Around the Bay 2026 is done. And I survived.

I completed the race in 3 hours 53 minutes and 36 seconds. I was about 4 minutes slower than my time last year.

A mantra that I kept repeating to myself during the run was: You are running your race. You are only competing against yourself.

It kept me in check when I got the urge to increase my speed. Stay on pace.  It’s not a sprint.

Although I ran a little slower, my legs didn’t hurt as much this year. Last year after the race, Tara and I were hobbling home. This year, I was able to walk without any hobbling.

So.

30 kilometers. It’s a long way.

It was approximately 36,000 steps, according to my Garmin.

I lost 3.8lbs during the run. Which I will gain back by tomorrow, of course.

And to add insult to injury, I had to walk a couple of kilometers to catch a bus to get home.

Long distance running isn’t for the faint-hearted. Or the sore-footed.

I started in the “White Corral” with all the other slower runners. We were at the back of the pack for the whole race.

But there was still jockeying for positions. As I ran, there were people around me that I would catch up to and pass. And then they’d catch up and pass me.

Which is why I had to remind myself to run “my” race and not get caught up trying to pass others.

For me, the interesting thing is the last 5 kilometers of the race. Most people are slowing down. Including me.

In the final kilometer, I increased my speed slightly. There wasn’t much “gas” left in the tank.

Usually, I do a sprint in the final 100 yards or so. This time, it wasn’t a sprint, it was a push. Earlier than usual and a bit slower than usual. But I was able to maintain it.

And pass a couple of people that had passed me. 

I repeated the mantra.  The goal was to increase my pace slightly, not to pass people.

I was still running my race, but it helps when you can see that you are moving faster even though it doesn’t feel like it.

And being able to maintain that push is the thing that I’m most proud about for this race. Finding some extra energy when I was certain that I had already used it all up.