My friend Dani invited a few of us to go to Vancouver one weekend in October to run the Rock-n-Roll 10k. It ended up being a crazy weekend for most of us to get away, but we had registered months before, so decided to go anyway. It was a super fun weekend! We had a fabulous time. We drove up to Vancouver on Friday evening. Traffic was horrible and it took us way longer than we anticipated. We got into town right as the Health and Fitness Expo (which was where we were supposed to pick up our race packets) was ending. Dani pulled up in front and the rest of us ran down a long hallway at the Vancouver Convention Center and were the last people they let in. Unfortunately, they wouldn't let Dani come get hers later, but she was able to pick hers up in the morning (even though they had initially said no packet pick up on race day). It was a crazy start to the weekend!
After packet pick up, we found our hotel, checked in, and then went on an adventure to find some dinner.
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| View from our hotel |
We knew we wanted Chinese food, so we found this great dumpling place. It was fun to watch the chefs prepare the dumplings while we waited for a table.
The dumplings were amazing!
We had such a great time!
The next morning we arrived plenty early for the race. We weren't exactly sure how long it would take us to get to the starting line, pick up Dani's packet, etc., but everything went super slick, so we had oodles of time. The starting line was right down next to the water with amazing views. But it was super cold. And we had at least an hour to wait.
So, eventually we found a bus that they were using for gear check and asked if we could wait inside. It was a bit warmer there.
Ready to go.
The race was spectacular! The course was beautiful, all along the water front with great views of the city skyline. I kept wanting to stop and take pictures, but couldn't of course. We had a great run. We did the 10k at a 9:10 second pace, which was a personal best for me. And it felt fabulous!
We hadn't even planned it, but we all wore our Ragnar team shirts to race.
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| At the finish line--Vancouver 10K |
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| Heading back to the hotel after the race. Beautiful fall leaves! |
After we showered and got ready, we took off on another adventure: The Capilano Suspension Bridge.
It was super cool! Way more impressive than I thought it would be. The craziest part is that the bridge was not steady. It swayed all over while walking on it. It took a lot of balance to walk over it without stumbling.
The view was gorgeous.
Besides the suspension bridge, there is a series of bridges throughout the trees. It was amazing to walk through the forest suspended high in the air.
Everywhere we looked, the views were incredible.
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| The cliff walk at Capilano Park, Vancouver BC |
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| This glass platform was way high up in the air. |
After walking and exploring all through Capilano Park, we found some lunch. The others convinced me to try sushi, and guess what? I liked it.
We drove home, chatting the whole way. It was an awesome weekend. I'm so grateful for such great friends, who are so uplifting, positive, wonderful people.
