Two weeks ago, I was made aware that there was a shortage of cadence rabbits for the Deux-Rives marathon. I figured it would definitely be a great way to do a long outing, help other runners and have fun. I took part in a test of this event only once, a 10km, when I started running. At the same time, it was therefore an excellent opportunity for me to reconnect with this event.
So I was chosen (I think I was the only volunteer) to lead ambitious runners to the finish line in 1h30. The day before, I pulled out a list of the passage times to respect, knowing that we would probably lose a little time going up towards the Quebec Bridge and that we would save a little time going down towards Champlain Boulevard.
I got up around 5am on Sunday morning, had my normal lunch (not my pre-competition lunch), then made my way to the bus departure site around 30am. On my way, I passed a lot of runners who saw rabbits for the first time. I also understood why those who were rabbits once do it again: everyone is about 7 times nicer to you. The people you meet in the street all say "hello" to you, those waiting for the bus with you ask you questions or make jokes on your ears and the volunteers make sure that all is well for you. As I walk towards the buses, I'm in a t-shirt and shorts and… I'm hot. I tell myself that I really made the right decision to be a bunny and not come for a while.
On the bus, I sat down with a very nice guy who started running the year he was honorary president of the Rimouski marathon. We already had something in common: a love for this nice marathon. We discussed everything and nothing. It's crazy how running can bring people from all walks of life together in one minute.
We arrive around 8:05 am at the start site of the half marathon. No time to go to the bathroom, it is better to go directly to the start. I explain along the way to those who ask me that my strategy will not be to do 10 minutes of running and one minute of walking (as written on my t-shirt) and that I will be slower on the way up and faster on descending.
Km 1-2: These kilometers are quite flat, we eat up a few seconds on the time and I note that many left too quickly, as usual. At the 2nd kilometer there is a group of about 30 runners around me. I therefore explain my strategy for the tenth time and tell the riders that it is better to start “cutting the turns” right away, in order to save our legs for later. I immediately notice that some are not at all in their place, they are out of breath after 2km, but I still don't feel comfortable enough in my role of rabbit to tell them to slow down, maybe the next one times ... or maybe it's not the rabbit's role ...
Km 3 to 7: During these kilometers, we slowed down the speed to around 4: 25 / km, so as not to break our legs on the climbs and to allow us to recover once on the Quebec Bridge. At the 7th kilometer, there are about 5 of us in my group… I think that's normal, given the heat and the difficulty of the course. In Quebec, if you are worth about 1:25 on a half cool and flat, you should aim around 1:30, except that few people do that… At the end of the bridge, after 7km, we are about 1 minute behind our objective.
Km 7 to 15: It is necessary to take the delay of the bridge. I advise runners who I am with to take the shortest route whenever possible. They run inside the curves, they cross the road as slowly as possible (longest diagonal). You don't always think about it, but it's probably the least painful way to reduce your time by about 10-20 seconds… On the other side of the bridge, we have the wind at our back and the weather is very very hot. I'm thirsty, but I give priority to “real runners” and I advise them to pour cool water on their heads in order to cool down. At 15km, we are "on pace".
Km 15 to 21: I try to be as regular as possible. I encourage runners to find key words, to encourage themselves. We are starting to catch up with people who are walking or who have “exploded”. I try to encourage them as best as possible. At the 20th km, there is a gel station, I wonder what they are doing there with the gel, nobody takes or hardly… In the last kilometer, I realize that we have about 30 seconds in advance, I therefore encourage all the runners near me to catch up, to overtake me, to give their all. In the last 100m, on the red carpet, I let those who will come in pass me and I cross the finish line in 1:29:52. Mission accomplished.
I will do it again! Congratulations to all those who braved the temperature and in particular, Rino, whom I hardly saw the whole route, but who broke the 1h30 in rather extreme conditions ...
Hey hey, thank you…. Yeah 1h29and54sec… You didn't see me… But I never lost sight of you… so you “pulled” me to the finish line ……… .Thank you and very good bunny job you did… ..
Great game plan and you were a great bunny, thank you. I had a heat stroke at 13 km and I was really in the red, so I finished pout pout with a smile !! Thanks to Daniel Riou for the good work!
Thank you for this race story!
It must be motivating to follow a rabbit! I wanted to follow that of 2: 00… But I did not see it from the race after the start… On the other hand, towards the 15th km I heard the spectators say while looking a little further behind me: ”I see the 2:00 rabbit, he / she must not be far… ”… I never looked back to see how far this rabbit was, but my goal until the end (what a difficult ending!), was never to see it… I succeeded! Finished in 1:59, probably right in front of him!
@Karine, Bravo, goal accomplished!
@Richard I think you weren't the only one suffering from the heat… I hope I gave you a hand!
@Rino Thank you, good job as a runner you did 😉
This is how I like it. Not with minutes of walking. Well done!
One day I would like to follow the 1h30 rabbit! Thanks for this story!
Thank you for this beautiful story, you write really well and it's fun to read you. In any case, to read you, I would have liked to have you as “cadence bunny” for 2:00 even though I'm convinced that the other bunnies did an excellent job.
Quick question, how many days of rest should we take before resuming training after a half marathon?
Interesting Daniel, we relive our half-marathon a bit by reading you even though I was not in your group.
Thank you Daniel for this story. It is always very interesting to read you. I'm not fast enough (yet) to keep up with you at this pace, but my goal was to try and keep up with the 2h rabbit. Finally, he will always have been behind me. I finished in 1:58:49 in my very first half marathon and I'm very proud of it. I have only been running since August 22, 2011 and I had all the difficulties in the world, at the beginning, to run for just one minute… that is to say how far I have come. Thank you very much to the rabbits!
@ François: me too, I much prefer that! Well done by the way for your excellent marathon considering the conditions ...
@ Marie-Pier: maybe one day!
@Karine 1: For having met them on Saturday, I think most of the rabbits were very good…
@Karine 2: Complete rest: 1 or 2 day, relative rest, if you have given yourself fully, 21 days… In fact, to fully recover from a MAXIMUM event, we give ourselves around 1 day per km traveled during the competition
@Antoine: I hope you have good memories 😉
@Paul: Well done, I think personally, I am always a little more proud of those who go far (running 1 minute) than those who have it very natural. In fact, to have merit, it is not necessary to run fast, but to have progressed.
I have been running since the end of March, with the aim of doing the half in less than two hours, finally, in the 17th, I hit a wall, and I had to take 7 minutes of breaks, I found the courage, I say courage, because I had more energy, and I finished, with pride, in 2:12. I really underestimated the event, and next year, with over a year of training, I will reach my goal. Thank you for your summary of the race, you gave me great emotions again.
I would like to join your team! I am a racing fan too!