On Saturday, July 10, I participated in the Underwear Affair, benefitting the BC Cancer Society. It is a 10km race on Vancouver’s beautiful seawall around False Creek. An estimated 10,000 people participate in the 10k run and 5k walk. The purpose of the run is to raise funds to fight cancers below the waist – hence the underwear theme.
To participate there is a $25 registration fee, which includes a t-shirt and your timing chip, and each participant must raise a minimum of $300 in donations. I would like to thank the following individuals for making a donation:
- Eleanor Klassen
- Jacyln Ng
- Jay Minter
- Jennifer Warawa
- Lisa Harding
- Lisa Marshall
- Maria Louie
- Mark Hubbard
- Michael Anthony
- Pauline Tu
- Rick Christiaanse
- Sarah Wielens
- Tim King
My fundraising goal was $450, and I am proud to say, thank you to your support I raised $470!
When I first registered for this race it was because it was a mid-summer 10k run that I could look forward to. It wasn’t until about an hour before I was to start the race that I remembered that my grandpa had prostate cancer and has survived. It made the race all that much more special for me.
Once again Jay came as my support person. I highly recommend runners to always have someone attend races with them – it’s these people that can truly make or break a run for you. They can take away all the stress so you can just focus at the task ahead.
This race I was not running alone. I was running with Fred Masse, the co-founder of Survivor Bootcamp. I have known Fred since I began bootcamp 3 years ago and he has really helped me achieve a lot of my physical goals and kept me on track. We met up just before the race began and decided rather than competing in the elite run, we could do a solid run in the general race.
I was not so keen that everyone was crammed into the Armoury to start the race. They really should have started on the road where there was more room. The race started and we crossed the start matt and we were off.
The first four kilometres were great – there was a cool breeze, there were shady sections and there was a good group of people running together. Around kilometre five, as I was approaching the TELUS World of Science I started to get a cramp – I grabbed some water and kept on going. At this point I had been either side-by-side or following right behind Fred.
By kilometre seven, Fred and I had to stop and walk – we were both getting heat exhausted from running in the evening sun. We walked for a minute and then started running again. At kilometre eight we took another quick walk break – this one much shorter – just to catch our breathes and cool down. Sweat was pouring off us.
As we wrapped up-and-around the Burrard Street Bridge I started to get really down. There were tons of people passing me and I was getting further-and-further behind Fred. Although there were lots of people watching and cheering on, which was encouraging, I just wasn’t feeling the energy like I have in all the other races that I have completed as you approach the finish line.
On the last half-kilometre I decided I had to book it. It was all downhill and I just put it into high-gear. I caught up to a lot of people that had passed me coming up the bridge, and in the last 200 metres I was in a full-on sprint. Another guy decided he was going to race me to the finish – that was really fun!
When we crossed the finish line, heading back into the Armoury, I went right to the water table and downed lots of water to get rehydrated. I’ve never had so much sweat pouring off my body. It was crazy how hot I was. I called Jay because I desperately needed the towel in my bag to dry off and the water to cool down.
This was my best timed 10k race this year. I finished in 46:52.65. I was 59th place overall, 46 in my category. Official race results
After the run we stuck around so I could have my two free beer courtesy of Red Truck, had some photos taken and then we went back downtown for dinner.
I would close with a big thank all the volunteers for their hard work organizing the event, setting up the race course, handing out water, cleaning up and of course cheering on the participants all along the race route. The volunteer support for all of the races I have participated in have been outstanding and they deserve a huge thank you!
Don’t be surprised if you’re out-and-about on the seawall along Vancouver’s False Creek on Sunday, July 6 and you see hundreds of people running by in their underwear. They are part of the 2013 Underwear Affair. Runners will be stripping down to their underwear and raising funds and awareness for cancers below the belt for the BC Cancer Foundation.
