Running Mania

I'm happy the race is still ago, but hope all will be well. The 30 minute delay tonight for the 10k might not make a big temperature difference, but they will give an extra half hour after the 5K which could make a big difference for medical staff and volunteers who might be dealing with heat issues after that race. Stay safe all!

scrumhalfgirl wrote:I'm happy the race is still ago, but hope all will be well. The 30 minute delay tonight for the 10k might not make a big temperature difference, but they will give an extra half hour after the 5K which could make a big difference for medical staff and volunteers who might be dealing with heat issues after that race. Stay safe all!

Yep, saw at least one 5k'er need medical assistance after finishing between the 25-27min mark at the finish line ?

Watching the 10k on Rogers. Hope the rain is providing some relief! It's really pouring


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wow ... sun is shining here and the heat is brutal ...
rain would be better

wow did NOT expect that finish ...

I only saw one person getting assistance on the course for the 10K, and hopefully everyone made it through okay.

Yeah, it poured rain at the start and it was actually a nice cool rain so that definitely helped for the first 2-3 KMs. After that though, I found that it got really sticky, really quickly. Once the rain stopped and the heat picked up again, the air got very heavy. I'm not sure if I've ever sweated that much before while running. Big shout out to the folks who brought the hoses out. For me at least, it really helped. It was the difference between being able to keep running (albeit at a reduced pace and still very hot) and likely having to slow WAY down. I found the last 3-4K to be very tough slugging.

Best of luck to the folks running tomorrow and be safe!

We handed out about 300 freezies last night in 15 minutes or so and another 200 today in a similar time period. I wish I could have had one for everyone!

This morning was not nearly as bad as I was expecting but still quite warm - it actually varied a lot along the course, depending on the cloud cover and wind. When we went back out to cheer around 11:45 (so, 4h45 for the marathon and 3h30 for the half) it was very hot and I felt for those folks.

Hopefully, there was not too much of a convergence between the speedy 3 hour or so marathoners and the lead pack of the half marathoners at Sussex, and last 3K along the canal, due to the earlier start time for the half marathon start time ... Hopefully, the Race Organizers will keep this as an earlier start in the future, knowing that ORW is usually likely to be a hot/humid one ??

One thing that surprised us was the lack of Nuun and limited water at the first couple of water stations. Glad it was improved after that. It was scary to think that every station would be almost out by the time people in the back of the pack got to it. I carry my own (I use Tailwind) so it was not an issue for me but people who wanted to use it were getting freaked when it happened twice in a row. Also no gels near the end.

Saw a few people down on the course but not too many. One down hard on the bridge coming out of Hull.

Overall though the support by the people of Ottawa was amazing this year!

Didn't realize till I got home that the marathon route had been shortened for those in the back.

HCcD wrote:Hopefully, there was not too much of a convergence between the speedy 3 hour or so marathoners and the lead pack of the half marathoners at Sussex, and last 3K along the canal, due to the earlier start time for the half marathon start time ... Hopefully, the Race Organizers will keep this as an earlier start in the future, knowing that ORW is usually likely to be a hot/humid one ??

The lead half marathoners had to fight though us slow pokes in Hull. I didn't realize they were HMers at first and was really confused about how people had suddenly gone sub-4 per km. Lol.

Race Weekend always makes me proud of the city. The level of community support is incredible. Perhaps John Tory should come to visit to see what real cities do to make themselves big. The city embraces the marathon. The hoses, sprinklers, freezie stations, water bottles, extra water stations, misting stations, sponges and overall support made me as a runner feel totally supported. Throw in the official support of medics and tons of volunteers and it is just stunning. Don't know how many people were cheering the marathon but it felt big. It was a team effort that got runners to the finish line.
As the 4 hour pacer, the first merge in Gatineau wasn't too bad--am thinking we were with the 1:45 half marathoners. Alexandria Bridge was more crowded than usual but doable. The second merge was with the 230-245 half marathoners. I stuck to the left and was mostly fine, but the half marathoners seem to spread out on the final stretch on Queen Elizabeth and they tended to walk several wide. Probably a way to open up Colonel By a little wider by moving spectators off the medians and having the 40k timing mat go over two lanes.
It was obviously a hot day for running and although ok for running in the first two hours of the marathon, it was clear that temperatures were going to rise. I could really feel it around 35 k and the freezies at the Stanley Park water station were awesome. By the time I reached 40k they had up the heat level to black. It was clearly a day to take whatever goal you had and add 10-15 minutes to be safe. I think most people did that. That being said, there were a lot of people who struggled---including a number of pacers. As pacer organizer I had offered to pacers the chance to adjust their pace times (and signs) the day before the race---some did but clearly more should have. Every race is a balance between training, goals, and weather and finding the right mix is critical to the best finish possible given the circumstances.
Congrats to everyone who ran in Ottawa on the weekend and kudos to the organizers and to the city for doing a Race Weekend that is truly loved.

Great job organizing the pace bunnies again this year Mark.

Pat29 wrote:Great job organizing the pace bunnies again this year Mark.

Indeed! I wondered how they were going to handle the change in conditions!

I was in that 1:45ish group and I didn't find any of the merges terrible - though it was tricky to pace because we were passing a lot of people over that bridge! I think we would have been mixed in with the 3 hour marathoners to finish and I think it was likely harder on them.

Re the course shortening - Looking at the course, I think that it was more that the race organizers just instituted a cut off at the Art Gallery turn-off, in keeping with the race's regular 7 hour time limit. Does anyone know how they normally handle the time cut offs?

I was with the 3:25 marathon bunny and we met up with a huge crowd of half runners when the courses merged downtown. I spent most of the run down Colonel By on trying to get through the crowds to maintain my pace. No complaints though. It was a tough situation and the organizers did what they had to in order to make it safe for as many runners as possible.

HCcD wrote:Hopefully, there was not too much of a convergence between the speedy 3 hour or so marathoners and the lead pack of the half marathoners at Sussex, and last 3K along the canal, due to the earlier start time for the half marathon start time ... Hopefully, the Race Organizers will keep this as an earlier start in the future, knowing that ORW is usually likely to be a hot/humid one ??

It was crazy when me met at eddy, a lot of the faster half marathoners where plowing there way though we kept to the side. When we merged again at hotel de ville it wasn't so bad as it already thinned out.

newbie wrote:

HCcD wrote:Hopefully, there was not too much of a convergence between the speedy 3 hour or so marathoners and the lead pack of the half marathoners at Sussex, and last 3K along the canal, due to the earlier start time for the half marathon start time ... Hopefully, the Race Organizers will keep this as an earlier start in the future, knowing that ORW is usually likely to be a hot/humid one ??

It was crazy when me met at eddy, a lot of the faster half marathoners where plowing there way though we kept to the side. When we merged again at hotel de ville it wasn't so bad as it already thinned out.

It would be good to encourage a left lane/side for marathoner and right lane/side for half marathoners during the various merges to keep the flows separate. For me the worst was the final stretch on QE Drive as the half marathoners at 230 pacer seemed to spread out more than on Colonel By, and there was a lot of walking going on so it was a bit of slalom course finish.

Kudos for the Race Organizers in making a number of decisions to reduce the number of potential issues that may have resulted due to the expected heat and humidity during the ORW Race Weekend .. Moving back the 10K on Saturday by 30 minutes and moving up the start of the half marathon from 9:00am to a 8:15am start time .. definitely made a big difference ... Also, lost is their decision to alter / shorten the marathon course at 11:00am by about 10K for those who were expected to finish beyond the 6-7hr mark .. They all were able to cross the finish line and receive a medal but Sportstats apparently have them listed at the end of the results ?? It was a bit confusing, as these runners ended up with a faster finish time than those who completed the entire 42.2K marathon coure ... I assume their determination for those runners not having a 30K and 35K split time??

http://www.runottawa.ca/news-item/heat-forces-shorter-race-runners-scotiabank-ottawa-marathon

HCcD wrote:Kudos for the Race Organizers in making a number of decisions to reduce the number of potential issues that may have resulted due to the expected heat and humidity during the ORW Race Weekend .. Moving back the 10K on Saturday by 30 minutes and moving up the start of the half marathon from 9:00am to a 8:15am start time .. definitely made a big difference ... Also, lost is their decision to alter / shorten the marathon course at 11:00am by about 10K for those who were expected to finish beyond the 6-7hr mark .. They all were able to cross the finish line and receive a medal but Sportstats apparently have them listed at the end of the results ?? It was a bit confusing, as these runners ended up with a faster finish time than those who completed the entire 42.2K marathon coure ... I assume their determination for those runners not having a 30K and 35K split time??

http://www.runottawa.ca/news-item/heat-forces-shorter-race-runners-scotiabank-ottawa-marathon

This would have bothered me. I think sometimes you just need to let adults make adult decisions. If I ran 30-35K in the heat ad then got detoured I'd be upset. Or they should have announced prior to the race start that if you were going to run a certain speed you wouldn't be allowed to finish. Just my feeling. Boston 2012 was just as hot, if not hotter, and they allowed people to race or offered them a deferral option. Toronto Women's half cut their race short this weekend too, to 12.5K and again, I think that's not the right decision...but just my opinion and two cents!

In other news Sulphur Springs Trail Run saw a 100 mile course record set at 15:33 in the heat this weekend (Saturday)...... I think the guy is a metta human

HCcD wrote:Kudos for the Race Organizers in making a number of decisions to reduce the number of potential issues that may have resulted due to the expected heat and humidity during the ORW Race Weekend .. Moving back the 10K on Saturday by 30 minutes and moving up the start of the half marathon from 9:00am to a 8:15am start time .. definitely made a big difference ... Also, lost is their decision to alter / shorten the marathon course at 11:00am by about 10K for those who were expected to finish beyond the 6-7hr mark .. They all were able to cross the finish line and receive a medal but Sportstats apparently have them listed at the end of the results ?? It was a bit confusing, as these runners ended up with a faster finish time than those who completed the entire 42.2K marathon coure ... I assume their determination for those runners not having a 30K and 35K split time??

There's a separate category in the results that is called "Ottawa Marathon Shortened Race" so there doesn't seem to be any confusion about the results.

This decision was at four hours into the race, and there were still people that finished close to 7 hours time, so it only affected those finishing longer than that. I respect their judgement to make the decision at the time-- it meant they could pull resources off that loop of course and have more near the finish and later in the race where they would have been needed more.

It's hard to compare to a race like Boston which would consist of mostly experienced marathons and for many people would be a once-in-a-lifetime experience.

Jwolf wrote:

It's hard to compare to a race like Boston which would consist of mostly experienced marathons and for many people would be a once-in-a-lifetime experience.

Sort of true except there's a lot of charity runners who are not experienced at Boston, that also start at the hottest part of the day. I know, I was back there with that late start. I would have been upset to have been pulled off the course or have the course shortened even though my time was not great. Let's be honest, there's a cut off on the race so if they miss the cut off then that's a different story, but my understanding was the choice was made at 4 hours with 10K to go which could be 2 hours which is still only 6. I may have understood wrong though

Robinandamelia wrote:

Jwolf wrote:

It's hard to compare to a race like Boston which would consist of mostly experienced marathons and for many people would be a once-in-a-lifetime experience.

Sort of true except there's a lot of charity runners who are not experienced at Boston, that also start at the hottest part of the day. I know, I was back there with that late start. I would have been upset to have been pulled off the course or have the course shortened even though my time was not great. Let's be honest, there's a cut off on the race so if they miss the cut off then that's a different story, but my understanding was the choice was made at 4 hours with 10K to go which could be 2 hours which is still only 6. I may have understood wrong though

The first guy in the shortened list was at 28K in 2:36....not a slowpoke. Actually a lot of the 28K splits were still quite reasonable in time. What's weird, is they have people in the full stats that finished the race that were slower....so not sure how it all got organized, or am I completely reading the information wrong?

A friend of mine did the 5K, which started at 4pm, and was not impressed that the only water station on the course was around the 4.6K mark. She told me the 5K had more medical issues than all the other events. Hopefully something is learned from that particular event. Anyone know why they changed the 5K start time this year?

I was in the 5k, as well and wondered why there was not any water station till the 4K mark ?? I thought I looked out of sorts in the Corral carrying my sports bottle of Gatorade for a 5k race. As o did not see many around me carrying anything ?

I even made the comment at the end to someone that I probably drank more fluids in this 5k event than for my long runs .. Oops !!

Eta: as far as I am aware, the 5k always started at 4pm?

Probably already me mentioned above? From my understanding they made the decision to shorten the race around 11:00am but may not have actually announced it to take in effect till approx 11:30. Roughly 4.5 hours in to the race . Allowing for the wave starts etc, I was at the start line and the last runner started at max 7:15am clock time. If that ??

So, anyone that had not made it to the cutoff point by they point, may have been detoured to the shortened route??

From my quick look on the results a 5:19:xx may have completed it in around 7:15:xx based on a two hour estimated based on their avg pace??

At that point, mentally those affected were determined to finish if physically possible, the Race Organizer made the choice on their behalf for their safety ...

HCcD wrote:Probably already me mentioned above? From my understanding they made the decision to shorten the race around 11:00am but may not have actually announced it to take in effect till approx 11:30. Roughly 4.5 hours in to the race . Allowing for the wave starts etc, I was at the start line and the last runner started at max 7:15am clock time. If that ??

i agree with robin's confusion - something about the results doesn't make sense, at least not intuitively. the first person on the "shortened race" list was supposedly at 30K at 9:38am. she would've been long done with the race before the cut-off was imposed at 11am, so how did she end up on the shortened course? my first guess is that something is off about the splits on the list, but josée (as an example) is a fairly fast runner, having completed boston in 3:3X. so the splits are they're listed seem possible for her.