Calgary – Rock the House Run – Race Report

Rock the House Run race results are here.
My Flickr Gallery from the race is here

I was supposed to run, but my cold kept me from participating. So why do a report then? Well, Because I love the race and I am on the committee!

My commitment to the race was pretty much just as an advisor. I have my hands in so many running events as a volunteer that I had to put the brakes on my level of participation this fall. The combination of my own training, the fact that my son started Kindergarten plus all the scheduled activities he is now in, didn’t afford me the time to actually BE on a sub-committee with extra responsibility and such. I hope my level of advisement was worthwhile for the organizers.

I had planned on being more involved where I could during the week prior, but since the race is in support of Ronald McDonald House, Southern Alberta, and the meeting are located at the House, I decided it was best that I didn’t spread the love germs to already immuno-compromised kids.

HOWEVER, I am feeling better by race morning, so I send RD Barb an email and tell her I’d be there as a friendly face/ human interest photographer. Just casual like.

Race Background:

The race changed a ton of things for this year, the least of which was the date. Traditionally a summer race, it was moved to the first weekend of the fall. This proved to be a very good choice, but wasn’t without some stress in planning as there are no less than 6 other endurance events in Calgary and 1 HUGE one out in Banff the day before.

Other changes were: The route, the running store sponsor, the start location, and a few more not too insignificant of changes.

All the extra sweat and stress was worth it for the group as all attendance and money pledge records were smashed! Way to go team!

We also had (on my urging) barefoot divisions for the race. Registration was down a bit from where I imagined them to be, but what I didn’t expect, and I don’t think anyone did, was the 10k barefoot winner ended up being the OVERALL winner of the 10k too! That made having the new categories completely worth it! Way to go #1000! (cool bib # too)

My day was spent milling around, chatting with folks and just generally being merry. I shot 700+ photos all together, many of the more anecdotal variety rather than the standard racer shots. I got lots of those too, but I try to catch the overall feeling of an event in my pictures. My Flickr Gallery from the race is here.

I’m not sure what level of involvement I will be able to commit to next year, but I hope to have a role of some sort with this race. My connection to it is significant as it was my very first fully barefoot race at the 2010 edition.

I am racing this weekend at the Harvest Half. I am woefully unprepared, but it is the race I am most connected to as a racer as well as supporter. I manage their Facebook page, and help with other items on race day. It’ll be a day of fun running with friends! I can’t wait!