No lines at the port-a-potties…

… is one of the benefits of running a Marathon with a total of 1 runners. On my awesome route tomorrow I will pass no less than 15 clean and heated flush toilet washrooms.

Yep. Be very jealous.

The other cool part is having my beautiful wife and my darling son acting as my roving aid station! Because I will have them to re-supply me at specific intervals, I am able to run ‘light’ on fuel and hydration. they will also carry a couple extra BondiBands for me. I will, at 2 times on my run, change into a dry headband.

Yep. I am a very lucky runner.

To be truthful, I won’t be alone for much of the run. I have a few run buddies coming out for various portions of the run. AND, speaking of the run. Here is a bit of an overview of where I will run tomorrow.

I will be in the city, but fully in Fish Creek Provincial Park

Here is a rough outline of the route

There are no leaves on the trees yet, but the scenery is still amazing. It’ll look more like this tomorrow morn.

And here is a picture of what my start/finish line looks like.

My entire course is on park pathways with absolutely no road crossings, lights, stop signs or any other issues to deal with. I will complete 4 out and backs for 42.2kms

1. 10km out and back on perfectly flat and smooth paths
2. 18kms out and back on rolling, prairie  and forested smooth paths
3. 5k loop around a small lake
4. 9.2km out and back on the same path as the first 10k. (flat)

I am going to start running at a 7min/km pace (my half pace is a little under 6min/km) and see how I feel. I have mentioned in recent FB posts that I am pretty unprepared for this. I will complete it, but I have no idea how much time it will take me.

I’m ok with that.

Andrew helped me make the bib(s). I will have mine, obviously, but he wanted one and then wanted one for Mommy too. So my support team has bibs too!

My team will keep me fuelled and Hydrated along the way. I am a big guy, so it takes more than average calories to keep me moving. I will have what's shown, available to me, and my team will re-fill, re-stock me as I run! How cool hey? Maybe I should run 42.3 and a call them my Ultra Crew.

For all of you running you parts of my Virtual Marathon, Best of luck to you! thanks for playing. I haven’t been too vocal on here or your blogs, as my life is crazy right now (hence, the reason I am under trained), but I have been reading everything you have been posting. I am looking forward to reading all about your races this weekend, and I will have some nice prizes ready to draw for early next week. And hopefully I’ll have some time to write the epic blog post I’ve been promising. Lots going on here. That’s for sure.

Oh yeah, in a fun twist, it’s International Barefoot Runners Day tomorrow too! Cool huh?

I’ll leave you tonight with my favourite quote by me:

“It’s not rocket science people, it’s just running.”

d