Soccer Season is Approaching

Some people have been asking what I've been doing with all my spare time right now. I think this video pretty much explains it (except pretend it's soccer and not hockey!) as the soccer season starts again in a few days.

Celebrity Coach in Saskatchewan?

Ever since Kent Austin came to coach our Saskatchewan Roughriders something has been bothering me. No, it's not that he's white. No, it's not that he's producing a winning team (I like that a lot!) The problem is that every time I saw him on TV in an interview he reminded me of someone. I could never focus on what he was saying because all I could do was try to figure out who he looked like. I've finally narrowed it down to 2 different people and I need your help in figuring out who he looks like.

Is it this guy...Mark Cuban...owner of the Dallas Mavericks and worth about $5 billion or something like that.









Or this guy...Mel Gibson...famous movie actor who can help you claim your "FREEDOM!!"













Let me know in the comments who you think it is....maybe there is some sort of long lost connection here!

Can't Get Enough

Although it seems I barely have time to update this blog, I've decided to start another blog more focused on something I really enjoy. No, not soccer. No, not golf. No, not Coke. Give up? It's going to be The All Things About Marketing Blog!

I love marketing and everything about it. I like contests, commercials, activations, sponsorships, etc....and what I really like about them is offering my own opinion on them!

So come on and check it out. It doesn't look amazing yet as I just put it together, but you'll definately want to bookmark it to keep on top of all the fun and crazy things going on out there in the marketing world!

Go there...right now....right here!! Why are you still reading? Click the link already!

News Flash

The national Tim Hortons office just phoned me and confirmed my worst fears...Tim Hortons is switching to Pepsi. Now I'm just wondering if Wendys will switch as well since they are owned by the same company.

Let the boycott begin!

Halifax Here I Come

It is actually quite a ways away yet, but I found out on the weekend that our company is putting on next year's Canadian Sponsorship Forum in Halifax. Every year we put on this forum and we partner with a major event which makes the forum very exciting...although with the amazing speakers we have the forum is amazing on its own (little plug there!). So can anyone guess what major event is happening in Halifax next year in May? (hint: look at the picture)

That's right! It's the IIHF World Championship. Our company is partnering with them and I will most likely be in Halifax for this great event. The best part is that we also get to go to one of the games. Any guesses which one? (long pause) It's the Canada vs USA game! Now truthfully I'm not even that big of a hockey fan, but it will still be cool to be able to be there for this game. I'm just hoping that some of the big name hockey players don't make the playoffs so they will be there to play.

So if you want to join me, sign up for the forum here (once the new website is up) and I'll save you a seat at the game!

One Big Party

I made it back from the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) and it felt good to be back in my own bed again. There were so many celebrities there like Brad Pitt, Angelina, Matt Damon, Kevin Bacon...and I didn't see any of them! Actually I think they all left earlier in the week, except for Kevin Bacon who actually was downstairs in the theatre while we were watching George Clooney's Michael Clayton movie on Friday night. I had an amazing time in Toronto and really the entire trip can be summed up in separate phrases: NO SLEEP; FREE; COLD

NO SLEEP

In case you forgot I was at TIFF because our company was putting on the Canadian Sponsorship Forum and were partnering with TIFF for it. So during the day I spent all my time attending sessions, helping out where needed, meeting delegates, etc. Then in the evening it was just party, party, party! I was out partying every night until somewhere between 2:00am - 3:00am. That wouldn't be so bad except that I had to be back down at the forum and working again by 6:30am -7:00am. This basically meant no sleep, but it was worth it.

The first night we went to a party with just our delegates to Casa Loma. This was an old historic castle and was pretty cool. ET Canada was using the castle to do some filming so there was a lot of ET stuff around. When we left I even saw Cheryl Hickey up on the outdoor stage doing her show.

After that party was over around 9:00pm we went back to the hotel, hopped onto another bus and went to the after party of the movie premiere New York City Serenade. It was sponsored by Audi and Hello Magazine and it was packed in there. It was a great party and after leaving I also got a gift bag, but it mostly had girl things in it like shampoo, a hair straightener, a book, etc. Not too much I wanted. (Yes, the picture below is of a co-ed bathroom with a glass wall with water running down it!)

On Saturday night we watched the closing night movie Emotional Arithmetic and I was so tired I dozed off for a bit. After that it was off to the Official Closing Night Gala party at the Harbourfront. I finally made it back to the hotel around 3:00am and back to my room by 3:45am as we all just hung out in the lobby for a while. Needless to say, there was very little sleep.

FREE

The coolest part about all the parties was that everything was free. Every party we went to had free food and drinks and some people took full advantage of it. Not being much of a drinker I stuck mostly to Coke, Sprite and Red Rain (similar to Red Bull). The problem with the food was that it is mostly appetizer type food and so although you are eating all the time you don't really feel full. There was some larger type food around. At the Cosa Loma party there was curry chicken which was really good. At the closing night gala there was a lot more including mini burgers, spicy chicken, crepes, lamb stew, cornbread, etc. It was really good but the lineups were really long and so Ididn't eat much until much later in the evening.

COLD

Somewhere along the line someone forgot to tell all of us that the closing night gala party was going to be outside...right along the harbourfront! This meant all the cold air from off the lake was blowing right into the party area and it was COLD. Most of the girls were wearing cocktail dresses and were instantly freezing. But after people started drinking they started to forget about it. Also, most of the guys instantly lost their suit jackets and the girls were wearing them to keep warm!

Later on in the night I decided it was time to warm up and wanted to sneak into the VIP lounge which was indoors. Another guy and I went over there and noticed that security wasn't really checking people for wristbands so I walked right on by them and nobody stopped me. There was practically no one in there so I ate some food (no lineups in there!) and then the other guy came in too. I noticed a back entrance leading out of the area and asked one of the server girls what was back there. She told me the kitchen. That's odd I thought as I saw people coming and going from near there. Then she told me that I should go upstairs to the VIP lounge which was much nicer, which was also through that back entrance. I glanced down the hallway towards the staircase that led up to the next floor where the VIP lounge was. There were two big security guards blocking the stairs and checking people for blue bracelets before they were allowed up there. I put my thinking cap on and decided that I had to get by them either with a distraction or by pretending I belonged there.

Then it hit me. We grabbed a drink each and when the server girls went from the kitchen to the upstairs we followed right behind them. We walked right past the security guards and they never stopped us as they figured we were with the girls. It worked like a charm and we were up in the VIP lounge. It was much warmer in there with nice white couches, etc. I went out to the deck and they had a table with marshmallows on skeweres. Then the girls roasts the marshmallow for you over a flame and you can then dip it in either dark or white chocolate with some sort of alcohol in it. It was really good! We didn't see any real famous people up there, but then again I wouldn't recognize them anyway so there could have been.

Finally we left and went back to where everyone else was. The party ended shortly after and we all went back to the hotel. It was great to get back into my bed again!

Overall it was an awesome time there. Too bad I didn't see more celebrities, but maybe next time!

Wanna Go to the Grey Cup?

Anyone out there want to go the Grey Cup? And I don't just mean get tickets to the Grey Cup as that is really just a small part of it. Going to the Grey Cup means going to experience the whole thing!

Chunky Soup is giving away a Grey Cup experience to some CFL fans and I think Saskatchewan fans have the edge. Maybe you'll see when you read the contest details from Marketing Magazine:

The contest was inspired by the tradition of pre-game “tailgate parties,” and focuses on Campbell’s Chunky Soup brand. To enter the contest, consumers must submit a video or photograph, along with a description, of their own tailgating activities to the contest microsite, cbcsports.ca/tailgate.

The submissions will be judged by a panel comprised of representatives from the CFL, the CBC’s football broadcast team and Campbell’s. Some submissions may also be aired on CFL on CBC pre-game shows, which are sponsored by Campbell’s Chunky Soup.

So there you go Saskatchewan Roughrider fans! It's time to show Canada what a real tailgate party looks like! Of course, I've never actually been to a tailgate party, but if you want me to appear in your video let me know and I'd love to make a cameo. All I ask is that if you win...take me with you!

Michael Clayton Trailer

So why am I posting this movie trailer? Well, it just so happens that this is the movie I will be going to see at the Toronto International Film Festival. Our company is hosting the Canadian Sponsorship Forum and we are partnering with TIFF to put it on. It should be a fun time and hopefully I get to go to a few fun parties...maybe George and I will even sit together at this screening! I'll let you know how it all went when I get back.

Something Has To Change

For the last few years I have seen our University of Saskatchewan Huskie soccer program say the exact same thing over and over. "We need to get more fans in the stands," says Bryce Chapman. "We need to tie our team into the community and get the young soccer kids out to the game," he keeps saying. Now that Tom Lapointe has become the new women's head coach it has turned from a solo into a duet with both of them singing the same song. It would be music to your ears...if anyone actually listened.

Which of course they don't. And the reason I know they don't listen is that although the same song is sung over and over I never see any changes made....and by they I mean the Canadian Interuniversity Sport (CIS) and Huskie Athletics. I totally agree with the lyrics to Bryce and Tom's song, it's the system that has to change. Now I don't know for sure who makes up the schedule for the season, but whoever it is, they are part of the big problem.

The problem is that they schedule the games at a terrible time: Friday at 12:00pm for the women's game and then 2:00pm for the Men's game. Now I don't know about you, but I have to work on Friday afternoon until 5:00pm. I think the majority of the people in Saskatoon, including all the kids that play soccer, are busy Friday afternoon and cannot make a game at 12:00pm.

You don't see this with any other sport. Football always plays their games Saturday afternoon at 1:00pm (with the odd exception of a Friday night game under the lights). Volleyball and Basketball is always played on Friday and Saturday evening starting at 6:00pm. All ideal times to go watch the game with your family.


Now I realize soccer is a little different. Basketball and Volleyball always play double headers against the same teams...one game Friday and one Saturday. Soccer plays one game on Friday and then that team travels to another university nearby and plays them the next day. This travel time may affect the scheduling, but it can still be worked around.

Here's what I suggest the schedule should look like:

Saturday afternoon 12:00pm - Women's game
Saturday afternoon 2:00pm - Men's game (remember, we have lights at Griffiths so this is fine)

Sunday afternoon: 12:00pm Women's game
Sunday afternoon: 2:00pm Men's game
Teams then travel home after the game.

This schedule change would allow local kids and families a chance to actually see the team in action. This would not only inspire the players as the stands would be more full, but it might help the soccer coffers through the small $5.00 admission charge to get in and maybe one day we could actually offer some scholarship money to the players.

I'm tired of all the talk and no change happening. The truth is that until those Friday afternoon games are rid of the soccer program will never truly be able to engage the community and attract the large soccer crowd this city has.

Boston Pizza Going Downhill

Reading in a current Marketing Daily email I receive I found out that Boston Pizza is looking at getting rid of its agency DDB Canada. Now I have nothing against DDB Canada (except for those fat yellow and blue guys), but those ads they have been coming up with are terrible. I didn't like the one with the gigantic hands family because I kept thinking that if I ate there my hands would look like that. Then they pulled out the Louie the Sasquatch ads. Right from the start I thought that was a terrible idea. I mean seriously, do you want to eat in a restaurant with a sasquatch that sneezes everywhere because he smells pepper? They were trying to appeal to families with those ads but clearly missed the mark. The only time I think that ad could have worked was back in the 80's when Harry and the Hendersons came out.

Now I haven't eaten at Boston Pizza in a while and with terrible marketing like that I'm not sure I will any time soon...but I think I'm also a little biased. Boston Pizza used to be good back in the day and I loved it...then they turned to Pepsi and everything went down hill. You do the math...I have!

When the Going Gets Tough...

Last week I was at my younger cousin's wedding down in Swift Current and the pastor talked about how it used to be that when the going gets tough, the tough get going. And how now it seems like when the going gets tough, we just walk away. The proof is in the pudding when you read this article on how more couples are getting divorced after 30 years of marriage (linked via this guy's website).

Now this post isn't about marriage or divorce and no, Shiela and I are not having marriage problems. It just got me thinking about this saying and how I hadn't heard it for a long time and yet it is so true. It reminds me of another saying, that nothing worth doing is easy to do (or something like that).

I like it when things are easy. It's great when someone walks up and hands you something for free. I like it when I am good at something and don't have to work to be good at it. I like it when things are done for me and I don't have to do them. Reading this as I type it makes me sound really lazy, but that's not true. I'm sure everyone else would agree that they feel the same way a lot of the time...who wouldn't? I often look around at the people I know and are amazed at how good they are at things...whether it be carpentry, wood working, real estate deals, financial planning, website building, music playing, etc. I look at myself and wonder what I can do. I'd love to start my own business and people tell me to just do it, but it's tough to start a business when you don't have a skill people want or need.

I think that saying also stems further for me. I'd love to lose some weight and get back in shape like I was in high school (or at least close to it). I'd like to be wealthy. I'd also love to have a closer relationship with God than I do. The thing is that none of these things will come true without putting some work into it.

I had a great time listening to an old Delirious album on the way back from Swift Current as I drove home alone and the two songs I played many times were All I Want Is You and Obsession. Spending that time with God was great as I was able to just sing the lyrics to the song Obsession.

So I'm not sure what this all means, but I guess I'm just doing some soul searching and writing as I think. And there is never a better time than the present to get going on all this stuff. So as the lyrics to All I Want Is You say, I think it's time to put on my God shoes/ And do what I'm here for/ Raise the flag again.

C95 Really Big Wedding

If anyone listens to C95 in Saskatoon you have probably heard about their new big thing...the C95 Really Big Wedding. I think this idea is wrong and feel sorry for the couple involved.

I was listening to the radio when it all happened. C95 had a big surprise coming up and it ended up being this guy proposing to his girlfriend on the radio! Ah, that's a neat idea I thought to myself. Then, Shauna said there was another surprise for the couple...C95 was going to pay for the whole wedding, or at least a lot of it. They were going to play little contests each week and if the couple won the contest then C95 would pay for more of the wedding. As it turns out, I think C95 is now paying for all of it.

At this point in listening I was not impressed. The poor couple is on the spot asking if they want C95 to pay for the wedding. Well, of course they did, who wouldn't? And I'm glad C95 is doing it. The problem I'm finding is that C95 is doing it all just for them and according to their plans. For instance, the wedding is taking place at 8:00am on Sept 21! Yes, that is 8:00am in the morning! They want it at 8:00am just so it can be on the morning show. Now I've been married before and I know that it takes a while to get ready in the morning with all the hair do's, etc. and so if the wedding takes place at 8:00am in the morning I doubt any of them are going to sleep the night before. C95 was also a part of everything else involved in the wedding. They planned the wedding dress shopping, the stag, the stagette, etc. What ever happened to having the best man and maid of honour plan those things? They also only had about 1.5 months to plan it all , send out the invites, etc!

In my opinion, I think C95 is butting in the way of this whole thing and this poor couple is having to abide by all of the C95 rules to get it paid for. I think some things are just not worth it.

What do you think?

Great Windup and DVD

When I tell people I coach soccer at the Under 12 age, I usually get the "awe, that's cute" look. I don't think people really understand how good these kids are, especially at the Premier level which I coach. But I'm ok with that...unless you are involved with it you don't truly understand.

Just came back from my soccer windup and it was great. At the end of last season I was telling some of the parents how I wanted to create a DVD of the team on the progress through the season, etc. One of the parents told me he had a friend that does that type of thing and was really good. So he spoke to him and the guy said he would do it. The parents did the video taping and picture taking and this guy put it all together.

Tonight I saw the finished product on a huge projection TV with a great stereo system. I was expecting a really good 5-7 minute DVD with videos and pictures to a song, but this DVD was long (probably about 20 minutes!) and it was awesome. I loved it a lot and the parents gave me a copy as a year end gift.

I tried to post it online here for you to view, but unfortunately I don't know how. So you just have to read me talk about it...if you come over to my house I'll gladly show it to you.

*If anyone can tell me how to do it I would love to show it to you online

So Many Things...So Little Time

I'm a big fan of summer. I could honestly do away with winter completely. The problem is that with such a short summer there is so much to do and not enough time. And the problem I have now is that I like to be good at the things I do. I never expect to be the best, but I want to be good. I'm finding this very hard to do with so little time.

There are so many fun things to do in summer like soccer, tennis, slowpitch, camping, hiking, running events, triathlons and of course golf! And that is just to name the sporting things. I want to do all these things all the time and yet I don't have the time to get good at everything. In order for me to get my soccer skill back I need to be practicing a lot more. I finally got back into tennis this year, but in order for me to get that hard top spin return going I need a lot of practice. I LOVE golfing, but in order for me to consistently shoot below 100 (yeah, I'm not that good) I need to be out there a lot more.

I'm struggling with this because winter is coming upon us and I am trying to decide what to devote my time to this winter. I want to do a mini triathlon and that would mean getting a leisure card and training all winter. I also want to get my soccer skill back as I feel I've lost it, and so I'm planning on playing men's league and co-ed. I also want to get better at tennis and was debating getting a tennis membership for the winter at the tennis dome.

What do you think? Any ideas on how to be good at everything? Is it possible?

Funny Ramblings

This is a hilarious little video so thank you to my sister in law for sending it to me. I was watching it alone and still laughing out loud and almost crying (I think a tear may have even fallen). It's not "football in the groin" type funny. Rather it's more like Jerry Seinfeld type funny...sort of. You'd better just watch it right now!

WARNING: This video is rated PG due to some uses of vulgar/swear words

Going...Going...Gone!

I'm sure most people that read this blog (which is basically me, my wife and some guy from Norway) have all been to an auction. They can be a lot of fun. Bidding on items you really don't want just to increase the price all the while watching the other guy glare at you because he knows exactly what you're doing. Actually, I think I've only been to one auction before and that was a livestock auction as a little kid. I didn't dare move a muscle because I was afraid I'd be bringing home Betsy.

But now there is a whole new type of auction you can go to....a house auction! That's right. Forget Sask Houses or any realtors. All you have to do is hire an auctioneer and hold an auction right in front of your house. With today's market the way it is, this is a great way to get the maximum amount for the house. Here are some great reasons to sell your house via an auction:

1) Don't have to wade through all the offers you receive

2) Get maximum value for your house because people will keep on bidding if they really want it

3) Sell your house in less than an hour

4) It's risk free: If you don't get the price you want, you just don't sell it!

Buying a house via a house auction would also be great. Putting in your bid and finding out later you lost the house by $1000 can be really annoying. At an auction, you would know right away and be able to bid a little bit higher if you knew that was all it would take to get the house.

So if anyone is interested in it I know a great auctioneer in Saskatoon who does exactly this. He's a great guy, very experienced and extremely nice so go check out his website at Bodnarus Auctioneering.

Want a Job with Facebook?

Being on Facebook now has made me be on that website a fair bit keeping up with everyone. And always one to keep my eyes open for opportunities, I happened upon a small word at the bottom of the Facebook login page that said jobs. So of course I clicked it and what came up was amazing...it was like a fairy tale job with so many perks it was unreal.

Here's what they list under their Benefits:

Facebook rewards its employees with great salaries and options packages, plus numerous benefits and perks:

• Medical, dental and vision plans with no premium for employees
• 401(k) plan
• 21 vacation days per year, plus 8 company holidays and 2 floating holidays
• Complimentary catered breakfast, lunch and dinner daily
• Complimentary beverages and snacks
• Dry cleaning and laundry service onsite
• Free downtown parking permit
• Subsidized gym membership
• Catered Friday Happy Hours at the office
• $600/month housing subsidy if you live within one mile of the office
• Standard-issue 24" LCD monitors and your option of 15" Apple MacBook Pro or IBM ThinkPad
• Worldwide notoriety by having your face on sample Facebook Flyers

Wow! Excuse me now while I quickly go email them my resume!

Too Hot to Play Soccer? Never!

On Monday something happened that was absolutely ridiculous. The Saskatoon District Soccer Association decided to cancel all 7:00pm games because they said it was too hot. What's with that! The temperature was about 35 degrees Celsius outside in the afternoon. Of course there is humidity and all that too but according to the weather network, with all that it was still only 39 degrees.

Now I'll admit, that is a hot day compared to what we normally have. But seriously, why would we cancel soccer games just because of that? The only reason to cancel a soccer game is 1) too much rain because the fields get wrecked or 2) a natural disaster. The SDSA cited "players health" as the reason to cancel the games. Give me a break! We are all adults that play in this league. If it is hot outside, then you need to be sure you take care of yourself so you can play soccer. This means drinking lots of water beforehand and also during the game. The league doesn't have the right to cancel games because they think I don't know how to take care of my body and prepare for playing in the heat. There are a lot of places further south that have these temperatures all the time and they don't shut down their leagues all the time because of it.

I'd like to find out which other leagues cancelled their games due to the heat. Did the slowpitch leagues? Did the Ultimate Disc league? I highly doubt it! I'm obviously not the only one to complain about it because they now have a poll on the SDSA site asking if they should cancel games when it is really hot and humid out.

Heat is a part of life and we have to be able to deal with it. Just take care of yourself and you won't have to worry.

What do you think? Should the games have been cancelled? (They let the 9:00pm game be played, just not the 7:00pm game)

Hbc Run for Canada

If you are wondering where I've been for the last few months I'll tell you...in the hospital recovering from that 10K run back in May!! Just kidding (I've been out for at least a week already!) Actually things got so busy for me with the Hbc Run for Canada that I just never felt I had the time to come online and post things. I preferred to spend my time surfing everyone else's blogs and seeing what was up.

The Hbc Run for Canada was great! I was the Event Manager this year which meant it was up to me to make sure everything went well. Although stressful at times the run was an amazing success! Tarra, the person I hired to be our Marketing Coordinator in Saskatoon for the event, did a great job and really worked hard to make sure the event was a success. I don't think she slept at all in June because she seemed to be working day and night. Overall we had more people than we had last year, better medals for everyone this year and even more entertainment than last year. We also had a lot of food and Coca Cola beverages for everyone which was really good. If you haven't participated in an Hbc Run for Canada yet, you should set aside July 1st, 2008 and be a part of it as it is arguably the best running event around.

After the run was over I ended up going to the U20 World Cup soccer games in Edmonton and saw Mexico play New Zealand and then Canada play Congo. There were 22 of us there and I had bought all the tickets almost a year in advance. It was a great experience to be there and we really enjoyed it!

As for the rest of July I have been coaching my U12 soccer boys (which is almost done now) and we lost in extra time in the semi final and didn't advance to the City Finals for the first time since I've coached them. That was too bad as the boys played their hearts out, but that's life. We have one more tournament on Aug long weekend and then it's over and they all move up to the U14 age group and I will no longer be their coach (sniffle, sniffle...I'll miss them a lot). I've also just joined Facebook and am figuring out how it works...I've found a lot of old high school friends on there which is fun!

So I'm going to try to keep this blog going with more regular entries. I may write a few more detailed posts about the things mentioned above but I'm sure more will happen in my life adventures over the next few weeks...there always seems to be something to talk about!

The Run

The alarm clocks sounded and I was awake in an instant. To be sure I woke up on time I had set 3 different alarm clocks 2 minutes apart...I don't think I needed any of them. I was so anxious about my first 10K run I could hardly sleep...well ok I slept awesome but I wasn't going to sleep in!

After a great breakfast of oatmeal (a little hint from Jason Warick who is Canada's 2nd place ranked athlete in the Marathon) I was out the door and ready to roll. I arrived at the Start line early...actually very early. So early that when I got there they hadn't even put up the Start/Finish arch yet! I wandered around thinking there must be something to do, but there wasn't. I just kept walking around because I was feeling pretty stupid just standing in one spot.

As the people started filling into the formation area I noticed people doing something and it seemed to be popular. I finally had to stop one of them and I asked them what they were doing. "Warming up," she said. "Yeah, I hope the sun comes out too" I answered back as she scantered off apparently trying to find the sun to "get warm". Why is she wasting her energy before the run I pondered to myself as I slowly walked around.

Finally what seemed like hours later I was finally among all the people waiting for the gun to go off. I had managed to find a few people to run with during this race...or at least run with them until the last km or so and then it was every man for himself...at least that was what my competitive nature was saying. I actually managed to find a bunny and was going to follow her right through to the end. This "bunny" was going to hop her way along the course and she guaranteed me that if I stuck with her we'd get to the finish line in 58 minutes. That was perfect because I was bound and determined to finish this race in less than 60 minutes. The bunny told me her strategy was to stick hard to the right hand side so that when we hit the curve we'd be running less distance. I couldn't believe this...strategy for a running event!! This was awesome!

'Bang' - the gun went off and....we all just stood there. Apparently it's not possible for 1700 people to all get through a 10ft wide Starting arch at the same time. But it wasn't long and the crowd started to move and off we went. I was whipping along following my bunny down the track...I was running a bit faster than I was used to but I couldn't lose sight of the bunny as she was my ticket to reaching my goal. I slowed down a bit and let my dad catch up to me. With my eyes still closely on the bunny I chatted with him for a bit. His heel had been hurting him and so he wasn't sure how he would do in this race. He then told me not to worry about him and to run my own race. Very well then, and I picked it up to catch up to that bunny...man could she hop fast!

The adrenaline and the crowd made the first 3km go by in a breeze. Coming up to the first water station I was super pumped...I had always wanted to run through one of these! As I ran through the volunteers held out the cups and cries of "Water!" and "Gatorade" filled my ears. I grabbed three of them and I have no idea why. I just wanted to grab as many as I could. I put the first one to my lips and nearly choked to death! Drinking water on the run is hard! I then threw the second on over my head just for fun. The third one I didn't need and just chucked it on the ground as hard as I could...so much fun!

As I kept moving on I realized that I didn't really get much water at that station...I'd have to be a bit more careful at the next one. I was still doing well and I was right on pace for finishing within 60 minutes as I was running about 5:50 per km. But then there it was...the wall.

I knew the wall would be out there on the course somewhere and at about the 5.5km marker I was about to run right smack into it. The other runners I was running with were further ahead now including the bunny. I thought I caught a few glimpses of those pink ears but she was too far gone. My dream of finishing within the hour was dimming but not gone. I finally kicked myself and burst through the wall and into the 6km water station! I know had no one to run with as they were all ahead of me...or were they. Suddenly out of nowhere I passed one of the girls that was originally in the bunny group with me! We teamed up and pushed each other on as we both wanted to finish within the hour.

The run up Victoria was long. We came up to the intersection and the cops had the streets blocked off. Ah, 8th street I thought. As I ran on by I glanced up at the sign...TAYLOR!! Oh no!!! That means 8th street is still like 10 blocks away! Nothing like discouraging yourself when you already can't breathe anymore and yet you continue to torture yourself. I pushed on and finally made it to Victoria bridge...or should I say falls. The road we ran down towards the bridge was practically a 90 degree angle! I thought picking up speed on the downhill would be a good idea but before I knew it I was like a runaway train. I was barreling down the hill and I couldn't stop or I'd wipe out. I flew down the hill and as I tried to make the sharp left hand turn I couldn't quite make the corner. My foot hit the curb and I tripped and fell onto the grassy hill. People started yelling and one lady screamed. I rolled a few times and then just got back up and kept on going! Thank goodness it was grass! After that every time someone passed me they said "How's it going trainwreck!"

It was almost over and I could almost taste the finish line...wait...no that's just grass from that hill before. I was exhausted by this time but still on pace for the finish of 60 minutes. And then heartbreak hill loomed before me. I thought nothing of it at first but my legs weren't fooled...this was not easy. The girl Iwas running with couldn't go on and so I was on my own. My pace slowed down and I started hallucinating. People passing me were riding this escalator up the hill...I tried to jump on but then it would disappear and everyone would start yelling at me. I would step off and it would reappear and everyone was happy again. I was the only one who had to run up this hill!!

As people sailed by on the escalator I thought it was over...and then there he was. My dad was just ahead of me...I had caught up to him!! I surged on and managed to catch him at the top of the hill. That last surge was all I had left for energy and I could now barely move my legs...and then my dad started to pick up the pace. "What are doing?!?!" I yelled. "If you want to finish in 60 minutes we have to pick it up!" he replied. "I can't anymore I said, I can barely move. Why did you slow down at the end here?" I asked him. "I wanted you to catch up so I could run the last bit with you," he said. That really meant a lot to me and I kept pushing on. My dad could have easily finished the race in under 60 minutes but he decided to not worry about his time and just help me reach mine.

My dad kept urging me on and somehow I managed to put one foot in front of the other. I'd get to the point where I just couldn't do it and I would start to speed walk for 2 seconds...but then my dad kept encouraging me and so I started running again.

And then there it was. It was like the entire area was aglow with a bright white light at the end of a tunnel. I shook my head quick and was back to reality...whoa, I really am close to dying! As I looked out again into the distance I finally saw it...the finish line. Up until this point I had never run farther than 6km and I was about to finish 10km. I glanced at my watch and saw I only had 30 seconds to go before I missed my goal of 60 minutes. My mind said yes but my body said no...my body won. I gave it everything I had for that last km and at the very end my dad told me to go ahead and finish first. Then from out of nowhere with the crowds cheering and chanting my name I managed to find the energy to "sprint" (or run a bit faster) across the finish line. As they announced my name over the sound system the dream of finishing had come true and I had clocked a time of 61 minutes and 56 seconds.

The only thing I wanted to do at that point was drink a Coke and lay down and die. I grabbed a Coke, went to the grass and proceeded to pass out from sheer exhaustion. As I lay there nearly dieing, the hallucinations started coming back. I glanced to the side and there was my bunny, sitting on the grass, her big pink ears still on with the words 58 minutes written on them...and she had finished the race in exactly 58 minutes. I rolled onto my back again and fell asleep...next time you silly rabbit!!