Memories from my first race “It was draining but made me desire to do another”

Do you remember your first race? One of our bloggers opens up and shares the story of his early running days.

This summer, we’ve been asking runners to share with us memories from their first ever race. This week one of our bloggers, Noel Paine, tells us about racing many years ago in Nova Scotia when he was a child. He used to visit libraries to raid books and magazines for as much running information as possible. Now, 28 years later, he runs and writes about the sport.

Runner: Noel Paine

Race: Run Nova Scotia 10K

Age then: 12

What inspired me to race: My elementary school gym teacher ran marathons and was extremely fit. The inspiration started there and continued when I’d watch Olympic athletes on TV. I used my dad’s Timex watch and started training. Laps around the house led to runs along the rural Nova Scotia roads where I lived. That led to my first race. I convinced my parents to let me sign up for one of the races and to drive me to the race an hour away from our home in Cook’s Brook.

How I trained: My training consisted of running home from school, running along the side of the road in the country after school almost every day. That was between three and 10K. On weekends, I’d do something longer like 10 to 13K. I started running in high-top basketball sneakers before tears from shin splints and some reading made me figure out I needed real running shoes.

When I was in high school, (Grades 7-12) I would occasionally run home from school. The full distance was 19.1 kilometres, but normally I ran three to 10K. I would often run home from school after giving my school bag to a teacher who would drive by the end of my driveway and drop it off. 

A bit about race day: I remember just feeling sick to my stomach which felt like it was tied in knots. I would feel sick but still have to pee about 10 times before the race. Being young and inexperienced, I was scared and unsure of what to expect but being new made things easier. I knew I could run 10K but as for pacing, I had no idea. I remember covering my first mile in not much over 5-minute mile pace and remember the last mile being much, much slower.

A memory that stands out:  I remember struggling to keep up with a pot-bellied older runner. I finished just over 40 minutes. I remember being exciting to the point of nausea. It was tough and draining but also filled me with desire to do another.