Yesterday was the perfect weather for the Oasis 10 KM Zoo Run. It was chilly in the morning, about 12 degrees and cloudy, but there was no rain, wind or beating sun! I wore my capris and a long sleeve shirt at first, then opted for a t-shirt after. I hate feeling cold, but I knew i'd warm up pretty darn fast once we started running. I say we because I ran the race with my mom :)
For this race we got up at 5:30, left at 6:30 (got there via the 407, THANKFULLY!) and arrived there shortly after 7:20. It's a good thing we took the 407 to get there, because Meadowvale northbound from the 401 was packed to get into the parking lot. My friend Kelly took this other route and she got there JUST in time! So be pre-warned for that if ever you do this race! Allow lots of time to park if you take the 401.
Once we got there, we took a quick trip the ports-potties then went back to the car to stay warm. As we walked back to our car we saw the first corral go off and cheered on Lanni Marchant. Around 8:15 we lined up for the ports-potties again, in a longer line this time, then went to our corral. The gun went off around 8:45 for us.
The route was pretty decent. This was NOT an easy downhill Yonge Street route, and definitely had definitely had multiple hills, but overall it was pretty good! It starts off going around the parking lot, up Meadowvale, around the north side of the Zoo, then makes an entrance into the zoo. I started running 10-1's with my mom, attempting 10 and 1's for the first time, but that was a bad idea and I was unable to keep up with her pace. I ended up trying to do 6-1's but didn't really stick to that either. I did, however, complete the race in 1:13:24.4! Just finishing was an accomplishment for me! Especially having not run in about a week (bad idea!).
this ^ (double blue line) was the longest hill.
It goes up the boardwalk in-between the trees.
One thing I did enjoy about the race was that you passed back through some parts. I liked this because my mom was ahead of me, and Kelly was behind me, so I was able to say hello or cheer them on as we passed each other!
At the end of the race you climb another big hill then go downhill a tad to reach the finish line. After that we received our medals and made our way over to the food area! There were lots of treats here, Realfruit barries, treats from our race kits, bagels, bananas, oasis juice, and Liberte yogurt. There was also a few running gear tents here too. Had I brought a wallet with me I would have taken a peak, but I didn't.
The walk from the finish line to our cars was not anywhere near each other. We had quite a distance to trek. Luckily we survived! On our way out we could have exchanged our shirts, but we didn't feel the desire to walk even further, so we just picked up Alison's race kit and made our way out. The lineup to get OUT of the park was brutal, but bearable.
Overall, I did enjoy this race! It ended up being about $72 to register for the race but I think we got our money's worth! I wish I had been a little more in shape to do it but nonetheless we both finished. My mom finished in 1:08 and I in 1:13. I knew she would beat me and I'm totally okay with that. I'll let her have that, for now ;) The race was well organized, there were lots of bathrooms, great food and great race kits. I definitely recommend this race to anyone wanting a unique 5 KM or 10 KM run.
Here was my post-race shirt and medal.
The medals!
My running race plaque is slowly filling up. So far this year I've received 6 medals and completed, 8 races!
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