Mississauga Marathon - Half and Full Sunday May 13: Mother's Day

My alarm sounds at 4:50 and, again, at 4:53, and yet one more time at 4:55. I finally manage to swing my legs over the side of the bed at 5:10am feeling like I have already walked a half marathon. I had been dreaming all night about getting ready for the start - packing the right food, attaching the timing chip, choosing the right shirt and always moving too slowly to make it to the start. Fortunately, it was all a dream and the day looks glorious, with clear sky and forecasts of temperatures between 6 and 13 degrees. Perfect race conditions.

This will be a treat for the 5,000 participants in the Mississauga Full and Half Marathons and especially the many WoW Power Walkers who are signed up. This year the race organizers decided against an early start for walkers, and in fact, did not even have walker registration or separate results postings. This is a disappointment to walkers who put so much into their training, but it didn't stop lots of us from enjoying a great race course and a beautiful day close to home. We have more than 35 participants entered in the half marathon - many of them walking their first race and four inrepid competitors - Karl, Carleen, Elaine, and Cheryl - walking the full marathon!

All the participants - runners, walkers, half marathoners, and marathoners - start together at 7:30 am at the corner of Highway 10 and Burnhamthorpe. Time corrals have been set up and clearly marked. Port-a-potties are plenty and the line-ups move quickly. I particularly like the inspirational quotes posted in each one - well, I assume they had one in each stall, I didn't check them all!

Settled into the corral for a completion time of 2:25:00, it takes Jeff and I 8 minutes to cross the timing mats at the start after the gun has gone. The road is wide so the large crowd doesn't stop us from finding a good pace at the onset. Although the first 1 to 2 kilometres are not noteworthy for scenery we soon arrive at the the bridge over the Credit Valley River where the scenery becomes green and soothing. Shortly, we are turn down Mississauga Road into a leafy residential area. Most of the race continues like this until we make our way to the lake at kilometre 17. It's a pleasure to be near the cool breeze off the lake, slight as it is. The terrain does get a bit more challenging. Our muscles are starting to feel the fatigue of pushing hard and we must negotiate some uneven asphalt, a walking path and subsequent return to rthe oad, sidewalk and then path again. There is even some concrete sidewalk that must be traverseed. Concrete is always felt more keenly by the feet and joints than asphalt.

Someone ahead of us takes a tumble in one of these transitions from road to sidewalk. Later, at the finish line, we will see a woman take a frightening face plant into the pavement a mere 100 metres from the finish mats.

Volunteers at the water stations are amazing. I am grateful that they are fully stocked and in position every 2 kilomentres along the route so that I do not carry a drink pack with me. All I need to bring along is my small supply of Clif Blok Shots in my shirt pocket.

The course narrows for the final kilometres as we are directed on a lakefront path. It is a lovely setting although open to interference by Sunday picnickers. Fortunately, at this relatively early time there are few casual pedestrians in our way and we enjoy a fast hard push into the finish. We are rewarded as we come into the end with some great compliments for power walking form from the race commentator. It's great to have them recognize the effort it takes to walk the entire race. Now, we just need to get them on board with separate registration and results posting!

Great day! Great course!

Congratulations to the many WoW Power Walkers who showed beautiful form and excellent speed out there on the race course. Special congratulations to first time half marathoners Laura Inman, Peter DeRosa, Patricia Drapeau, Marie MacNeill, and Monette Smith and first-time full marathoner Cheryl Van der Kroon. We know that many of you achieved personal bests today. Check out the website for full results for WoW Power Walkers.

Finally, there were many of us walking in memory of Mike Moran, an excellent power walker and all-round great guy who died this past March on a training walk in preparation for the Mississauga Half Marathon. We all miss you Mike. To Mike's very close group of walking friends in Port Credit, a big hug to all of you.