Benny Bulldog 5k Trail Run

Yesterday, I ran in the Benny Bulldog 5 k Trail Run in Dartmouth's Shubie Park. The event was in support of St. Leonard's Society to help homeless men and women in HRM. I saw a number of people I knew at this run, most of whom were there because they are part of Heart & Sole Running Club in Dartmouth, but also a former SMU rugby teammate of mine as well as a fellow Sigma Chi whose company Winmar Restoration was the event's main sponsor. These chance meetings represent the serendipitous side of the running community. If not for running, I would probably never seen the SMU rugby teammate again and it had been many months since I had talked with my fellow Sigma Chi brother.

There were 116 participants this year, about double the number of runners at last year's event. Almost all of this increase was due to the hard work of my sister Michelle Kempton (with me in the photo above), her husband (and also a Sigma Chi) Gordon Crooks and their friend Tori Greff, who organized 45 Heart & Sole members who ran in the Benny Bulldog 5 k Trail Run yesterday. Great job, you guys!

I must also thank the event organizers Stacy and Tim Chesnutt, who obviously worked very hard to co-ordinate the run, as well as the numerous prizes that were donated by local companies (I won a gift certificate to Sushi Nami!).

After the run, Heart & Sole had a potluck picnic at Shubie Park, which was a nice time to meet some other club members and for me to try quinoa for the first time!

This run was a good one, but my Friday night pre-event training of going to a buddy's house to play poker, eating junk food, and getting home at 1:00 AM didn't exactly help me. I was hoping to break 30 minutes for the 5 kilometres, but ended up finishing in 30:57. Granted, trail running, with hills et cetera, is different from street running, but I was a bit disappointed. To me, this result proves the importance of rest and proper fuel for one's body -- not just for races, but every day.

I am only going to run once more before Bluenose, so I am not running tired on race day. See you at the Bluenose!