Race Preview: Around the Bay 30K

1907 Around the Bay

Around the Bay is the oldest road race in North America... but it's only 30km, not 42.2km, so it doesn't get the full respect that the Boston Marathon does (oh, and it's in Hamilton, which is kind of the opposite of Boston).

8,500 will take on the 30km (plus a bunch of relays, 5k runners, etc).

I last did this race back in 2009... I've always meant to go back, but if I want to give Paris to Ancaster a serious run in early April, biking has to trump running in March.  This year my goal is the Toronto Marathon, so it fits perfectly as a dry run.

Goal

I want to just hold my planned marathon pace of 5:05/km.  This is considerably faster than what I ran in 2009 (5:22/km), but I'm in considerably better shape.  It's also in line with my result at the Peterborough 1/2 marathon.

If I can manage that pace over a pretty tough 30km and still feel pretty good, I will have the confidence for the 42.2km in a little over a month!