My first half marathon led me to Canada...

3/20/2016

I did it! My first half marathon!! I chose this half marathon in Maple Ridge, BC because the timing worked well with my upcoming trip to New Zealand. This course was half road and half trail. To start the weekend out - we ate at a local Italian restaurant where I had my pre-race pasta meal Saturday evening with Kelsey and Ian -and they gave each of us ladies a carnation after dinner. How sweet is that?

Carnations from the restaurant...sweet!

My sweet, and long time friend, Kelsey came up with me to support me...we had a lovely time together.

For the start of the race... the weather was temperate with only light sprinkles throughout, as I started on the road section to the Golden Ears bridge. This was the first out and back section and it was definitely a lot steeper on foot than the previous night when we drove over it!

The view of the bridge in the distance - whew looks steeper now

View of the Fraser River while going over the bridge

The "corkscrew" at the far end of the bridge which led to the other side of the bridge for our return

After the bridge section, came my favorite section, the trees! This was a sweet section of trail with trees all around.

The tree section, may favorite part!

Then came the very long, and never ending gravel section - this led to the final turnaround - which seemed to take forever! The last 3-4 miles of this race were the longest!