Bob Mann: 2023 Manitoba Marathon

Sun Jun 18, 2023

On Sun Jun 18 2023, I ran the Manitoba Marathon in Winnipeg. This became my second Canadian marathon, now giving me two provinces complete, as well as five U.S. states for a second time. Just like I don't know whether I'll keep this up long enough to finish all 50 states again, I don't know whether I'll ever finish all the provinces. But I will keep going for as long as I can.

This particular race was special because it was held on Father's Day, and my daughter Jillian had joined me on the trip. Her school year had just ended, so it seemed like a good time for her to take a vacation. Now, Winnipeg is probably not at the top of anybody's bucket list for a vacation spot. But she's adventurous and likes to see new places. So Winnipeg worked out fine.

We arrived in town on Saturday and went to the race expo so I could pick up my gear. Then we went to check in to our hotel. The hotel was a few miles from the start and end points of the race, which was at the University of Manitoba. There was no shuttle service from my hotel to the race on race day, so I had to drive our rental car and park. Unfortunately. the race charged $20 for a parking pass. If it were a huge race in a huge city like New York or Chicago, I might have expected to pay for a parking pass. But in a place like Winnipeg, this rather surprised me. The bigger surprise, however, was how much of a nightmare the parking situation was. There were only two roads into the university that were open to traffic. And they were both insanely backed up. I had timed my departure from my hotel so that I should have arrived at the start about 45 minutes before the gun went off. Instead, I spent that time waiting in the long line of cars as it very slowly worked its way onto campus. There were plenty of available spots, so I really don't know why it took so long. Between all the races offered (Full and Half Marathons, 10k and 5k) there were a couple thousand runners. But that's not such a huge number that the logistics should be this bad. The 7:00 start had already happened by the time I parked my car. I rushed to the start line, and since I was certainly not the only one stuck in traffic, I wasn't the only one crossing the start line late. According to my watch, I started the race at 7:11. Well, thank goodness for chip timing.

The temperature was about 65 degrees (Fahrenheit) at the start, and conditions were actually somewhat foggy. These conditions would be fine for running, but it wouldn't last like this for long. The sun was predicted to come out, and it would warm up a little. As I've stated in numerous reports before, these sunny Summer days always wear me down. So that was bound to happen on this day as well.

Perhaps I was a little amped up on adrenaline because of starting so late. My first two miles were each under 9:00, which is a faster pace than I tend to run in marathons these days. I spent these first few miles passing slower runners who had started before I did. I maintained a rather quick pace through the first 5 miles before finally settling in to the 9:30 range that is more normal for me, at least for the first half of a marathon.

The course was rather scenic, for the most part. Much of the first half was run alongside either the Red River or the Assiniboine River. However, there were a couple of spots where the course was on a functioning highway, with one lane blocked off with orange cones for the runners. I am not a fan of running on functioning highways like this, so the race was an odd mix of nice scenery and awful conditions.

We had gotten on to another highway just before the halfway point for a couple of miles. There was no formal indication of the halfway point, but by my watch, I passed it in about 2:04, which is fast for me these days. But by now it was already quite sunny and warm. And humid. So I knew the second half would be a slog.

The second half had more time along the rivers and a couple more stretches on highways, with a bit of time through a residential neighborhood as well. After 25 miles, we connected back with the path we started out on, and returned for the last mile or so back towards the university. The finish line was inside the stadium on campus, which is also where the Winnipeg Blue Bombers of the Canadian Football League play their home games. I had been dragging quite a bit over the last few miles, to no surprise. My second half was rather slow, but combined with my somewhat speedy first half, my final time was 4:38:14, which is really right in line with what I've been doing for the last few years.

So the race overall was quite a mixed bag. Mostly scenic, but too much time on the highway. A little too sunny, warm and humid for my tastes, but not surprising for the middle of June. But the parking fiasco is what was really a problem. I'd never missed the start of a race before, and I wouldn't want to have to deal with that again. With chip timing, I guess it wasn't really a big deal that I was late. But it created a bunch of unnecessary stress before the race that was not fun to deal with.

I never did find out why the parking was so bad. Maybe there was an accident or something. Otherwise it must have just been really awful planning on the part of the race organizers. This was the 45th running of this race, so you think they'd have the parking situation properly planned out by now. Well, I may never know the reason.

Jillian and I enjoyed our 3 nights in Winnipeg. While not exactly a top tourist destination, we managed to find things to do. We went to the Canadian Royal Mint, the zoo, a few museums, the Forks Market, etc. I was happy to knock off my second Canadian province and happy to spend a long weekend with my daughter on Father's Day weekend.

I don't know what my next marathon will be, but I'm sure I'll find something for the Fall. And maybe I'll get back to Canada again next year.

And now the photos. Click any image to enlarge.