Serenelli's Regina Marathon 2002 - Saskatchewan, Canada

Serenelli's Regina Marathon - September 22, 2002 Sound track: Beethoven, Violin Concerto in D Op.61, 3rd Movement
Fresh Regina News... Boston Marathon is on my way for 2003 !!! Again Regina was the home of my new PB (personal best)... this time 3 hours, 19 minutes and 13 seconds (for day results click here)... and for 47 seconds I am in my age category to be accepted for the 2003 Boston Marathon... an opportunity not to be missed. :-) Now lets start with the events of the weekend... The "Gang" was split... some did Regina, and some did the Elk Ridge Run. On Saturday we had to pickup our race package at the Running Room store in downtown Regina. Their organization of the event is very good and it is incredible how the event has grown with only two editions. I met up with the Wilsons, hungry for medals ;-) and followed the classical advise that you need a proper dinner the night before a race. We found a great restaurant next door to the Running Room store: Viet Thai... and was really good. David is still trying to learn to deal with the noodles... They keep eating and eating, where do they hide all that food ??? ;-) Then we needed a walk and we went to the Wascana Park. In the background you see the Regina Center of the Arts. Prince Albert will soon have a miniature of such a facility... we will have to see what kind of quality of performances we will get. I could not pass on the opportunity and had to go for a Regina Symphony Orchestra performance. The night was dedicated to the Queen's Golden Jubilee... they played authors new to me, William Walton, Max Bruch and Ralph Vaughan Williams. Over two hours of well worth program. Classic music is definitively the music that has the ability to transport me to another level of pleasure and relaxation. After the concert I was ready to crash... my usual spot in the camper van at the start line... The morning of a marathon sees always the same routines... Line up to pickup the chip to time your race... And line up for a toilette. This time, with just under 1,000 participants at the start line, the waits were long. This year they also had relay teams of 3 or 5 people and this brought the total of the participants around 1,500. At the start line I met Jenn practicing her winning pose... she could have got away with it had she hidden her gloves. As usual, in Regina this time of the year, it was a cool morning. She finished her race with me with the absolutely same time as provided by the scientific chip... and preserved her title of first woman at the Regina Marathon for the second year in a row. I had to accept a 22nd male position... Jenn you are going to kill me keeping going at that pace... and pulling me along by the neck ;-) Well Jenn, you asked for it... get packing girl. We are off to Boston in April 2003. I was caught in my Yoga stretching before the race... I still remember a few positions, even if I have stopped over the summer. Next week the classes are back again. I know that when I run, one thing that I have learned in my Yoga classes comes back in my mind very often... "live the moment"... and forget everything else... and it works. I did not look at my stop watch and was so surprised, when just passed the 40th km, an official clock on the track was displaying 3 hours, 11 min and some seconds... and Jenn was shouting "we are in for Boston"... the rest is history. We did not see Paulette until Km 15... she is always on the rush... and she truly believes the everyone else she knows is well ahead of her. As usual we had to sweat 7 shirts to catch up with her and clear this point to her. She wanted to get a medal at the end without having to do the full work of the 42 km... so Regina offering medals for the half marathon runners was too appealing to her... ;-) But, as this pose shows, she is trying out the feel of having a full marathon time... and a 3:44... fits her quite nicely. Don't you worry Paulette, eventually you will give in and go for the full length !!! ;-) Paulette with a time of 1:51 for 21 km cut down another 2 min from her last PB... David is posing along with Jenn and Stephen for the medal display... It just felt like Christmas, we all got a metal. Note David little medal for his 4.2 km. He made it right in the middle of the pack with a time of 25 min and 54 sec... he is now thinking that running is not that bad after all. Christmas was not over yet, as we had to collect the "finishers shirt". That was the only mistake of the organization: "White Finisher Shirts". I do represent the lobby group USMLC (united single males laundry challenged) and we lobby for the ban of all white shirts that render our lives so frustrating (try to keep one of those demon things spotless) and we promote the use of coloured t-shirts ;-) Before you ask, Roy only qualifies as single... he is the envy of many ladies with his laundry skills... to pick an example, he can do laundry on the Grey Owl trail or wrap up a broken ankle with the same string... certain abilities are born within and can't be learned ;-) As usual the best comes at the end... FOOD... Instead of pizza that is so hard to keep hot and its terrible when not warm... they had REAL Italian Focaccia. Focaccia is a sort of compromise between bread and pizza that is good at any temperature and also comes in many flavours. The number and quality of the volunteers was great... I definitively would recommend that you mark on your calendar this event for next year. I have to say that to date Regina is also the best marathon course I have been on. Mostly in parks and with a nice winding trail that takes your mind of the usual monotony of straight ways. I must conclude this story with a close up of focaccia... for you and me to remember... Well, fortunately I will be in Italy in November... :-) Happy running/eating to all. Click here to email your comments

Serenelli's Regina Marathon - September 22, 2002
Sound track: Beethoven, Violin Concerto in D Op.61, 3rd Movement

Fresh Regina News... Boston Marathon is on my way for 2003 !!!
Again Regina was the home of my new PB (personal best)... this time 3 hours, 19 minutes and 13 seconds (for day results click here)... and for 47 seconds I am in my age category to be accepted for the 2003 Boston Marathon... an opportunity not to be missed. :-)
Now lets start with the events of the weekend... The "Gang" was split... some did Regina, and some did the Elk Ridge Run.

On Saturday we had to pickup our race package at the Running Room store in downtown Regina. Their organization of the event is very good and it is incredible how the event has grown with only two editions.

I met up with the Wilsons, hungry for medals ;-)
and followed the classical advise that you need a proper dinner the night before a race. We found a great restaurant next door to the Running Room store: Viet Thai... and was really good.
David is still trying to learn to deal with the noodles... They keep eating and eating, where do they hide all that food ??? ;-)

Then we needed a walk and we went to the Wascana Park.
In the background you see the Regina Center of the Arts. Prince Albert will soon have a miniature of such a facility... we will have to see what kind of quality of performances we will get.

I could not pass on the opportunity and had to go for a Regina Symphony Orchestra performance. The night was dedicated to the Queen's Golden Jubilee... they played authors new to me, William Walton, Max Bruch and Ralph Vaughan Williams. Over two hours of well worth program. Classic music is definitively the music that has the ability to transport me to another level of pleasure and relaxation. After the concert I was ready to crash... my usual spot in the camper van at the start line...

The morning of a marathon sees always the same routines...
Line up to pickup the chip to time your race...
And line up for a toilette.

This time, with just under 1,000 participants at the start line, the waits were long.
This year they also had relay teams of 3 or 5 people and this brought the total of the participants around 1,500.

At the start line I met Jenn practicing her winning pose... she could have got away with it had she hidden her gloves. As usual, in Regina this time of the year, it was a cool morning.
She finished her race with me with the absolutely same time as provided by the scientific chip... and preserved her title of first woman at the Regina Marathon for the second year in a row. I had to accept a 22nd male position...
Jenn you are going to kill me keeping going at that pace... and pulling me along by the neck ;-)
Well Jenn, you asked for it... get packing girl. We are off to Boston in April 2003.

I was caught in my Yoga stretching before the race... I still remember a few positions, even if I have stopped over the summer. Next week the classes are back again.
I know that when I run, one thing that I have learned in my Yoga classes comes back in my mind very often... "live the moment"... and forget everything else... and it works.
I did not look at my stop watch and was so surprised, when just passed the 40th km, an official clock on the track was displaying 3 hours, 11 min and some seconds... and Jenn was shouting "we are in for Boston"... the rest is history.

We did not see Paulette until Km 15... she is always on the rush... and she truly believes the everyone else she knows is well ahead of her. As usual we had to sweat 7 shirts to catch up with her and clear this point to her.
She wanted to get a medal at the end without having to do the full work of the 42 km... so Regina offering medals for the half marathon runners was too appealing to her... ;-)
But, as this pose shows, she is trying out the feel of having a full marathon time... and a 3:44... fits her quite nicely. Don't you worry Paulette, eventually you will give in and go for the full length !!! ;-)
Paulette with a time of 1:51 for 21 km cut down another 2 min from her last PB...

David is posing along with Jenn and Stephen for the medal display...
It just felt like Christmas, we all got a metal. Note David little medal for his 4.2 km. He made it right in the middle of the pack with a time of 25 min and 54 sec... he is now thinking that running is not that bad after all.

Christmas was not over yet, as we had to collect the "finishers shirt".
That was the only mistake of the organization: "White Finisher Shirts".
I do represent the lobby group USMLC (united single males laundry challenged) and we lobby for the ban of all white shirts that render our lives so frustrating (try to keep one of those demon things spotless) and we promote the use of coloured t-shirts ;-)
Before you ask, Roy only qualifies as single... he is the envy of many ladies with his laundry skills... to pick an example, he can do laundry on the Grey Owl trail or wrap up a broken ankle with the same string... certain abilities are born within and can't be learned ;-)

As usual the best comes at the end... FOOD...
Instead of pizza that is so hard to keep hot and its terrible when not warm... they had REAL Italian Focaccia.
Focaccia is a sort of compromise between bread and pizza that is good at any temperature and also comes in many flavours.
The number and quality of the volunteers was great... I definitively would recommend that you mark on your calendar this event for next year.

I have to say that to date Regina is also the best marathon course I have been on. Mostly in parks and with a nice winding trail that takes your mind of the usual monotony of straight ways.
I must conclude this story with a close up of focaccia... for you and me to remember...
Well, fortunately I will be in Italy in November... :-)
Happy running/eating to all.

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