Usually I would not plan a weekend away just to run a 10K. Since taking one wrong turn on my runs through the woods can turn a 3 miler into a 5 miler, paying for a 10K seems a little silly. This one was different. My sister and I ran the Seattle Rock 'n' Roll Marathon in June. Shortly after, I received an email advertising the Vancouver half-marathon and 10K. If you ran both Seattle and Vancouver, you get a huge shiny medal with a seaplane THAT MOVES between the cities on a map. I had to have it. Seriously, look at this thing!
Vancouver is one of my favorite cities to visit. It's beautiful, clean, friendly and has great food. The 10K ran along the seawall from one end of Stanley Park to the other. Every mile (kilometer?) of the run was gorgeous with calm waters, fall leaves, sweeping views... aaaahhhhh! I was in seventh heaven stopping to take photos every five minutes. The best part was that I was surrounded by Halloween costumes. I ran with Ariel, Sebastian, Flounder, and Ursula. I sprinted (ok, ok, pranced) by the Mad Hatter. A family of minions and Gru jogged by at a water break. It was awesome! Mike and I ran the actual wall for parts of it which totally stressed out the ladies behind us. They were really sweet. In the end, I was all smiles with my giant glittery Pacific Pursuit medal.
This was my second trip to Vancouver. The first was with a couple of friends seven years ago when I first moved to Washington. This time I went with family. We explored Gastown and watched the steam clock while trying fancy coffee and great food. We took the Seabus over to the market at North Vancouver and explored Granville. Definitely worth a visit. Oh and if you're looking for brunch, Scandilicous has the most fabulous waffles and can accommodate celiacs and vegans!
