Last Saturday was my 37th Birthday. That is impossible to believe. You know you are getting old when people say things like "How old are you? 29? (wink, wink)". If it wasn't obvious that I was over 29, that wouldn't be a joke. Sigh. Oh well, I guess we all get older, if we are lucky!
The week before my birthday was full of preparations for the Max Muscle Vancouver Half Marathon! This is the 2nd year we have put on this event. It was less stressful this year, but still a lot of work!
To make matter worse, we had snow earlier in the week and the forecast for Sunday kept changing. It was supposed to rain, then be clear, then be icy or snow or a mix. Friday and Saturday were FREEZING!
Saturday morning I ran the half marathon route to mark it for Sunday morning's race. It was about 15 degrees and I was really really cold. It was a tough run - my IT band started bugging me around mile 5. This was the last chance I would have to mark the course and that had to be done, so I struggled through.
While out on the route, I saw a woodpecker who started to make noise when I ran by him. I am sure he was singing me happy birthday! Then, I passed a friend of mine. I was on a committee with her this year and am friends on facebook. As she ran past she wished me a happy birthday, which I loved! Without facebook, she would have never known it was my birthday!!
I finished up my run and headed home to clean up. We had packet pick up at our store all day long. It is quite possibly the busiest day of the year for us, with over 100 people coming through the doors to get their stuff for Sunday's run. There are lots of questions, lots to handle. I love meeting all the people who will be participating and getting to know them.
I had several birthday visits during the day. Trish and Doug brought me a cake and a present. Heather and her kids brought me a balloon and a bag of pretzel m&ms!!! YUM!! I had so many birthday wishes, my email and my phone were going nuts all day long!!
After the store closed at 5, we got all the last minute things done so we wouldn't have much to do on Sunday morning. We ordered some take out food, headed home and relaxed.
Trevor gave me the best gift for my bday. When we were looking for another dog, we came across a picture of Buster on the shelter's website. That picture was the reason I fell in love with Buster and the reason why he lives with us now. I have always wished I had a copy of that picture. Trevor tracked it down and got it for me. It was hanging on the wall the night before my birthday. It made me cry because I love that doggie so much.
Sunday morning, we were up around 4 am and out the door by 5. Luckily, there was no snow, no ice and even no rain. It was very cold and windy, but dry. I set up the course while Trevor set up the start/finish line. We were ready by the time people started showing up.
Apparently there was an issue with google maps. It wasn't mapping our address correctly so we got a bunch of phone calls from people who were lost. That's fun. We started on time, well, maybe about 3 minutes late - there was a line at the port-a-potties and I wanted to wait for them!!
The race started and off they went - just under 200 people out to run and walk 13.1 miles!! I love it when the race starts, there is always a little break in the action when things are quiet and calm because everyone is gone!!
The event went off without any issues. It was SO COLD! I cannot believe that over 40 volunteers stood out in that weather all day long. Amazing. We are so fortunate to have such great friends.
As usual,I did the annoucing and Trevor did the running around/damage control. We have a good system.
We were home and asleep on the couch by about 3 pm. Exhausted. What a great way to spend a birthday weekend...
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