Victoria Marathon Race Review

Sunday, October 12, 2008 - the 29th running of the Victoria Marathon.  My 3rd running of the Victoria Marathon.  Along with the marathon, there was also a 8K and half marathon events taking place.  The marathon started promptly at 8:30.  And prompt it was, I know because I was still sitting on the porta potty.  That was a first for me.  The lineup for the porta potty just didn’t go quick enough even through the encouragement of the fellow marathoner standing in front of me as he called out to those in the porta potty to “pick up the pace”.  It didn’t matter too much, as by the time I got out, scuttled across the racers (as they were moving forward) to meet my husband on the other side and run through the starting gates, only 1 minute and 40 seconds had lapsed.  Because we were using timing chips, it was all irrelavent.

Other than the shaky start - the race day itself was beautiful.  I had heard that there were 10,000 racers out that morning.  We were treated with sunny, clear weather and phenominal views!  The race course itself winds, twists and undulates and was much more challenging than I had remembered it being in 1997.  Runners run through downtown Victoria and Beacon Hill Park before hitting the coastline and smelling the salt water and feasting their eyes on stunning water views.

Personally, my race was great.  I was pumped and in a very positive frame of mind.  After the half-way mark, I was still feeling great, so I just kept my pace up.  I passed runners who were starting to fade and I have to admit that it felt great and fuelled my fire even more.  My goal for this race was to beat my Vancouver Marathon time earlier in the year (4:24), I didn’t care how much I took off, but I knew that I had trained more for Victoria and had the distance under me.  You can only imagine how proud I felt when I came through the finish line at 4:04 - a whole 20 minutes off my Vancouver time.  Next year my Boston Marathon qualifying time is 4:05 - I now think that I can do it!

There Had to Be a Better Way

That’s what the founder, Graham Henshaw of PaceTat said which ultimately led to the brilliant invention of what is known as PaceTat.  Runners that have been training hard to reach a goal time for their marathon can’t do without one of these.

 

As the name implies, PaceTat is a removable tattoo that helps to keep marathon runners on pace during the marathon so that they can finish within their goal time. PaceTat (as pictured)  measures 1-1/2″ wide by 6-1/4″ long gets tattooed to the underside of your forearm.  The removable tattoo is made with 100% FDA approved ingredients, so should be safe for your skin.  PaceTat has made it easier than ever to keep check on your times during the race.  And it gives both mile splits as well as kilometer splits.  Need this kind of guidance for a half marathon?  Just cut it in half.

 

There’s no issue about the comfort as it’s part of your skin.  Easy to take off with baby oil or rubbing alcohol after your marathon, but will easily last for a few days on your arm just in case you are thinking about back to back marathons.

 

It’s my goal to one day qualify to run the Boston Marathon.  It will take discipline and training on my part, but I will definitely be sporting a PaceTat as part of my running kit in my attempt to reach my goal.