Things have finally wound down and we thought we would share some final thoughts with you.
Our Tri for Dakota fundraising project has been a very heartwarming experience for us, and we are so touched by all of the support we have received along the way. We are very excited to share with you that to date we have raised $10,392.56 wow!!! That number is twice what we had expected to raise.
Some of our favourite memories (written by Colin):
Winter spin training, waking up at 5:30 on Saturday mornings, cleaning snow off the car and loading my bike in the minivan
Sitting on the windtrainer, sweating and feeling like I'm going to pass out and hearing my spin instructor Paul Johnston say "you can do this" - and realizing that I can and I will
My first time making it through a 2 hr monster spin class without needing to take the halfway break
Meeting and training with the IronMotivation group and getting to know such a wonderful group of people
Going with Tam and Jaxon to swim/bike workouts in Lake Simcoe and playing with Jaxon while Tam does her 2KM swim
Having Tam and Jaxon beside the car in lawn chairs cheering the bikers as we pass by on our 90KM ride home
Running barefoot on the hot pavement with 12KM to go - pushing my bike with a third flat tire - smiling and repeating "I will complete this race!"
Having Dr. Dunn come to our launch and talk about premature babies and families going through similar challenges
Listening to one of Dakota's nurses Karen speak at our Silent Auction about Dakota
Running across the finish line with Tam and Jaxon after over 7 hours swimming, biking, fixing flats and running
Going to the Dotsch family Tri for Dakota garage sale on a rainy Saturday morning - seeing everything organized and a huge handmade Tri for Dakota sign welcoming people in
Getting the Tri for Dakota team together after the race, sharing stories and savouring the experience with friends and family.
The many new friends we have made along the way including a few Sunnybrook NICU nurses who raced with us
Karsten’s enthusiasm in supporting us and helping raise even more money!!
Receiving the donation that pushed us over the $10,000 mark doubling our original goal.
Many people have asked if we will be doing the same thing next year. We have given it a lot of thought, and don’t think it is something that we can commit to at the moment. In addition to us both working full time, I have decided to go back to school and am currently enrolled in a two year part-time program to be a Therapeutic Recreation Practitioner. What is that you ask?? Well according to my textbook, it is defined as a “specialized application of recreation or experiential activities or intervention process that assist in maintaining or improving the health status, quality of life, and / or functional capacities for all people who may benefit from it”. Funny thing, the program is a partnership between Georgian College and Sunnybrook Hospital, and all of my in class components are held at Sunnybrook Hospital. While next year posses some definite challenges – I do see Tri for Dakota coming back sometime in the future.
We would like to thank all of our generous sponsors: The Orbit Room, Trisport Promotions, Runners Life, Tara Consulting, Shot on Site, and Sportstats. In addition, we would like to thank Glen Bugg for his donation of MANY items to our silent auction, Mark Brown who designed our logo, t-shirts and brochure and Susan Typert who designed our fancy animated gif which you may have seen on the Durham Swimwear and Sportstats website – we thank you all for your ongoing support and for never saying “no”.
To everyone who has made a donation, we wish to thank you again for your support. We thank you all for coming into our lives, sharing our experience and helping us to heal. There is not a day that goes by that we don’t think about Dakota, and how much brighter our lives are for her touching our hearts for what will be a VERY long time!
Our best to you all!
tam, col & jax
September 21, 2008 - Transcore LinkLogistics
We would like to my company Transcore LinkLogistics for their generous donation of $500.00 to our Tri for Dakota Fund.
September 1, 2008 - Karsten's Race at Guelph Lake II
Saturday was the Guelph Lake II triathlon and was a beautiful day to race.
We headed up first thing in the morning to support Karsten and, talk with people about our fundraising efforts over the summer and volunteer where necessary.
We certainly did not expect the morning we had.
There were several logistical challenges with changes in the race course, so we found ourselves volunteering in two very busy areas.
Knowing how much the extra help was needed, we decided to stay there for the whole day.
Throw in a participant medical emergency at the finish line and the chaos of coordinating an ambulance and medical support through the race course – made things even more interesting.
We saw Karsten pass by us while racing up the finishing shoot – he was going so fast we weren’t able to get our camera ready in time to take any photos of him.
Hopefully we can find and post some pictures in the next few days.
Karsten had a GREAT race and came in first in his age group.
We were so happy that he was able to finish the season on a high note.
When Tam finally found him – he was on a massage table and had a pretty big smile on his face.
We were hoping to see him at the awards ceremony... but there was too much going on in the area that we were helping out in and leaving just wasn't a good option.
Karsten is a character, extremely outgoing with a rather charming personality.
We have watched him grow over the years from a young boy to a young man and a very determined athlete.
We are honoured to know him and are grateful for his very generous offer to help us out.
Karsten, congratulations on a great race - we really appreciate all your help! -- Tam and Col
August 28, 2008 - Karsten's Tri for Dakota
Our last Tri for Dakota fundraiser for the 2008 season is weekend at Guelph Lake.
Our friend Karsten Madsen will be racing the Sprint race on Saturday to raise funds for our Tri for Dakota Fund.
I spoke to him on the phone today and I am so excited by his enthusiasm!!
Karsten has not had a great race season - we are hoping this will be his A race with a podium finish.
Colin and I will be there to support him and answer any questions you may have.
Karsten was at Ironman Canada last weekend supporting his mom who did her first Ironman race and had a great finish at 12:08:33 ...
Congratulations Kathy!!!
Apparently, he made a couple of friends while his mom was out racing against the wind.
Please check out Karsten's page on our website and to make a donation to Karsten's Tri for Dakota, please click on the link at the bottom of his page.
We also wanted to wish the best of luck to all of our friends who are racing Ironman Canada this weekend.
August 12, 2008 - Schneider Electric Canada
We would like to thank our friends at Schneider Electric Canada for their generous donation of $1000.00 to our Tri for Dakota Fund.
July 29, 2008 - I had a good laugh today!!
I was doing a little online Olympic research today. I haven't heard Dick Pounds name in the news lately. I know I may be the only one out there - but I quite like him. I know his comments and actions against doping in the NHL didn’t make anyone happy - but he does have some very good points!!!
Anyways, I googled him and of course Wikipedia came up with some interesting information - which made me laugh in the middle of the day at work!!! So, I thought I would share his comments with you. It all comes out of the doping scandal last year with Floyd Landis who I believe is innocent. I believe he is innocent because stage 17 was such a phenomenal event, I was glued to my seat. I even CRIED at the end!! I have to believe it was authentic - because my heart needs that warm fuzzy feeling.
Saying that.... here is what Wikipedia said about Dicks view on Floyd Landis
"In January 2007, Pound responded to Floyd Landis' testosterone test following stage 17 of the Tour of France, an event (and a stage) which Landis initially won, but of which he was stripped after failing a dope case and losing at arbitration. Pound declared "I mean, it was 11 to 1!" referring to the testosterone-to-epitestosterone level. "You’d think he’d be violating every virgin within 100 miles. How does he even get on his bicycle?"
Ha!! Now, that is funny!!
July 27, 2008 - Ennismore Garage Sale
This summer, my family in the Peterborough area has been coordinating a very large garage sale in Ennismore.
Tammy and I were very touched at the offer to help honour Dakota's memory by raising funds for Sunnybrook NICU.
Last Saturday, We woke up @ 6am, loaded a sleepy Jaxon into the car (stopping of course for caffeine and timbits) and got to the garage sale before 8am.
My family was already there setup and ready with people heading back to their cars with full arms! Excellent start to the day!
Another wonderful surprise was a large banner sign with Tri For Dakota by the entrance. A very touching reminder of why we were doing this.
Based on talking with my mom/aunts - I knew it would be a big event - but when we walked in the door - I couldn't believe all the stuff!
Lots of families had been willing to generously donate many items for charity and the room was overflowing with all sorts of things.
Kids toys, furniture, dishes, books, clothes, bedding, power tools, movies, crafts, knick knacks and some items I didn't even understand.
It is hard to put in perspective just how much stuff was there... Imagine a typical Value Village and shrink it by a factor of 5 or 10!
They had already setup March of Dimes to pickup anything that didn't sell - they would have needed at least a 20 foot truck!
Considering the weather (which was raining off and on all day), we did extremely well and the sale generated about $900.
I have always felt fortunate to have such a wonderful, loving and supportive family.
There are a huge number of people that helped make Saturday so successful, special thanks to;
Rose (Aunt) - for organized the whole day !!!
Lee (Mom) - for planted the idea in Rose's head and getting everyone to donate at least $10!
Julie (Aunt) - for droving around and across Peterborough to pick up item donations from friends!!
Ruth - for all the baking yummy treats at the garage sale
Terry (Stepfather) for the butter tarts and loading a lot of garage sale items into the truck
Julie, Rachel and Jacob and Marie (Cousins) for spending so much time pricing all of the items, baking, testing out the icing, and making some wonderful signage.
Matt and Ben (Cousins) for helping to get the many loads of items to the hall
Lori - for handling the sales and buying her own clothing finds (thanks to lovely Lisa!!)
Thank you so much for supporting us and helping raise so much money for our Tri for Dakota Fund!!!
July 23, 2008 - Tri for Dakota Video
Well, it took a while to complete, but we finally finished our Tri for Dakota Video, we hope you enjoy it. There is some very exciting "video" which we have included in this compilation of photographs - so make sure you can access your speakers.
July 22, 2008 - Tri for Dakota Garage Sale update
Colin and I held a Tri for Dakota Garage Sale this past Saturday. With the weather being so unpredictable, we were very happy that it agreed to cooperate with us!! We are very thankful to our neighbors Steve and Debbie who allowed us to borrow their tables and sign stakes. Debbie even donated a bunch of stuff to our garage sale which was left over from her “For a Cure” garage sale the weekend before last. Our other neighbor Loraine, was outside just after 6:30 am helping us set up and stayed all day to help us out with the crowd. We are so grateful to you all for your help. In addition, we wanted to thank lovely Lisa and Rob B. for donating a ton of “junk” to our garage sale.
We are happy to announce that we were able to raise another $493 to our Tri for Dakota Fund.
Our leftovers will be going up to Peterborough this weekend for a garage sale that Colin’s mother and her family are hosting:
HUGE GARAGE SALE - Tri for Dakota Fundraiser
When: Saturday July 26th
Where: Ennismore Library (Peterborough area)
Time: 8:00 am - 1:00pm
Books, Plants Furniture, Kitchen Items, Clothes, Kids Toys, Baking plus so much more.
All donations will benefit the Tri for Dakota fund through the Sunnybrook Foundation.
July 22, 2008 - KARSTEN'S Tri for Dakota
You may have noticed a new page added to our website. Have a look at what our friend Karsten is doing to help us raise even more money for the Tri for Dakota Fund.
We are very happy to say that so far, we have raised just over $6,500 for the Tri for Dakota Fund at the Sunnybrook Foundation. Our account will remain open until the beginning of September, so there is still time to make a donation.
July 8, 2008 - Photos and Reflections
When we got to the race site in the morning, our booth was set up by Kerry, Holly and Kyle – and at 6:45 in the morning, they were smiling.
They ran around taking photos and manning our booth all day.
The race site was buzzing, we were excited and looking forward to the 8 hours of racing ahead of us!!
The day was long and hot, but we got through it and thoroughly enjoyed it.
It was made that much better by the friends and family who joined us and the other athletes, friends and acquaintances who supported us!!!
We wanted to thank some very special people who helped us along the way.
Dakota. Sweet baby girl. You are in our hearts and we think about you always. Thank you for coming into our lives!!! We are very grateful for the short time we had with you. We love you and miss you dearly!!!
Team “Sunnybrook NICU” Patti, Wendy and Leanna – we are very touched that you came out and raced along side us. We were honoured to meet you all. We would also like to thank you for everything that you do in the NICU helping those little babies and families through some tough times. THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!!!
Mitch and Janet Fraser from Trisport Promotions - For everything you have done for us over the years. Your love and support went far beyond anything we could have ever expected. We love you both!!
Madison - That was one awesome hug at the finish!!!
Greg Nichol – thank you for doing such a great job telling everyone about our Tri for Dakota race during the day!!! I heard your comments before the swim and got REALLY choked up!!
Darlene – thanks for getting me through the run. I hope our paths cross again soon!!
Kerry, Holly, Kyle - thank you for showing up at 6:30 am and holding out until we crossed the finish line. That was a long day and we were very touched that you were there to help us.
Amber - thanks for racing with us and congrats on recovering from your crash and winning the sprint race!!
Lisbet, Joan and D’Arcy – your love and support was overwhelming!!
Sally, from the Sunnybrook Foundation - thanks to you and your lovely, gorgeous family (including your hot husband) for taking what would otherwise be a family day and helping us out.
Julie and Lee - thanks for looking after our little monkey and chasing after him all day!! Hope you have recovered!!
Terry - thanks for coming to the race and helping getting our minivan towed and serviced so we could get home!
Coach Paul – thank you so much for whipping us into shape to complete this race. I know how your voice was in Colin’s ear for that bike ride.. and did you hear me say 10 minutes off of my Muskoka time...that is thanks to you!!!!
Friends and Family who sent us their thoughtful messages - I am still a little choked up myself when I read them!!!!
Shanta - thanks for giving me my second spare tube and CO2 cartridge
Eric - huge thanks for stopping to help, changing my final flat which let me finish the race under bike power
Linnea, Dave, Jenn, Maureen - thank you for making me laugh so hard!!!
Aubrey Bryce (we have never met, but I have talked to you on the phone a billion times when I worked for OAT) You are a good man!!! I saw you out there – that was pretty awesome!! Ha! I kicked your ass on the swim!!
Everyone who has supported us along the way and donated to our Tri for Dakota Fund We want to thank you so much for your generous support for this worthwhile cause!!
Volunteers – thank you for getting us through the aid stations and your wonderful words of encouragement. That was a long day in the sun for you and we would never have been able to finish this race without you!!
Mike - thank you for taking such good care of Bailey, Bruzer and Phang over the course of the weekend!!
Our sponsors: Glenn Bugg of Voltage Tech in Peterborough, Mitch and Janet at Trisport Promotions, Tim Wilson at the Orbit Room, Dave Dame at Runners Life, Arlee Wiliamson at Tara Consulting, Mark Roy at Sport Stats, Kevin Harrington at A Shot on Site, Mark Brown and Ralph Spencer – thank you for taking an interest in our story and our fundraising initiative.
We have a couple more announcements to make in the next couple of weeks.
In an effort to increase our donations to our Tri for Dakota Fund, we have 2 Garage Sales planned.
One will be in Peterborough on July 26th...the other will be at our house in Ajax within the next couple of weeks.
We will keep our Tri for Dakota Fund open until the middle of August – so you still have a lot of time to make a donation
I am just putting the finishing touches on a video that we hope to have posted by the end of the week.
Thanks to you for taking an interest in our journey and following our story!! -- Tam & Col
July 7, 2008 - Post Race Wrapup
Photos and our reflections to follow tomorrow!
2KM Swim - Tam
I was feeling great going into the swim. It was exciting, being at this race as a participant.
I have worked at this event for so many years as a Trisport employee, and have never seen the craziness of the swim start.
Colin and I walked out to the water together...it was about 7:45 am and I wanted to get in for a quick warm up.
There were people everywhere!! We took a couple of photos, a kiss and into the water I went.
I was feeling extremely emotional towards the start of the race, and I was a little concerned that my emotions may cause me to panic on the swim.
As I started my warm up, I started to settle my nerves... a little.
The swim didn’t look daunting.... the buoys didn’t seem to visually be too far away.
I think the fact that this was a 2 lap swim helped me psychologically.
8:00 AM Mass Start
I got out of the water... and walked straight to the back of the pack.
The music was pumping, I was ready!!!
The countdown began, the horn sounded and off we went.
All 600 of us at once!! (Colin actually took some video of the swim start which we will have posted in the next couple of days).
I found my space in the water... put some distance around me and the other swimmers and swam... not fast, but at a very comfortable pace.
The weeds in the water were bad for the first 400meters.
I have been warned about them by other athletes...and surprisingly, they didn’t bother me at all.
I think the fact that I couldn’t feel them through my wetsuit probably helped.
LAP 1 - 1KM Swim
I managed to find a pair of feet in the water that were going at a good pace that I could keep up with.
They also seemed to be going in the right direction – so, I drafted to the first buoy... and at that point, lost the feet... and went searching for another pair to follow.
The people in front of me seemed to be going in all directions, so I guided myself to the next couple buoys.... and to the exit point of the first loop.
I got up and walked onto the shore and looked at my watch....23 minutes...and the gentleman next to me asked for our time and I had to look at my watch again – shocked at the time!!!
LAP 2 - 2KM Swim
At this point I started to feel nauseated.
My goggles were feeling as though they were sucking every bit of air out of my eyes.
About 300 meters out, I had to readjust them, but the fit felt tighter, and now I was starting to get a head ache.
I thought to myself...suck it up, you are almost done.
I was in AGONY.
I stopped again to readjust them... they felt okay... then about 2 minutes later, they were causing me great pain again.
I had to stop 5 more times to readjust them.
I was feeling extremely nauseated by the time I came out of the water.
Pulled off my goggles and my swim cap and started to run along the route to the transition area.
I looked at my watch...50 minutes. Are you kidding me?
I ran past Coach Paul, his wife Patty and friend Christine and yelled out...”50 minutes...I just shaved 10 minutes off of my Muskoka time!!! “ I was VERY excited (even though I felt as though I was going to puke at any minute).
Colin, who was casually waiting for me – not expecting me out of the water for another 10 minutes, wasn’t all that prepared when I reached the transition area.
I yelled out to him as I came him, his look of shock said it all “I did GOOD”!!!!
Transition # 1 - Col
3 days before the race, I had a flat tire, so I had my local bike shop replace it for me.
I had a local vendor at the race double check the air pressure/gears, did a quick test drive and everything seemed in good working order with my bike.
While I was getting my bike loaded in the transition zone with power drinks/water bottles/extra fuel/spare tubes/tires, I saw Tam come running in 10 minutes early!
I hardly had a chance to get my helmet on before swapping the timing chip and running out onto the bike course.
0 - 30KM
The first part of the ride through town had some train tracks and rough pavement, but it quickly improved into a great surface for biking.
I had been warned about hills, but they were very gradual and I did not find them overly challenging, especially compared to Muskoka!
My spin workouts with Paul at Iron Motivation had trained me extremely well for these types of conditions.
My biking was strong and focused but probably a bit too fast to maintain for 3 hours (33.1 KM/HR average).
I refuelled and made a decision to drop my speed a bit to ensure I had enough juice left for the remaining 2 hours.
30KM - 62KM
The second leg was just fantastic, I was completely in my groove and was steadily working my way up through the pack.
After the 45KM turnaround, I caught up to a few other strong riders and we played cat and mouse, passing each other back and forth.
I still felt extremely strong, so I put the hammer down and opened up some good distance with the pack.
At about 55KM I needed to refuel and stretch my back for a bit when Karen Madsen passed me, saying "You must be Colin from Tri For Dakota!"
This was an unexpected surprise to be recognized on the course and helped to raise my spirits.
At this point, I had answered any challenges with any riders that tried to pass me - I felt refreshed so I reopened the throttle and started closing in on the next pack.
62KM - Flat # 1
I was maintaining a solid 32.6 KM/HR average when I felt my back tire start to shimmy back and forth and thought CRAP!
This was my only concern about our Tri for Dakota race after having 5 flats this season (2 front/3 rear).
I hopped of the bike quickly, removed the rear tire and started to change it.
At this point, all my muscles were shaking from exertion and it was difficult to coordinate swapping the tires.
During this process I reminded myself why Tam and I were doing the race and focused on keeping my thoughts positive.
I had practiced a few tire changes, but I found the tire just wouldn't stay in the rim properly, and it took much longer than expected (about 15-20 minutes)
Everything seemed fine when I checked it over so I got back on the bike and hoped that the tire would last for the remaining 28KM.
72KM - Flat # 2
My rhythm was completely shot at this point, but I was determined to recover and finish the race in a reasonable time.
There was no shortage of energy, but my equipment was just not cooperating as I heard my back tire go POP again!
I didn't have a second spare (which I will take in my next race), but a biker named Shanta was very kind and handed me a spare tube and a CO2 cartridge.
During the second tire change, a driver stopped to see if I was OK and ask if the race was for charity.
I told him that most of the athletes participating were doing it for fun, training or as a personal goal.
During our chat, I mentioned that we were raising funds for Sunnybrook and he crossed the road to donate $10.
It was a very sweet and generous thing to do, I thanked him, replaced the tire and continued on.
78KM - Flat # 3
Although the second tire change seemed to go well, I could hear a very bad thwap-thwap-thawp sound - not good.
I positioned my body weight to the front tire as much as possible and thought to myself "I WILL FINISH THIS RACE - even if I have to run my bike in"
Well, after my tire popped again, that is what I had to do.
Before my first flat tire, my only concern was that my speed was so much faster than expected, that Tam might not be ready in the transition zone in time.
After my third flat tire, I knew that Tam would be concerned and just hoped that she knew I was OK and just suffering from extreme equipment failure!
78KM - 82KM
There were almost no bikers left since the packs had passed me during my previous tire changes.
So I took off my helmet and bike shoes and started to run in my socks pushing my broken bike with about 12KM to go.
After about 1-2 KM, my feet started to blister, so I put my bike shoes back on and started to run again.
This is an awkward feeling, but it hurt less than running in my bare feet.
I wasn't thrilled with the thought of running another 8KM like this, but there was absolutely no way I was going to DNF our race!
82KM - Rescue
After running about 2KM with my bike shoes, an Ironman athlete out for a training ride (of 180KM!) stopped to see if I was OK.
Eric kindly gave me a tire, changed it for me with incredible competence and speed and got me on my way.
I was so grateful to be able to complete the ride and not have to run the final 8KM in bike shoes!
Transition # 2
When I came into transition I saw Tam's cousin Holly saying that Tam had just left to start her 21KM run.
I saw her in the distance, changed into my sandals and ran off to catch her and let her know I was OK.
The rest of our race crew was of course wondering what had happened and seemed worried that I would be upset or disappointed.
My first 62KM was by far the best ride of the season and I would have enjoyed finishing the race without incident.
But anything can happen on race day.
I'm certain that there is a broken or loose spoke that was popping my tires.
You do your best to train, practice, prepare for emergencies, double and triple check your equipment, but you can't control everything.
There are always things in life that don't work out the way you want them - but I refused to let it bring me down during our Tri for Dakota race.
After my brief chat with Tam during her run, I knew she felt just as positive and committed to completing the race with a big smile on her face.
90 Minutes of waiting - Tam
I waited and waited and waited.
I came back into the Transition area about a ½ an hour before Colin was expected to get in.
I met up with my friend Linnea, and a bunch of other ladies around the Relay bike rack.
I met another member of the Sunnybrook NICU team in there – Leanna (the swimmer).
I was watching my watch and my cousin Holly was waiting outside of the Transition area with her husband Kyle, so that they could take photos of Colin and I.
After Colin was 10 minutes late, I started to worry.
Colin has had so much trouble with bike, I had expected the time lag was due to a blown tire.
I knew he was prepared for one blown tire – so, that was okay.
Once a ½ hour went by, I actually started to worry about his safety.
I asked the Officials Frank and Cynthia if they had heard anything about any athletes down....they said no, so I thought – well, maybe he has blown another tire.
With no more supplies on hand – I knew someone would throw him a tire and air.
At 45 minutes, I was now questioning – at what point do I just start out on the run.
I know we wouldn’t get a legal finish time, but I needed to get out onto the run course.
The day was hot; I had been standing in the sun for over an hour with little water.
Another woman – Darlene - who was also in the Transition area was in the same predicament I was.
There was no sight of her husband and he is a strong biker.
We know the men can handle themselves.
We also know that if something bad had happened – we would have been notified by now.
It was the uncertainty that caused a lot of anxiety for us both....should we stay or should we go.
With 10 minutes to the bike cut off, we decided to go.
We both had our own personal reasons for finishing this race.
My friend Rachel said everything happens for a reason... perhaps that reason was that Darlene and I were supposed to help each other get through the run.
So, off we went, a little worried but hopeful we would find out what happened to our husbands from someone along way.
My moment came quite quickly. Darlene and I were about ½ a Km out on the run, and my cousin came running after me with the timing chip.
Colin had just come into Transition Area, he was okay – with 3 flats he made it back before the cut off.
I was relieved but sad that he didn’t have the great bike ride he was hoping for.
He met up with me at the 1km point and appeared to be surprisingly in good spirits.
My heart felt ALOT better and I was able to focus at this point on my run.
21KM RUN
Have I mentioned yet, what a hot day Sunday was?
Where were the clouds???
My friends were looking great on the race course.
Everyone seemed to be smiling and handling the heat well.
I am not a hot weather runner – but I knew exactly what to expect from this run.
Darlene and I took it easy.
I decided to turn my watch timer off at this point and just enjoy the run.
I didn’t have to worry about coming in at a certain time.
I knew at this point that we would be one of the last people through the finish.
The awards ceremony would be finished – and most people gone home by the time we finished.
As we ran out of the park, Darlene saw her husband – he also had some problems on the bike....gave her a kiss, and off we went.
We didn’t talk much.
It turns out that Darlene is from St Thomas and knows my friend Pam and in fact, my friend Pam used to ride horses with her daughter.
Another small world moment came when the two girls who I have never met before who work in the Sunnybrook NICU and raced as part of another relay team in support of Colin and I know my friends Craig and Jay – and LOVE them as much as I do!!).
We ran and stopped at every aid station cheered on our friends as they ran/walked by.
It was great.
I did a lot of socializing out there which kept my spirits up.
Colin’s cousin Amber came out on her bike and rode with us for about ½ hour.
We did a little gossiping....and talked about her race earlier that day.
My knee was really sore.
It still hasn’t recovered from my 18k run last weekend.
I forgot my Advil which I normally take ½ way through the a race.
Darlene offered me some sort of pain killer which I was happy to take.
It was HOT!!!
At the aid stations we were taking one cup of water for ourselves and one to pour on our heads.
At about 19k, I really wanted to just get the run over with.
I was starting to feel emotional and finding it harder to start again once we had stopped.
I told Darlene, that I would run slowly.
I felt terrible leaving here after we had been together for so long....but I knew for myself, I needed to keep running.
(THANK YOU DARLENE – IT WAS A REAL PLEASURE MEETING YOU AND THANK YOU FOR HELPING ME GET OUT ONTO AND FINISH THE RUN!!!)
As I was running back towards the park my friends Dave, and Linnea drove by in their cars honking like the crazy people they are (scared the crap out of me) as they headed on their drive home.
I got back into the park and had another 4kms to go...there was a lot of cheering through various points in the park.
It was terrific.
When I got to the 3km point, my cousin Holly ran with me.
I was feeling really emotional with her running with me, and felt I needed to do the last km on my own.
Finish Line
Holly left and I ran around the bend....very excited to see Jaxon for the first time all day and come into the finish with Colin.
Jaxon – is too funny. He wants to run everywhere, expect where we want him to run.
We finished at 7 hours 37 minutes.
We crossed the finish line to the greatest gathering of friends and family.
There were lots of hugs, some tears and the feeling of happiness at the meaning behind the day and honouring our Dakota Skye.
