With the registration for the Ottawa Half-Marathon approaching full capacity and winter creeping up, registrants need to adjust to colder temperatures and tougher training conditions.
The Tamarack Ottawa Race Weekend will take place May 23-25.
The most popular event is the Scotiabank Half-Marathon, but the weekend also includes the Scotiabank Ottawa Marathon, the Ottawa 10 Kilometre, the HTG Sports Ottawa Five Kilometre, and the Ottawa Two Kilometre.
The half-marathon attracts about 12,000 runners and is already sold out.
Those who have signed up should already be looking ahead, says John Halvorsen, director of the Race Weekend and former professional runner.
“As race organizers, we do hope the runners are training now, certainly by the new year,” Halvorsen says.
However, as Ottawa nears below freezing temperatures, and snow begins to fall, it can become harder for runners to stay motivated towards their goals.
Halvorsen says mentally the cold and short days can be tougher on people. However, he says there are ways of overcoming such challenges.
He says runners need to be prepared, and ensure they have the right clothing for the conditions.
“In Ottawa there are plenty of days where the city does excellent jobs of plowing the sidewalks and you can still get very good running conditions,” says Halvorsen.
“But there are those days where the conditions are not great, and my experience is you just really need to plow through that.”
The Running Room, located on Slater Street, offers annual training sessions for the marathon, starting in January and February, to help people meet their goals.
Phil Marsh, regional manager of the Running Room, says these clinics are among the store’s most popular.
“For people who are just starting out or if it’s their first marathon, having a group dynamic really helps,” says Marsh.
Marsh notes that signing up for the group sessions becomes a big motivator for many of the participants.
He says joining the group makes it less tempting to plop down on the couch after a day of work.
“By doing this you have a group that you are committed to and you can connect with so it makes things a bit easier.”
Marty Yshikawa, a personal trainer who also often leads a group at the Running Room, says attendance for groups lowers about 30 per cent as the weather becomes colder.
He says a lot of people are fair-weather runners.
But it’s important for runners to find incentive within the motivation to continue training in tougher weather.
“I can tell you all the benefits of continuous training,” says Yshikawa, “but on those mornings when it’s 35 degrees below with the wind chill, there’s not much I can do. You have to determine for yourself a reason for doing this, whether it is a New Year’s resolution or to cut five minutes off your race time from the previous year.”
Yshikawa notes that when he follows up with his clients after the marathon, those who are not training throughout the year are the ones who are more likely to become injured come race day.
This upcoming year will mark the fourth straight marathon for Yshikawa, who started running as an easy way to lose weight.
Yshikawa also says while winter weather can be tougher to train in, stubbornness and planning help.
“I will layer up in winter time and I’ll make sure I stay hydrated. A lot of people ignore that. Just because it’s cold doesn’t mean you won’t sweat and your body won’t lose water. When it comes to weather if it’s really snowy, we have no real option, you just have to slow down and take it easy.”
The 10-kilometre event at Ottawa’s Race Weekend was awarded Gold Label standard on Nov. 4.
Gold Label is the highest standard awarded by the International Amateur Athletic Federation and Ottawa’s 10 kilometre is the only road race in Canada to receive the recognition.