This Sunday, I ran the Dempster’s Global Energy Race (GER) for the third year in a row and as always, I had so much fun, and managed to run a GER 10k PB!
My race plan
I went into it planning to run it as comfortably hard a pace that I thought I could maintain for 10k. I don’t enjoy that feeling of my heart feeling like it’s going to explode, and my focus is training for the Detroit Marathon and Istanbul Marathon so my plan was to run it fast but not so fast that I felt too awful. I knew going into the race that I’d have run 29k on Friday as per my marathon training schedule, and my legs would be tired (and they were). So the plan was always to run it with some effort, but not full out. This race is so family-friendly and chilled out, I was really more keen on just having a fun morning with my friends there and running a decent time.
Hello, race day!
The route, from memory, was slightly different this year; they shortened the part of the route in the “peanut” (I used to run in the Beaches and this is what the curvy path in Ashbridges Bay was nicknamed thanks to the shape of the route if looking at it from above) and instead they extended the route going out east and back along the path and boardwalk to the start/finish line. As for the weather, would you believe I didn’t check the temp? That’s how relaxed I was about this race. It was overcast and probably in the high 20s if you factored in the humidity (I didn’t check the weather in the morning but in the late afternoon, it was 32C with the humidity) and we had some drizzle for maybe 10 minutes of the race, which was a nice cool relief from the heat.
What was my finish time?
I did not run a 10k PB, but I wasn’t aiming for one as I mentioned above. I’m realistic. I know I’m not as fit as I was in 2015 (which remains my 10k PB). My focus is my two fall marathons. While I didn’t reach the goal I had in mind (which was a sub-50 min) but I did finish 9 seconds faster than last year, even with the warmer conditions. (As an aside, I don’t think I can even really ever factor in my 2017 GER race as that day was ridiculously hot and humid on top of the fact, I was extremely under the weather with a cold.)
Even with what I consider a modest time of 50:10, that time ranks me 14th women to finish out of 263, and 61st out of 528 runners in the 10k race. And I’m happy enough with that.
The Global Energy Race is perhaps one of the best stocked in terms of food: hot dogs, burgers, apples, oranges, coffee, ice cream, chips, granola bars. I devoured a Klondike ice cream cone and drank some coffee as we watched the race winners hit the stage (congrats Brittany Moran!) and the 3k race start. If you’ve got kids, the 3k race is a great race in which you can run or walk together, plus there are loads of lawn games to entertain the kiddos pre- and post-race.
After the race, my friends and I went straight to brunch to celebrate our morning well spent: we’d run 10k and in the process, helped in a great cause: for every kilometre completed, Dempster’s will be donating two slices of bread to the North York Harvest Food Bank.
Thank you Dempster’s for the opportunity to help promote this race and cause (I did partner with Dempster’s on this sponsored blog post promoting the race ICYMI). The race has become an annual tradition I look forward to!
Now, back to marathon training, it’s peak training week!
September 24, 2019
One of my favourite local races? The Global Energy Race by Dempster’s 10k. It’s in its fourth year and I’ve run it the past two years, in 2017 and 2018. Why do I love it?
- It’s a smaller, friendly race. A great vibe and fun atmosphere and it’s not intimidating for newer runners! More about having fun as a community than racing to get that PB.
- There’s a 3K run/walk that the whole family can take part in!
- For every kilometre run, two slices of bread will be donated to the North York Harvest Food Bank—15,500 slices were donated last year!
- It’s the Beaches starting in Ashbridges Bay, so you have views of Lake Ontario for your run.
- There’s always great food post-race!
I’ll be there with a few friends and I hope you’ll join in, too! Register now to take part in helping a good cause. Also, be sure to use the code RUNWITHKAREN for $10 off of your registration! Hurry, there are limited spots left in the race!
#GER2019 #RUNWITHUS.
(sponsored)
September 5, 2019
On Sunday, I ran the Dempster’s Global Energy Race for the second year. (Disclosure: I partnered with them to promo the race; this recap is for my personal running journal hereon the ol’ blog!).
So, how’d my race go? Well, it was a little disappointing; while I know I’m not in shape for a 10k PB (my training focus is endurance since I have the Chicago Marathon coming up next weekend—did I mention I’m anxious about it? And that I learned and gained a few things this training cycle?), I was hoping for a better time than the Ultra Night Run a few weeks ago.
Although the weather was not nearly as hot as last year’s Global Energy Race, while I was happy to see the temperature was 10 Celsius when I got up that morning, by the time the 10k started at 10:30, it had warmed up a ton. I knew that the fact that I was waiting for the race to start wearing my shorts and a tank and that I was perfectly comfortable meant the race would be a hot one. I should’ve run in only a sports bra on top, but at that point, I didn’t have time to go leave it in the car. Oh, and I also wore the wrong cap! I grabbed my stuff together quickly and this new cap, I didn’t realize it’s not a lightweight one for working out, but rather a heavier fashion-type cap. As evidenced here, it’s soaked in sweat! I spent much of the race thinking, “Don’t think about this heavy, running-inappropriate hat on your head in the hot sun!”
Pretty much as soon as I started the race, I could feel that my legs were tired, not fresh and rested. I’d planned to run it as a tempo, and I found my focus drifting off several times and sure enough, I’d glance at my pace, and I’d be a good 30 seconds slower than I intended to be, and I regularly shifted back to that pace on and off throughout the first 8k.
Then at 8k, after shifting places with one guy a few times through the race, I was fed up with being slower than him (because to be frank, he didn’t look like a runner…) and I picked up my pace for the last 2k. And then I sprinted to the finish. Or what I thought was the finish! I slowed after crossing the first blue mats…only to realize there were more mats ahead (I’m usually pretty conscious of making it over all the timing mats before slowing down — why are there so many, does anyone know? — but as I said, my focus was off that morning).
I ran a 50:19, much slower than my fastest 10k from several years ago. Still, I placed 3rd in my age group out of 34 women; 17th out of 156 women; and 66th overall out of 318 participants. That’s alright. I wanted to finish in the top 10 women based on my 2017 GER finish, but ah well. Next year!
After the race, there was a ton of food: burgers, hot dogs, french toast, hummus, egg and cheese breakfast sandwiches, ice cream (which we’ve got very happily in hand in the pic above, first race I’ve been to with ice cream avail!). And a swag bag including a towel, socks, Sanissimo crackers (which I’m addicted to), and a bag of Takis (think spicy corn chips sorta like Doritos but rolled up). And there’s the cute mascot, Bimbo, who was dancing and posed with so many of us runners after the race.
So GER post-race is great. As is of course the grand prize of a trip to Madrid that went to the top male and female 10k finishers (congrats Robert and Melissa!). And the fact that a food donation is made to a local food bank!
I do wish the race would start earlier. 10:30 is a late race start, which would be fine if the weather weren’t warm, but having the 3k start and finish earlier and us 10k runners racing in warmer temps isn’t ideal. Another improvement? Race kit pickup. It was only held on Saturday so I made the trek to the Beaches to get the kits for me and my friends (and got there just as they were about to close up at 4 p.m., and there were a few other people who scrambled in after me — clearly, more race kit pickup hours would be better for some of us!). The alternative was picking it up at the race but it closed at 9 a.m., and our race was only at 10:30.
All and all, a fun race, and I’d recommend this as a fun, small race to add to your race roster. Maybe I’ll see you there next year, I’m determined to finish with a better standing!
September 27, 2018
