Marathon du P’tit train du nord race report 
I registered for this race in 2019, trained for it in 2020 when it was cancelled 16 days prior and finally ran it today, October 3rd 2021!
Packet pick-up was at a sporting store. The runners had to present their vaccine passport (it is the law here, those who don’t have proof of vaccination will get their bib and medal shipped to them after the race for a virtual version) to get into the area and a bracelet was put on their wrist to prove that this validation had been done. I got my bib and shirt very rapidly. It was super efficient and the volunteers were cheerful.
The rest of the race logistics was also impeccable. They had to spread the event over two days (half on Saturday and full on Sunday) to respect the current rules.
This is a point to point course on a linear path where there used to be train tracks. It is a slight down hill the entire way.
I drove to the arrival site and boarded the bus bringing us to the start area. They had announced rain all week but the only time I got some was while in the car. It was a gorgeous Fall day, the conditions for running cannot get better than that.
The starting area had two pre-departure sections where they would get the next corrals ready. Each wave was limited to 250 participants, as per regulations. I was in the 8 out of 12 corral so, at 8:35AM it was my turn to pass the starting line. We were reminded to take off our mask a minute before that.
After consulting and discussing with coach Billy, I had settled on conservative and achievable objectives for my third marathon, my first with a time goal which we set to 4:20:00. That is half an hour above what would be optimal performance, because my training peak had been clipped.
The race plan was steady pace @ 6:09/km except a bit faster km 10-15 and a bit slower km 27-30 to adjust to the grade of the course. To account for walking the water stops and stopping for potential port-a-potty breaks, I had to run between my long run pace 5:55/km and my easy pace 6:05/km. It was easy to spot someone that was doing the same. In general, I found that using unofficial pacers like that really helped me not going too fast, or at least not faster if I was going too fast.
I realized that I prefer running in a tourist kind of way, taking pictures along the way and cheering the supporters, more than focusing on time. The thing is though, even if I was taking selfies and texting them
, it is uncanny how well I can follow a race plan: Average paces were 6:07, 6:07, 6:12, 6:05 for an overall of 6:08! Apparently, I am also enjoying myself more than I think because I got so many people commenting on my smile while running.
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There were a surprising amount of supporters and volunteers spread along the course and I greatly appreciated their presence and cheers. But the best were a cousin and his family that I had not seen in years who came to cheer me. My cousin had run the half yesterday and was waiting for me at km 42. He ran a hundred fifty meters with me and let me go through the finish. It gave me wings and will remain the highlight of this marathon forever.
Official time is 4:18:51 which is a PR by over 31 minutes.
After I said goodbye, I grabbed my bag and the provided snacks: Water, juice boxes, banana, apple, chocolate, protein bars and granola.
I was welcomed home with balloons and flowers, thanks to DH and DDs.
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I was definitely tired by the end, but I had fun, the race had a lot of energy, and I had friends to run with!
