Toronto Half 2012 – Did You Win Today?

Race: Goodlife Toronto Half Marathon
Date: May , 2012
My Result: 1:20:40 (PB 1:18:26, 2010)

Some days you lose, some days you win. But hopefully, when we run we all win.

For runners, winning is a relative word. It’s meaning for elites is literal: olive wreathes, cash prizes, standing on the awards stage. But for everyone else, winning is a metaphor, measures of success that can be very personal. Winning can mean placing better than your bib number in the Boston Marathon, or hitting a BQ time in the worst Boston heat on record (or just finishing on that terrible day), hitting top three for your age, setting a new PB, or just simply finishing in the time you have trained for.

So the question I asked myself after finishing the Toronto Half Marathon 2012 edition, was “Did I Win Today?” This was not so easy to answer.

For me, winning has to have meaning. Hitting a new PB? Suffering through a tough race and keeping up with your peers? Crossing the finish line absolutely spent? Age prizing in a top rung race? All are very meaningful to me. In this respect, making the trip up to the stage to collect 2nd Master’s Male was not quite a win today. Almost every master’s runner my equal or better around the GTA had chosen other races or a day off. I would not race today against Warriner, Tranter, Davey, Leduc (Paul), McDonnel, Gardiner, Bosch, Fuentes, Huyer, Campbell and many others my age and older. It was a rather lonely jaunt down to the finish line. Yet I could not escape the feeling that collecting a masters prize today was a gimme, and that takes the fun out of it.

Back in 2010, I raced the Toronto Half to a PB of 1:18:26. What made it memorable was the three-way race from start to finish between myself, John Tranter and Anthony Davey. And let’s not forget upandcomer Henning Petzka who finished between Davey and I, who returned in 2012 to take third overall. Collecting the third master’s male prize in 2010, with that competition and PB’s all around, made it feel like a huge win. Now that was a race! (See 2010 pictures at bottom).

I am still not back to 2010 shape. My goal today was to run 1:20, maybe less if everything worked perfectly. I came close with a 1:20:40. By the time 16k arrived I had nothing left in my legs. I had tried valiantly to keep pace with top female Amanda McLeod but let her slip out of sight. I was spent. I had thrown in the towel. Km’s 17 and 18 each took 4 minutes. Then calls from behind warned of top female coming through. Fight or flight as they say. I had lost my fight but not my flight response. It was Amanda who had taken an emergency pit stop. I would not let her retake her place ahead of me. Sometimes it is better to be chased.

So yes, I won today. I hit my goal time plus or minus. I kept up with the top female for most of the race and by luck managed not to get chicked. I emptied my tank and ran on fumes. As much as I thought I had given up I had not. As we headed toward the finish, I gave the fellow ahead of me a run for his money. These are measures of winning that no prize can replace. They are available to everyone who ran today.

So did you win today? I hope you did. And if so, congratulations.

John Tranter and Dan MacKinnon, on course, 2010 Goodlife Half Marathon