Category Archives: race review

Race Report: SaskMarathon Half Marathon, plus 1km

  By Crystal Clarke | May 28, 2017 - 2:33 pm | , , , , , , , , , ,
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Crys half marathon

Race stats: 22.2km, 2:45, 7:27min/km I can’t believe I haven’t written in my blog since February! A former training buddy, who follows this blog, sent me an email a couple of weeks ago and was hoping that I hadn’t written because I was busy training. Indeed, that is what has happened! Today I was rewarded for my hard work. Pre-Race: I had no idea what to expect going into this event. I know the pace that I had been running this year (usually with a run-walk around 8:00 min/km) and thought that I could maybe do better if I walked … Keep reading →

Race Report: Frank Dunn Triathlon 2016

  By Crystal Clarke | August 18, 2016 - 5:30 pm | , ,
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Another year of the Frank Dunn Triathlon! This was my 11th year of completion. I had absolutely NO IDEA how it was going to go. I figured it wouldn’t be pretty, which is basically how it turned out. Something I haven’t done in many many years is race without my GPS watch. I forgot it at home so was left with just my regular ol’ wristwatch with the ability to time me at least. It was strange and I think affected me a bit. Pre-Race: A beautiful morning! Seriously, it was absolutely perfect. It was the best lake conditions I’ve ever … Keep reading →

Race Report: Frank Dunn Triathlon 2015

  By Crystal Clarke | September 14, 2015 - 9:40 pm | , , , ,
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FDTri-0575

It only took a month to finish, but here’s the race report for Frank Dunn! Pre-Race: It felt like any normal race for me. I got up, did my morning routine: coffee, toast, and a banana, sipping water through the morning. Got down to the transition area early as people were just starting to get there. I got my transition area somewhat set up and went to look for Blair, my training buddy. I decided to do a short bike ride up the gradual hill that starts off the bike. It was good to find that rhythm going up and … Keep reading →

Team 50km Ultra Marathon Race Review

  By Crystal Clarke | October 23, 2011 - 2:59 pm | , , , , , , , , , , ,
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Yesterday my training buddies, MellowJohnny and SpeedyK, and I ran together in a team effort for Saskatoon’s 50km Ultra Marathon event. It’s a great fall season event and it was really lots of fun! The three of us had had many discussions about who would take which “leg” of the race. We didn’t know the distances when the discussion began, so we tentatively set it at me doing the first, SpeedyK doing the second, and MellowJohnny doing the third. It ended up going exactly like that! This meant that I would take the longest leg at 17.4km, SpeedyK would take … Keep reading →

Race Report: Ironman Canada 2011

  By Crystal Clarke | September 25, 2011 - 11:33 pm | , , ,
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Ironman Canada 2011: August 28, 2011 Pre-Race: MellowJohnny and I had been planning our Ironman trip for a few months now. He’s not a big planner, but his kids would be with him for the week so we decided to be prepared for it. It made for a different type of pre-race preparation than I have ever been used to. I was definitely less organized than usual and more busy. This made it almost impossible for me to focus on the nervousness that I usually have. Camping in a family setting added more complicated elements. Looking back, I wish that I … Keep reading →

Great White North Half Ironman Triathlon – July 3, 2011

  By Crystal Clarke | July 15, 2011 - 6:26 pm | , , , ,
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I have done this race three times before and four half IMs in my life. After the Olympic a few weeks ago, I wasn’t really sure what to expect for this one. This is how it ended up looking in comparison with other years: Year Total Time Swim Bike w/transition Run 2011 6:32:11 40:03 3:20:30 2:31:40 2008 6:45:41 40:25 3:23:46 2:41:31 2007 6:32:59 43:49 3:15:39 2:33:32 2005 6:41:02 44:43 3:26:23 2:29:56 Upon review of the previous years, it seems that I set a personal best by a small margin. Lucky for me, my other 6:32 was on an Ironman year and … Keep reading →

Race Report: Brainfreeze Half Marathon

  By Crystal Clarke | March 9, 2011 - 8:28 am | , , ,
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This past weekend I ran my first race of the year, the Saskatoon Brainsport’s Brainfreeze half marathon. It is organized by the U of S Huskie Cross-country team, which part of the entry goes to. It is a great cause and it is a great winter race. All that being said, it was a brain freeze, indeed! All week leading up to the race, my friends and I kept checking the weather. “What’s the forecast now?” “What’s the wind like?” The forecast changed almost every day between -17 and -18C. In Saskatchewan, we are pretty famous for our prairie wind … Keep reading →

Race Report: Desert Half Ironman 2009

  By Crystal Clarke | July 23, 2009 - 2:28 pm | , ,
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I found out after the race that it boasts of the most difficult half IM in Canada. In a way, I’m kind of glad that I didn’t know this information going into it. Also, I now know why people do not opt to do this race as their qualifier for Ironman Canada. While it is almost a sure-thing that you will get in, you have to endure the wrath of the Desert Half IM course. This is no feat, I now know all too well. The swim was fairly uneventful. I did have a personal best (PB) for a half … Keep reading →