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Wednesday 11 June 2014

Calgary Mara Weekend Fun

The weekend of the Calgary Marathon was BIG. Full of a lotta stuff!
 A party, a shakeout run, the expo...oh my! 

I’ve have been very lucky to have been a ForeRunner Ambassador family for the Scotiabank Calgary Marathon this year. I have met some awesome runners an bloggers and helped to spread the news on all things Calgary Mara on the interwebs. 

And, I have snagged a few invites to some super fun parties like the Calgary Marathon VIP pre race reception event at the iconic Calgary Tower! As I was headed downtown, the train broke and I had to get off and walk to meet the girls for our pre-party dinner plan at Milestones restaurant!
These shoes ROCK, but not for 10 bloody blocks. Had to put on flats to hoof it! 
I met my some of my fellow ForeRunners (Terri, Lindsay and Michelle) along with my hot date Susan, and Lindsay's hot date Angela, for a pre party dinner. We were afraid that the food that the VIP Marathon party might not be healthy enough, so we patio'd it up with water! ha. 

As we arrived at the Calgary Tower, it was time to go on up - 626 feet - to the observation deck to the party. Obvs, it was time for a pre-elevator selfie! 
Once we jammed in the elevator we headed up to the top. Ears Poppin, lots of giggles. 
Once we got there ran smack into the glass floor. 
Immediately took a selfie trying to get  the city view in the background - but my arms were not looong enough! This may have been due to the fact I REFUSED to stand on the glass floor. And, was a little bit ahead of all the gals. 
We (all the other girls not me) got on the glass to take a pic.
Notice my feet are mostly on the not glass part. That is because I was literally shaking trying to get on the glass. Practically phyically impossible for me to do so. Totally chicken. 
----
Unlike Susan who was all gung ho to get on the glass and pose! 
We admired the view of the city...
and then pretty much all squealed when we saw...BART YASSO!!!! 
Terry shoved me telling me to go get him. So I did and said you need a party shot with us bloggers!!
He obliged and then some. We chatted laughed. took selfies...
Tweeted said selfies...
And yes, retweeted the retweets! 

 Thing is, us gals were so excited to see him there...we assumed we could get a shot or two and that would be that! We actually spent the better part of the evening with him! 
And then I asked if Bart would come run with us the next day. So, we made a date! Yes. No big deal. We will just pick you up at the hotel and take you to the Running Room for a shakeout run!! Yup, we hogged Bart for a lot of time, it was SO fun! 

The Calgary Marathon introduced some very special guests: Lanni Marchant (Canada’s fastest woman), Dean Karnazes (heloooo Mr. Ultra!) , Ed Whitlock (Canadian long istance runner who was the first person over 70 to run a marathon in under 3 hours!) and  our boyfriend Bart. The reception was to celebrate local running achievement and welcome the running royalty to our city. They were given our city's highest honour and officially White Hatted.

After the ceremonies there more fun with Michelle and Crystal

 I even took a selfie...full makeup, dress on. Maybe I need to make an effort more often...

The view of the observatory deck really was spectacular - it is 360 degree view ...
 And so the night ended....
And off we went only to meet the next day at 830 am at Bart's hotel! 
Even my watch was excited! 

Sue and Kev were waiting for me, then we waited for Ange and Terry (and Olivia) to arrive.
Let the stalking begin...
It's totally normal to hang in a hotel lobby (and tweet about a run date) right? 
Finally the gang's all here! And time for more pics. We caught Kip Kangogo coming down too!! So he got in the fun! I may have run beside Kip for a minute. (FYI: last summer I passed him in the Edmonton Marathon shakeout run.) He is pretty fast. He did, afterall, win the marathon in 2:19!
Then off we went to the Running room!


And off we went!


Afterwards we snapped some pics with the elites - that is me with Kip and Lanni - both who ended up winning the Marathon (2:19!!) and Half Marathon (1:14)! Legends!! 
Then it was time for the expo... and a few pics with some more running legends
 Ed Whitlock, John Stanton and Dean Karnazes! 
And then a selfie with fellow Tough Chick Sandra!
 A quick massage...a little Active Release on my glute...
And some work at the CEP Compression booth! 
A bit of a jam-packed weekend. Then off I went home for dinner...
and sleep before the BIG DAY! 

Marathon Weekend.
So Far So Good!















2 comments:

  1. Looks like so much fun! How did you get to be an ambassador for the marathon?

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    1. Calgry MArathon advertised online - on FaceBook...and I applied with a letter!! So fun to meet so many great Calgary peeps that way. And other peeps who were not based in Calgary too!

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