So, this isn’t the usual post-race recap.

Unfortunately for me, 11 days before race day, I sprained my ankle on a trail run. All those long runs in the snow and rain, and up and down those crazy hills around my house were for naught. Was I going to sit at home and feel sorry for myself? Heck no! My husband was running the race, and three friends from Vancouver were also coming over to run the race. The thing about being a runner is this: if you don’t race, you volunteer at the race or you cheer. I was going to cheer.

My husband and I got up early and drove up to Courtenay, packing two large and noisy cowbells. Immediately upon entering Race Central at the Florence Filberg Centre, we saw the first of our friends from Vancouver. Within a couple of minutes, we saw our second friend and his girlfriend, Kathleen who was also there to cheer. A few minutes later, we saw our third friend from Vancouver.

Kathleen and I positioned ourselves down the street from the start line and got to see the fastest runners taking off, including Natasha Wodak and Dayna Pidhoresky, who are both looking to qualify for the Paris Olympics with one more chance at the Hamburg Marathon. The Comox Valley RV Half Marathon would be a good warm-up for them.

When I’m running a race, I’m somewhere in the middle of the crowd and never see the frontrunners, except on out-and-back courses. When you’re cheering, you get to see it all. Watching the fastest runners break the tape is so thrilling! I was lucky enough to catch the male and female winners, Dusty Spiller and Natasha Wodak break the tape.

After catching Dayna Pidhoresky come in as the second-place female, I made my way back along the route about 150 metres from the finish to catch my friends coming in too. While waiting for them, I made sure to ring my cowbells for all the runners coming in.

After the race, I caught up with our friends from Vancouver and friends I have made throughout the race series. Everyone had great races, and there were even some PBs! Do you all mind if I take some credit for giving you all a little boost with my cowbell ringing?