We were watching each day to see what the weather was like. Quite warm when the sun was shining - it seemed about 16 C. And actually cool when it was cloudy. But for the race - as long as it wasn't raining it could be tolerable, well at least for the support crew!!
Saturday morning started early with breakfast for the runners and crew at about 630am. At 715am promtly the bus left for the start of the race in Tuscania. The crew, well we had a few more minutes to get the althletes supplies loaded into the car. We had no idea what time the roads would be closed to traffic, so after a recon trip last night in the dark!, we had least had a vague idea where to go!! Thank goodness Shauna and Jack had rented a car, otherwise we would have had no way to get the supplies to each of the aid stations. Well thats not quite true, we could have relied on the organizers to get them there for us - but we weren't going to take any chances.
As we each reached our station where we would spend the next many hours waiting for and supporting our runners, I was surprised to see the only tell tale sign that we were in the right area were two!! porta-potties in place. Most of the rest of the set up, tables, signs, supplies would not arrive until 1-2 hours before we were expecting our first runners. There were many, including myself who were feeling the uncertainty about whether our station would be ready, and feeling extremely grateful that we had brought our own supplies. We, the Canadian team, would be ready for our runners!!!
The day was partly cloudy but when the sun shone - it was very warm. We were concerned for our runners and worked very hard to make sure they had the necessary supplies when they passed or simply ran (Glen!!) through our station. It was a grueling and very difficult race as we could see on the faces of many of the runners. The heat, the cool, and the hills provided with runners with difficult challenges.
As Rick reached our aid station for the first time, which would have been about 41km he looked really good and had a smile for all the support crew. He took what he needed and headed off for the first circuit of the 14km loop, which they would have to do four times. By the second time round he was still smiling and said "I'm feeling pretty good!" He looked good and his time seemed very much at the pace that he had wanted to be.
As he approached us for the third time, with his great smile, I knew then he was having the race of his life. Many other contestants had either dropped out or had dropped back. He was looking good and said he was feeling very good. If he continued on well, he would be to the finish line with perhaps a personal best! As we prepared to leave the station and take the bags to the finish line to have them in place for the runners when they completed their Italian epic journey. I felt very excited for Rick, if he could continue to maintain his pace.... wow!
Thank-you to Paul who stayed to man the station, we made our way to the finish line, bags in tow to await the finishers!
Of course, the finish line was just so exciting! The first place runner was an Italian. The crowd was going wild. So about 6 hours and 40 minutes after the start of the 100km race the finisher crossed the finish line!
But , we were looking for the first Canadian to finish... which would take a little longer.
As we anxiously awaited and continued to look at our watches, we could feel the excitement build!
There he was! And he still looked strong! Rick was crossing the finish line in very fine form. His finishing time was 7 hours 39 minutes 50 seconds.
Not only was he the first Canadian to cross the finish line but he had broken the Canadian Masters Record for the 100km! The previous time had been set in 1997 - 7:50:06!! The Masters are athletes 50 and over. Wow, I was definitely excited and even shed a couple of excited tears! I felt so proud of him!! And he was still walking!!
As each of the athletes completed their Italian 100km journey, we took great pride in our Canadian team that each one of them finished this race, some happy with their times and performances others glad they had been able to cross the finish line!!
Great work team - athletes, support crew and the great management work by Armand, Lise and Nadeem!
1 comment:
Thanks for all the updates Mom, and for keeping us involved in the excitement. I wish I'd been there, but those text messages were some of the most exciting three-liners I've ever had. Great work team Webb, and good job Canada!
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