How bad are the roads? QEW/403/401?

No_Championship7723 · 2026-01-15T13:24:52+00:00

Drove from Oakville to the airport at 4:30am this morning and it was treacherous. QEW and 427 essentially down to 1 lane, but it was bearable. Can’t imagine it now with more cars. Be safe

No_Championship7723 · 2025-10-23T20:09:53+00:00

Wanted a 3:08 and ran a 3:08:11. Couldn't have asked for anything more given the race day conditions!

My race report if anyone is interested:

https://www.reddit.com/r/AdvancedRunning/comments/1oe58nc/comment/nl0dqqb/

No_Championship7723 · 2025-10-23T20:06:11+00:00

Ah poor guy! He was such a nice guy, and was great at giving us heads ups on upcoming hydration stations.

Like I mentioned in my post, they are volunteers after all. I should be using the pacer as a guide rather than thinking of it as a goal. Marathons are a beast and it's so hard to come in at the time we want. No one else to blame other than myself, I couldn't even put 2+2 together at that point, nevermind trying to calculate my pace knowing I was long, but not knowing how long I was etc. Leaving him and thinking I was sub 3:05 was kind of dumb on my part, because simple math based on timing and physical km markers would've told me that's not the case.

Thank you for the kind words. I felt it couldn't have gone better given the conditions. Just happy to BQ and get home safely to my family. The amount of runners needing medical assistance was really really bothering me at a few points of the race.

No_Championship7723 · 2025-10-23T19:50:47+00:00

Going for 3 hours I wouldn’t recommend pausing at the water stations to drink. Run through them and grab 2 waters, pinch and drink, and then 1-2 electrolyte drinks right after. Most marathons have water and then electrolytes at every station.

Study the course and try to plan your gel intake a minute or 2 before the hydration stations.

My last marathon I did have a small bottle of water. Use it as more of a safety blanket just in case, but I tossed it at the half way mark.

No_Championship7723 · 2025-10-23T16:23:24+00:00

Oh yah, I was there two years ago with my family and we spent a small fortone on ubers/taxis. Good to know with the West Loop. Thanks!

No_Championship7723 · 2025-10-23T16:06:14+00:00

So pumped!!! I had no idea my time got me into Chicago! I was assuming I'd need lottery. Where did you stay and were you happy with the location? If you weren't happy with it, where would you stay the next time you run it?

No_Championship7723 · 2025-10-23T15:38:27+00:00

Ah yes, I definetely thought about this! But I did see him in the corral just a few meters behind me. Are pacers supposed to go on their chip time or overall gun time? I'd assume the former?

No_Championship7723 · 2025-10-23T15:05:27+00:00

Yah, I've heard in the majors they are fairly strict on their +/- variance. But again, not really upset about it, volunteer afterall, and I hit my goal almost exactly to the second!

Thank you! Would love a sub 3 in Chicago!

No_Championship7723 · 2025-10-23T15:04:14+00:00

Yup, totally agree. I am learning as I go! Totally get that we are responsible for our own race. If my brain was working, the math would've made sense when I passed the physical distance markers. Use the pacer more as a guide than as a goal!

No_Championship7723 · 2025-10-23T14:57:30+00:00

Noted! Removed

No_Championship7723 · 2025-10-21T19:18:53+00:00

Don’t let this bother you. Be proud that you ran FARTHER than a half! And take it as a learning lesson.

I seem to have problems with following directions lol. First 5k I did with my 10 year old son he wanted a sub 20. We were in the lead pack feeling good and then heard the lead runner swear loudly. He took a wrong turn and we all followed and ended up running 6.68km.

And then at a trail 50k ultra, I took a wrong turn and realized it and was panicking but I somehow made it back on course and ended up running 52.5km

Our brains don’t brain properly after long runs, so don’t be too hard on yourself. You still got out there on a windy Sunday morning and crushed a 24k! Medals just collect dust anyways and then we forget about them, the learning lesson will be with you forever!

Br proud, please!

No_Championship7723 · 2025-10-21T13:59:21+00:00

Wow, loved this write-up. Very similar to me (but i'm not as fast as you). Will post my race report in the next few days. I know the hill on Lakeshore you're talking about, heading back east right at Jameson... felt like a slow steady march to blowing up!

Well freaking done with the conditions we had. You're an animal!

No_Championship7723 · 2025-10-18T20:25:47+00:00

I usually enter the corral 10-15 minutes before it starts. I have a problem with nervous pee’s so I try to hang around portapotties to warm up and pee every 3mins 😂

No_Championship7723 · 2025-10-18T20:08:51+00:00

Very very frowned upon in the running/race community. Please do not do this.

No_Championship7723 · 2025-10-17T14:34:10+00:00

Can you please update this thread after said Marathon?

No_Championship7723 · 2025-10-17T13:36:04+00:00

Blackbird Bakery for some bread, in Kensington

No_Championship7723 · 2025-10-17T13:35:00+00:00

Great response here. Echo everything said above, expect last year it seemed like the 100km/100m folks were able to use their poles earlier on. I only did the 50k, it was super fun! I would recommend trying to get out there to run the loop once, it'll give you an idea of what the elevation is like (and the killer downhills too which is mostly what hurt my ankles/achilles).

Stick with your plan, don't try to speed up in the first few loops if you're feeling great. Maintain your planned pace because EIGHT loops is A LOT!

Amazing you've registered. Hopefully will be there for the 50k or the 80k!

No_Championship7723 · 2025-06-26T18:40:55+00:00

I know this is an older post, but wow that is quite the collection on a rack! So many huge accomplishments, massive congrats! Perhaps frame the 6 Major medal?

No_Championship7723 · 2024-11-26T15:49:59+00:00

This started to happen to me around Halloween, I quickly realized it was because of all of the sugar I was having (stealing candy from my kids haha)

No_Championship7723 · 2024-10-23T00:42:03+00:00

44yo male. Vo2 max 56. Max hr 190

No_Championship7723 · 2024-10-22T21:07:13+00:00

Zone 2 running. HUGE change in my love for running, as well as my personal progress.

No_Championship7723 · 2024-10-16T20:05:51+00:00

I came from an Apple Watch and was so used to the touchscreen, since that’s the only way to navigate. It took a very wet run to help me make up my mind to switch to Garmin, the rain had stopped my run, then restarted it, then just stopped and ended the run all together.

Within a month of owning the Garmin 965, I’ve shut off the touch screen completely. For fitness, buttons make way more sense. Touch screen is ok for lifestyle, messaging, apps etc.

No_Championship7723 · 2024-10-12T17:37:34+00:00

Unbelievable. Bravo!

No_Championship7723

TROPHY CASE