If you were anywhere along the Vancouver Waterfront on Sunday October 13th, there’s no way you could have missed the Girlfriends Run Half Marathon/10k/6k. This annual event, brought to us by Why Racing Events, is pretty epic.
First off, when you get there, all you’ll see is a SEA of Pink. Girls dressed in pink, pink tablecloths, pink booths, even pink recycling bins. This backdrop is the perfect celebration for the Pink Lemonade Project, which is the event’s beneficiary that raises money for breast cancer. The “Girl Power” vibe of this event is off the charts.
This day is all about women celebrating other women and women being strong for themselves and strong for each other. Men are out there too, many fighting their own battle or one for the women that mean the most to them.
I needed to get a taper run in before my marathon in a couple of weeks and my friend Sherri convinced me that The Girlfriend’s Run would be the perfect way to accomplish this. Because why not run along the gorgeous Vancouver Waterfront surrounded by badass ladies and have some aid stations, porta potties, and a marked route to help me along?
What I wasn’t anticipating was how BIG this race is. When I attended The Scary Run last year, (another Why Racing event in Vancouver,) I didn’t have any trouble at all finding parking, so I was perhaps going into this run a bit too casually. I arrived an hour before the race, and the race venue was HOPPING. There was no free parking to be found, so I got in line to park in the new parking structure.
After I got out of my car, it was a short walk to the start, and I really enjoyed the festivities of the morning unfolding before me. There were lots of booths everywhere and so many happy faces bopping around in colorful outfits. The weather was also absolutely beautiful, a crisp Fall day that was almost warm already at only 8:00AM. Overall, it felt pretty impossible not to be happy in that environment.
The lines for last minute packet pick up and porta potties was long due to all the crowds. I was grateful my friend had picked my packet up with hers the day before. There was also a bag check option with no line, and this was fortunate because the day was heating up and I had overdressed and I now had a chance to ditch my top layer. As the event got closer to GO time, there was a dynamic warm-up and the national anthem. Our race took off right on time.
Since the 10k and half marathon start together, I had convinced my friend to run the 10k so that she could stay with me for the first 5 miles of my half marathon. It was a little cluttered at the start, but it didn’t take long to clear of crowds, and as we circled around Esther Short Park and ran along the waterfront, the sun started getting warmer and brighter.
There were lots of aid stations, with water and Gatorade being offered as early as mile 1. The course was relatively flat in my opinion (but maybe that’s because I’ve been doing hills,) and it was well marked with lots of great signs along the way with great empowering messages on them.
After my friend and I parted at mile 5, I got to run through an idyllic wooded area that really showcased the beauty of the season, and there were several more opportunities to run along the waterfront. Miles 10 and 11 weren’t terribly inspiring along a boring stretch of road (and right when you’re feeling like you’d like to be done,) but it was flat/downhill before heading back to the waterfront and to the exciting start hub for the final finish line.
It was also lovely getting to see all the women in their pretty pink racing gear and tutus, all out there encouraging all the other runners and walkers no matter if they were ahead or behind them on the out-and-back areas.
At the finish line, a fireman greeted me with my finisher’s medal. The medal is gorgeous as are the pretty pink shirts that came with packet pick up. After I crossed the finish line, I headed over to the grub area where there was fruit, chocolate chip cookies, cinnamon rolls, some beverage options, and vegan chili that was DELISH after the run. There was another tent where they were serving mimosas, and a tent where they were giving massages. Overall, everyone was having a great time when I left.
I would love to do this race again. It would be awesome to run the entire thing with a girlfriend or a whole tribe of girlfriends. Because that’s what women do .. They support each other through their many journeys great and small.
Yes, it was an incredible day. Why Events organized and delivered a great event for a great cause.
It was so much fun to see all the pink !!