Wednesday, February 24, 2010

Ghost Runner

What a gong show it was trying to register this morning for Melissa's 22km Road Race in Banff this September. Registration opened at 7am and I knew it would fill up quick so when I got to work at 7:30 I tried to sign up...no dice. The website was giving me errors and I was having all kinds of issues. I assumed it was because of the volume of people also trying to get into this ever so popular race that caps out at about 1500 I believe.

Anyhow, since it wasn't working on my work computer, I figured I'd try through my iphone...and it worked! This is to be Andrew's first ever half marathon so I decided to sign him up first in case there was an issue. Well i'm glad I did as after I signed him up, I had all kinds of trouble again and then eventually it ended up saying "Race Sold Out"!! Argh.

Anyhow, I've decided this is a good thing afterall as now i'll just ghost run it alongside of him as he rocks out his first ever half marathon, wahoo! That is of course, providing he doesn't turn out to be some insanely fast runner and I can't keep up...in which case he'll be on his own!! lol. Don't worry, I won't plan on crossing the finish line at the end since I won't officially be in the race...I've never run a race without a bib but I came across this story which I think is pretty insane...

"I got up Saturday and ran the Thomas Wolfe 8k. I love the fact that the race takes you through serene Riverside Cemetery. But the most startling action occurred at the end of the race, when organizers spotted a "bandit," an unregistered runner who ran the course and came across the finish line. The main race organizer angrily shouted at the man, who sort of shrugged it off. Another organizer came up from behind the runner, ripped the guys iPod ear buds out of his ears, bumped his chest, then shouted at him and threatened to have him arrested if he ever did that again."

3 comments:

  1. I tried once after 8:00 and had no problems. I guess I just got lucky.

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  2. Naughty bandit. Better at least photocopy a bib:

    "There is no waiting list because we accept 10% more entries than the quota, to address the no-show factor. These quotas are imposed by Parks Canada and The Town of Banff. Bandit Runners will be pulled from the start line to keep us in compliance with these restrictions, in order to maintain our "Working Together" relationship with Parks Canada and The Town of Banff."

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  3. Hmmm..."anonymous"...is that you Garrath? Anyways, thanks for the info. So stupid! Whatevs, I'm sure I can find a bib if I really want one...and if not, then I'll just cheer my boyfriend on along the way!

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