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| Here is the Bananable with his friend the beer bottle who luckily wasn't eating bottles. |
The three crooks were hiding in the portopotties can you believe they ran that race without being caught right now they are smiling at the police car that is right behind us. On the right is the white man with the bright orange shirt.
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| In this picture you can see the masses of people running through the start they were sent in three groups. |
Daddy's Note: The run map on the left shows the course right through downtown Helsinki (lots of cobbled streets!), beginning in Senate Square at the Cathedral. When I first got to the square, the sun was starting to come down and turned the entire side of the cathedral orange to match all the orange shirts and stage - very cool! It was a perfect night for running, about 16oC still and almost no wind. The course was tough because of the cobbles and especially the multiple twists and turns. More importantly, it wasn't raining! There were loud samba bands and other live music all along the course and people cheering, so it was a great evening. I spent a lot of time high-fiving bystanders and shouting for joy at the sheer exuberance of the day. As Olaf would say, "Are we lucky or what?"
For me, the run was the running equivalent of a "no chains" day on the bike. I couldn't believe how well I felt throughout the entire 10 km. I just kept pushing harder and harder the whole way and the body kept responding with that "good" feeling of hard effort. Passed a ton of people throughout and I think I came close to the front of the whole 50-55 min pack. Didn't have a bad patch at all except for about 5 s during the long cobbled uphill near the finish. I was hoping to beat 50 min ideally, and ended up doing so by >2min with a final time of 47:52! I even did a cartwheel across the finish line and managed not to kill myself or anyone else! Nearly gagged up water at the first aid station so threw that away. At the second, I was hoping to grab water to toss over my head but ended up grabbing sports drink instead - good thing I took a testing sip first before pouring on myself!
Here is a video of everybody warming up there was still music going on
Bananablims??!??! Thank goodness the run wasn't in Papau New Guinea:-) Imagine what the pre-run fueling would have consisted of there!! We had a midnight run here in Calgary as well about a month ago. It looked really fun since everyone was running with a head light on. Uncle Crabby and I might do it next year but not dressed as fruit or insects. Perhaps a Logan's Run theme.... or Chariots of Eggs:-) Too bad daddy didn't save his special satin short shorts from his gym days circa 1980. He could have used them as a costume and gone as Disco Asian Superfly.
ReplyDeletewas the run at 9:00 or at 12:00?
ReplyDeleteI think 9. If I recall, there was a night run followed by festivities at the Olympic Oval. So I guess technically it wasn't a "midnight" run as far as start time but it ended around around 10:30 or 11 for finish time followed by out door party.
ReplyDeleteYes. It was the "Energizer Night Race". http://www.runningroom.com/energizer-night-race/calgary/
ReplyDeleteThey are holding these races in Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver as well. I guess the entry includes a headlight as well. Makes it sort of neat. Running in the dark with a headlight. However, if you fall and go down into a gulley, you might not be found until the next day since I think it was sort of a trail/park run in Calgary! Our newspaper wrote an article about the Calgary race.
I think the banana runner eating the banana is cool! So did you give your Dad any coaching points on how to do a cartwheel properly?