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You'd think after a running career spanning 48 years, including maybe forty or fifty ultras (not that I’m counting), I would have learnt a few things about running. Maybe even enough to avoid some of those “running 101” novice errors we all know about. Apparently not, as I discovered in last weekend’s Scorched Sole 50k trail race in the Okanagan.

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With race packet pick-up I got a survey form to complete and one of the questions was "would you run the Edge to Edge again?"...I read this after getting back from driving the route on Saturday...and now know the full extent of the challenge ahead....unfortunately 'Not on your nelly/I must be insane/Again?! I don't even want to do it the first time!' were not any of the response options provided so I decided to leave the survey until later. The Edge to Edge race website says you should run this race because it: “offers a unique opportunity to accomplish your running goals in a world renowned location, well-known for the natural beauty it possesses. You will enjoy a "perfectly" natural route as it follows an undulating course through the Pacific Rim National Park Reserve, finishing in the small village of Ucluelet. The distance between the two villages is the perfect marathon distance surrounded by old growth forests and crashing ocean waves”. La, la, la...doesn't it sound lovely? But here are the real reasons:

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oh god, that hurt .. i'm never doing another marathon again!  Geez, who wants to go through that much pain!  I really don't think I'm made to run a marathon .. Oh cripes, that hurts .. ow ow ow!!!!"

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The story begins almost a year ago, in June 2007. I was talked into running Okanagan International Marathon by Angela. Well, I have been a runner for forty-plus years and it's about time to add the marathon distance into my resume. With the early bird registration in place, there was just enough time to start the training plan. I referenced the plans by Hal Higdon, with modifications to fit my current training pattern and the club track workouts on Thursdays.

Fast forward to October in Kelowna. I made a deal with my dear wife that if she comes to one of my races, I will join her to one of her cruise trips which she loves but I find myself bored to death. So the trip turned out to be a family outing, with my children excited to support me on my first marathon. Somehow, I thought Kelowna was a three-hour drive away, and we arrived fifteen minutes after the official closing time of the package pick-up. As the race organizers were still there, I managed to collect my race package, but they ran out of my size for the t-shirt. Darn, missing out a t-shirt for my first marathon! I was able to get one from the Running Room after a few e-mail correspondences. Saturday night passed with pre-race anxiety and we made our way to the race start. My wife chose to sleep-in at the hotel and we would pick her up after the race - she won the trick this time.

It's the same old mistake, going out too fast but I was able to settle in after the 2k mark.

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