My first half marathon and I did it ! The race was amazing, with live bands, cheerful support and thousands of runners. The weather was ideal as well for running. Yasser was running his first half as well and was cursing at me half way down the course for persuading him to run. The first 10kms were tough and was thinking of quitting half way thru, but I got the 2nd wind past 11kms and basically ran/walked the rest of the course. A km before the finish line, I pulled my quad muscle but the sight of CN Tower kept me going and I finished the race in about 2:15. Yasser finished about 15 minutes after me and was in a lot of pain. After the race he decided that half marathon is not really his cup of tea. After the race we went home and Nadia had prepared lunch for us. That evening, with all the stiff muscles, I had to go to the airport to pick Nadia’s parents up. All I remember is I slept like a baby that night!
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This is the start of my marathon career. Yasser, Nadia and I traveled all the way to Quebec City for the race. I had originally registered for the half, but chickened out at the expo. The motel we had booked was horrible, so we decided to explore the area in search of another one. Little did we know that the whole of Quebec City was booked in advance. So, we ended up finding a place about an hour’s drive from the city. At around midnight, Yasser asked for the shorts that he told me to bring for him from Toronto. However, I totally forgot to put it in my bag. Since all shops were closed at that time, the only way for him to run the 10K was in his jeans ( and he did just that!). The race was fun…along the river and pretty flat. The 10K distance seemed really long after about 2 kms. I went thru shin splints and breathlessness, but still managed to finish the race in over an hour. Yasser, with absolutely no training finished about 5 minutes after me. We received our finisher’s medal and proudly wore it all over the city. On the long journey back to Kingston & Toronto, we decided that this hobby is there to stay !!!
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AuthorZiyad Rahim is an adventure-runner from Pakistan. He currently holds 10 Guinness World Records in long-distance running, ranging from marathons to ultra-marathons. Race Reports
July 2018
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