Jack's Report-Quebec City

Coach Jack’s Quebec City Marathon Report – August 24, 2008

Sunday morning came and I was up before the alarm (a usual occurrence for me on race day). The route to the start was a bit convoluted: a bus from the hotel to the ferry, a ferry across the St. Lawrence, and took another bus to the start in Levis. We were staged at a local high school with plenty of facilities, good music and food and drink. The race was actually several, with a half-marathon, 10K and 5K.

As the 8:30 start drew closer, I was a bit alarmed to note how warm it was feeling. I went into this race with a very nice training cycle, which started after a week’s recovery after the Vermont Marathon in late May. My goals for Quebec were: 1) If the stars align and the weather is perfect: Sub 3:30, 2) Get my Comrades Qualifier (anything under 4 hours), and, my standard rule for ANY marathon: “Take what the day will give me”.

We started right on time at 8:30am to the thunderous roar of Canadian Army artillery fire (blanks, I hope). After about 3 miles, I was holding pace (8:00 min/miles, or 4:58 min/km). The course was marked in Kilometers and counted down from 42. I hit half-way still on pace at 1:45:08, but decided it was just too hot to continue at this pace (plus the 2nd half of the course had absolutely no shade from the sun). By now it was about 85 degrees and very humid. Several fluid stops also had misting stations that I took full advantage of, and some locals even had their garden hoses out to help us keep cool. I did notice at each aid station that there were at least one or two ‘occupants’ in the medical tent, and the number only increased the further along I got. With about 4 kilometers to go, there was a mist station that was at full throttle and I just stood in the cold water for about 30 seconds. This was enough to get me to the end. I finished very happily with a 3:54.

I saw Missy as I crossed the finish and she met me at the bag check. I took a dip in the water fountain – which felt great on tired legs. We made our way back to the room, I showered and we headed out for lunch. After a bit of shopping we made our way back to the room for a power nap that extended into early evening and then a light dinner. Fireworks greeted us later that night as Quebec City continued to celebrate its 400 year anniversary. All in all it was a great weekend. Everyone was so nice to us. If you want a real slice of the old country that’s not that far away, I highly recommend this! Plus their currency has wild animals and hockey players on it!