties: Menton, Maureen, Mounties, Ottawa, Quebec, Calgary, Vancouver, Faust, Tres Chic…..hmmm, there were 16, but that’s all I can remember.)
My husband ran the 10K and said he hated the people giving him advice and encouragement from the sidelines. This year, their first names were printed under their numbers, which made it extra annoying because strangers could personalize their comments – “You are almost there, Joe! Don’t give up!” as the finish line is in sight.
But then, he is a dark and cynical person.
You also forgot my unfortunate restaurant karma
We are recent transplants from Vancouver and I’ve been reading and enjoying your blog for a few months and getting reacquainted with Ottawa through some of your posts.
It is your recent post on the Ottawa Marathon that’s prompted me to post. I did the marathon walk on Sunday (42.2 aching, gruelling, thirsty kilometers in 6hrs:24min,57secs) and I loved it when people cheered and yes, even used my name. It rather surprised me to hear my name called from total strangers but it was cheering! It was rather deserted in some places by the time we walkers made it so I really appreciated people like you who stayed and cheered until the end. Thanks!
Personally, I like words of encouragement and/or the shouting of my name, but I don’t really appreciate criticism disguised as encouragement (such as the one you highlighted).
The other thing I don’t like is when people say something like “there’s only 5K left”. We know. Running can be hard. The last 5K of a marathon seems like an eternity.
I spotted a couple of humorous signs that I really enjoyed, such as “You Paid To Do This!” and “The End is Near” (despite my previous comment, I thought this one was great!).
Many thanks to the runners for weighing in on this. I myself am a quiet cheerleader: I clap, make eye contact, and smile at the runners. My whole heart goes into those three things, and I have no urge at all to tell them how to run. I know runners mostly appreciate the support spectators can give, but I was just curious whether spectators can cross the line by being too ‘instructive.’
Beverley, thank you for delurking and introducing yourself! I’m very impressed that you completed the marathon.
QLC – the woman who was annoying me kept telling all the runners that there were only 4k left and it was all flat. I was pretty sure the runners all knew that, but thank you for confirming it. I didn’t see the signs, but you’re right, those are great.
XUP – you should write a post about your bad restaurant karma, right after your worst sex post.
Hmm, depends on my mood while I’m running. Even if I’m DYING out there, sometimes I’m still in a good mood and able to take encouragement, even if it’s annoying, but other times I want to shake them and tell them they have NO IDEA HOW HARD THIS IS SO SHUT UP! But I don’t. I just glare. And keep running.
And if I’ve trained well, nothing can get me down in the middle of a race!! It’s a great feeling.
Thanks for writing, I very much liked your newest post. I think you should post more frequently, you evidently have natural ability for blogging!