Me and 50,000 of My Closest Friends!

A friend of mine encouraged me to join him in running the 27th Annual Vancouver Sun Run this year. Although I’ve been familiar with the Sun Run for years, I’ve always been more attracted to the sights and sounds of trail running, so I've never given much thought to participating in a road race with 50,000 others. Regardless, I’ve been pounding the pavement quite a bit lately so a timed 10k sounded like it could be fun.

So I registered and we were lucky enough to be greeted with blue skies and sunshine on race (which helped the Sun Run lived up to its name). The start line atmosphere was what I’d describe as organized chaos; with almost 50,000 runners corralled into their respective starting positions spread along 6 city blocks. Picture the busiest outdoor concert you've ever seen and you'll get the idea. After the national anthem was sang, with music festival like participation from all, the race finally got going. Prior to the race I thought that the intial km or 2 would be quite congested and slow due to the large crowds, but it was actually quite a fast pace right from the get-go and things really started to thin out after about 3km.

If the saying "the more the merrier is true" then the Sun Run would have to be about the merriest race there is. The 50,000 runners alone are enough to boost anyone's running ability. Couple that with the thousands of volunteers, musicians, and casual observers that line the course you end up an incredible sense of community and support. I’d recommend this race to anyone. The amazing variety of people and that come out and take part in this race is a testament to just how inclusive an event the Sun Run is. Beginner or Expert runners can challenge themselves with the 10k distance, and persons of all physical abilities are able to participate in the event as well. I can now see why the Sun Run has grown to be the overwhelming success that it is!