Yes, it is true. Sort of. My time was 59:37 and the race was the 2007 Devon Turkey Chase. That's a pretty fast time by a Swedish old guy, don't you think?
What, you don't believe me? See for yourself! Half marathon Results - isn't that an impressive time by me?
This race was very interesting. It started and ended in a campground by the river in Devon. I talked to the guy who set the course before hand and he said it should be well marked. I figured I'd be by myself at the front, so I hoped he was right.
I got a good pace going, ran strong up this first big hill from by the river. I ran around a church and followed the instructions the the volunteers. Maybe I shouldn't have. Turns out, they had no clue where I was supposed to be going. I ended up going down to the start area again, so I thought it was a loop course.
I asked at the finish area if I was supposed to run 2 laps, and they just looked at me funny. Oh well, I kept going. I ran quite well too, I thought.
Another lap, and I started realizing something wasn't right here. I asked every volunteer if they knew where I should be going, and none of them knew. I saw no other people any more either, so obviously, the must have taken to a different direction.
At the finish, I stopped and asked what was going on, and they said "the half-marathon is somewhere else". Great... So, I was getting pissed off, and I had run for almost an hour by myself, completely misdirected so there wasn't much I could do but stop.
I wasn't alone in being lost though. Turns out, about 80% of all runners were lost. Some came in towards the finish area when we left an hour or more later!
The race director apologized, and the guy who set the course felt really bad for us. It turns out they had set the course the day before, and some kids had taken most of the signs away. As a result, the volunteers did not know how to direct me when I came running, asking where to turn. They should of course have been given instructions for their course marshaling job, but apparently they didn't know.
Oh well, it was an interesting race anyway! I took with a smile, but I noticed there were some runners who were really upset and wanted their entry fee back.
Not sure if I will do this race again, well see.
The "good thing" about the whole story is that I got the fastest "half-marathon" time ever recorded in Canada! Haha! In truth, I probably only ran 16 kilometres... but shhh, don't tell anyone! :)
By Robert Renman - www.dolphinstreet.com
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