.Nov 6: The first in person Army Run run in Ottawa since 2019.

As I understand it, in previous years the Army Run has had 3 options to choose from: the 5K, the 10K, or the 21K race, plus the Commander’s Challenge, which is the 21K + the 5K.

And if you’re a special sort, you also run the 10K – all in the same morning.

Last year I ran the 21 + 5 virtually; meaning me and a few others ran it together in Toronto.

This year though, while there were virtual options for the various distances, the in person challenge was the 5K + 10K. The 5K kicked of at 9am, the 10K at 10am, so basically a 5K warmup, a 30 minute break, and then the 10K.

A good few of us were out from Crossfit Colosseum in Etobicoke, and Carmen was running her first ever 10K race – following up last weekend’s 9K Day of the Dead race. (She killed it.)

The 5K Race

The 5K race kicks off with a cannon blast, then a slow move up to the start line as the runners were released in waves.  Then we headed into through the streets of Ottawa, then up towards Parliament Hill, and then a nice long run beside it – there’s a video down below. A left turn after the hill for about another K,and then a k back to the finish line.

It was a nice run, some gentle hills, but nothing too bad. I clocked a pretty decent time on this race, with an average pace of 5:09/km – I’m pretty sure thats a PR for me.

The weather for this day was incredible. Though it was November 6th, the temperature was about 20 degrees Celcius – summer weather basically, so it was shorts and Tshirts all the way.

At the conclusion of the race we passed through the finishing area, where they gave us our 5K medal, a bottle of water, and a cookie (maybe other snacks too).

Paul and I finished very close to each other and had about 30 minutes to wait for the start of the 10K race. We were joined by Carmen, about to run her first ever 10K!

The 10K Race

The 10K race followed the same inital route as the 5k, but then added on about 5K at about the turnaround point from 5K, taking us up and around the grounds of Rideau Hall. I’m not sure if the Governor General was in, but I didn’t see her.

Eventually we pulled back and retraced the the steps from the previous race to the finish line. The biggest hill I think was in the last 100 metres or so, leading up towards the finish line. It wasn’t bad, but certainly the second time around it required a little more effort to get over it.

My pace wasn’t as quick for this as it was for the first race, coming in at 5:44/km, it was a nice run, and great be running in our nation’s capital.

Did I mention that Carmen killed her race? Cuz she did!

Looking forward to doing this one again next year.