On Saturday morning we drove to Kingston with Khalid Noon and Nosheen and had a really nice BBQ at Mama’s place. After spending the night in Kinston, I drove to Ottawa in the wee hours of the morning.  I got to downtown Ottawa at least half an hour before race start. The race started at 7am with over two thousand full marathoners under clear blue skies and moderate temperature. The race route was breathtaking. Running along Rideau Canal was a treat and there were plenty of supporters along the course. In the last few kilometers, the runner traffic increased as most of the half marathoners were also finishing their race. The best part of the race was the medal, probably the biggest and most expensive medal I ever got. Post race party was as usual quite nice with plenty of fluids and food around. I drove back to Kingston after the race and after a few hours rest, headed back to Toronto. So after 6 hours of driving and 5 hours of running, I was back in TO around midnight. After all, I am super human!

It was not the best day for running as it was a typical October day in Toronto…..cold, overcast and wet. The marathon starting point was about 10 minutes walk from our house and I got there well in time for the race start. The problem with running in your home town is that you know how much distance is still left before the race finishes. The initial 21K was a loop around North York and I even passed through my house. Nadia was there cheering me on. The latter part was a run down Yonge Street and all the nicer areas of Toronto. Due to the cold weather and rain, I started cramping up near Davenport. From there on, a walk and run for the next 10k’s ensured I finished the race in about 5 hrs. About 5 kms before the race finish, I saw a guy running his first marathon on his 60th b’day.  He did finish the race about a minute before me!. Nadia was there at the line and since I was late finishing the race, I got two massages instead of one as there was no line ups !!!!

My first marathon in Europe! Nadia, Asim, Shazia and I drove from Glasgow to Inverness the day before the race. We found a B&B just in time as almost all the places were fully booked for the race. I went to collect my race bib but somehow it got misplaced, so they had to issue a new one to me. That evening, we went to a nearby pub for a dinner and had an early night. Asim was doing the 5K run. On race morning, I jogged to the race gathering area as it was a 10 minute walk from the B&B. We were bussed to the race start which was in the middle of nowhere, 26 miles from the city. The race start was very picturesque, with hills on one side and the loch on the other. The initial part of the race was along the loch and mostly downhill. The weather was amazing, cool but sunny (the first time I saw sun since arriving in Glasgow a week earlier). As usual the first 30k’s were fine and then I started to struggle. But with not much at stake, I slowed down, walked a bit and with Nadia running the last 200m with me, I crossed the finish line in under 5 hrs. The festivities after the race were brilliant, with BBQ, post race massage and a very nice medal and T-shirt. We all drove back to Glasgow that evening. A great trip indeed!

This was a great weekend trip. Nadia, Kiren, Saad and couple of Saad’s friends accompanied us for the race. We stayed Friday night in Kingston and drove to Montreal the next morning. We stayed at a nice hotel in Montreal and spent the evening with dinner at a really cool restaurant in the old town. The next morning, I took the metro to Montreal Island for the race start and met up with Joyee Chau. It was a hot day and wearing black shirt didn’t help either. I started cramping up around the 25K mark and struggled to finish the race. The race course was boring, mostly running through the Industrial areas but finishing in downtown. All the friends were there at the finish line to receive me. I even got a good massage in the end. Finally, around 3pm we left Montreal for Toronto. Saad got us there is 4 hrs with some high speed driving!!!!!

This was my first marathon in the home city. My boss, Mickey Dearson was over from London and he decided to run the half.  When I went to the race head quarters to pick up my race kit, I was interviewed by City TV news team. In the evening, it was broadcasted over national television. After picking up Mickey from Royal York Hotel, we proceeded to the race start at  Mel Lastman Square. We barely got in time for the start of the half and the full marathon was 15 minutes later. One mistake I made was not having anything substantial to eat, which came to bite me later on in the race. The race route was a little boring as we circled around the north york area before heading down Yonge Street towards downtown. By the time I reached the half way mark, I was starving and low on sugar. Passing by Yonge Street where most restaurants were serving breakfast made the matters worse for me. I wished I had some money on me ! Luckily, I found Bill Premdas, my squash partner, who was there to support his wife complete her first marathon. Bill advised me that he’ll arrange some power bars and meet up with me at the 30km mark. So, I walked ran for another 5kms thru Forest Hill and found Bill at the corner of Yonge / Rosedale. Those bars gave me the necessary energy to go through the last 10 kms and I finished the race in 4:47. Bill and his wife were at the finish line cheering me on. At last, I finished my first marathon at home. A lesson I learned was to eat properly and carry a lot of power bars with you in order to avoid hitting the wall!

This is my first marathon. We went on a road trip to Eastern Canada and rounded it off with a marathon in Cape Breton Island. The field was quite small and although it was supposed to be around the lake, I didn’t actually see the lake until around the 20th km. Most of the course was boring  with hardly anyone around. I ran pretty fast and finished the race in under 4 hrs (my personal best). After the race, I had to wait for Nadia, Mama & Abu for about 2 hrs as the were too busy exploring the Cabot Trail. Around 3pm, we left Cape Breton Island and drove non stop for 9 hrs to reach Edmonston, NB. Then early following day we drove back to Kingston and then to Toronto. So, a pretty good effort to run a marathon followed by about 15 hrs drive back to Toronto!