So how did our little NP Montréal team, Le Cirque du Sore Legs, fare against the fierce competition in the RunAround125 relay race last weekend? Well, let us tell ya…
– Dora
July 6, 2019: What a day. Branded as Le Cirque du Sore Legs, the November Project Montréal community came together as a team, and achieved an amazing feat at the RunAround125 race last Saturday.
With a strong support crew comprising of Jemal (pacer), Fauve (driver), and Laurent (mastermind + many other roles), our 6 running warriors ran around the Island of Montreal in a relay race format, and finished in 2nd place with a very commendable time of 8:19:11 (that’s an average pace of 4:01min/km!! Or, 6:28min/mile for you non-SI unit people).
To be honest, nobody expected these results. Not our competition. And certainly not ourselves. How did this happen? Is it because we are all used to functioning in the wee hours of the morning? Or maybe it was because we are #weatherproof and are trained to handle all kinds of environmental conditions (torrential downpour? Check. Over 30°C + 90% humidex? Check!)?
Some credit definitely has to go to the best mobile cheer train, Sophie and Silvana, who followed us by bike in the last 15K and “really lifted our spirits” (Jo), putting the team into “beast-mode with their cheering!” (Jemal).
Flo thought our strong performance could be attributed to the strategic work of Laurent: “La strategie s’averera payante, nous ne sommes pas les plus rapides individuellement, mais avec ce roulement, on evite de trop se fatiguer et on garde un bon rythme!”. But, Jacobane also made a good point, that “finishing 2nd was a very unexpected ranking, but then again, November Project breeds athletes”! Ohhhh ya we do!!!
Whatever the case, this crew demonstrated what it means to #justshowup for each other, and in doing so, accomplished so much more.
“It’s hard to really nail down what the best part of this event was as the entire experience was incredible” (Tom)… but here are a few highlights, from the perspective of our team members:
- [ Jacobane ]: Before this race, we didn’t know each other very well and even asked ourselves what we did for work during our breaks. But I think we can all agree that this experience has brought us closer. Sitting 8h30 in a smelly, sweaty car together, enduring a good amount of pain, peeing in bushes, sharing pictures of nasty humongous blisters.
- Despite sustaining a severe allergic reaction to a bug bite the night before the race, you showed up and raced like a true Jacobeast! We were all “super impressed with how you didn’t cave in to the foot blisters and ran as amazing as usual” (Laurent).
- [ Flo ]: Pendant toute cette journee on a le temps de mieux se connaitre avec mes coequipiers, rester 8h dans une voiture avec 3/4 personnes ca permet de tisser des liens! On aura donc partage des rires, des jujubes, des mauvaises odeurs, de la fatigue, et surtout une super experience.
- Truly, the sharing of sweat and smelliness in a confined space…it really helps break down barriers! Flo, thank you for shouting words of encouragement each time I was about to pass you the baton – you really made me push to the end!
- [ Mathieu ]: J’ai beaucoup aimé l’expérience du RunAround; particulièrement son format de ralais par équipe. Toute les courses que j’ai faites dans le passé étaient individuelles et l’ajout de coéquipiers pour une course aussi longue rend l’expérience super plaisante.
- It was super plaisante indeed! Especially the loud cheering and silly faces you made each time the car drove by. Your energy kept my spirits up, and definitely helped keep our momentum going – thank you, the Jangly Man!
- [ Jo ]: I was so impressed and grateful for everyone’s teamwork, communication and patience throughout the whole day. Holy moly did we exceed our expectations, just WOW!
- WOW is right!! I can still see Jo’s speedy legs moving SO fast, keeping our team in the lead at one point during the race (picture proof below!!). My goodness, can she hold her own. Jo, you really are a POCKET ROCKET!
- [ Tom ]: The frenetic swapping of runners every kilometer or so, running way faster than we thought we could (especially in that heat!) and, especially in the beginning, being able to run side-by-side with your competition before the gaps widened; all of this was exhilarating and it’s not something I will ever forget.
- SO. MUCH. ADRENALINE. And so much SUPPORT:
“I feel too tired for my next leg” you say, “I’ll do 100m more for you” Tom replies. 100m might not seem like a lot but when you run at a 4min/km pace for a good chunk of the day, every inch feels like miles” (Jacobane).
- SO. MUCH. ADRENALINE. And so much SUPPORT:
- [ Jemal ]: I was a little nervous to take on the responsibility of pacing these formidable runners. But damn!! Once we got the engines going, I was feeling the adrenaline rush in everyone, as they got close to passing over the baton. What I saw in the faces of Dora, Jacobane, Mathieu, Jo, Tom, and Flo is something I’d love to experience again!
- “What a team player and an incredible support! Jemal, you’re absolutely awesome! And I think everyone in the Circus has discovered a special love for seeing you appear in the distance!” (Laurent). Ain’t that the truth!! Thank you, Jemal, for pacing us unrelentlessly and with the biggest smile each time. The positive energy you radiated was a real game-changer!
- [ Fauve ]: My best memory of the day was seeing the crew roll into the final exchange point… there was definitely some magic in the air. Smiles and excitement all around. Seeing the runners accompanied by our cheer squad on wheels and organizer-extraordinaire/photographer sparked something special in me. That’s when it really hit me, this was much more than just a 6-person team, we’re all truly in this together.
- Fauve was the only team member who sustained an injury during the race (had a nasty duel with the cement parking lot of a Tim Horton’s during a pit stop). But, “even with bruised hands and legs, you kept everyone’s spirits up – driving, cheering, motivating and reminding us of safety measures!!” (Jemal). “None of this would have happened without you!” (Laurent).
- [ Laurent ]: It was absolutely amazing to watch it happen along the way on my bike, take pictures, cheer our team and all the others around and just taking part in this memorable day! To all the Cirque du Sore Legs warriors, you were all so inspiring and strong in their unity, percivirance, resilience, and positivity (note: the emotionless computerz brain that I am has wet eyes just thinking back on it); it was pure absolute beauty!
- Laurent was mostly behind-the-scenes, but truly the backbone of this team. Putting the team together, planning the race strategy, supporting the team by bike on race day and taking photos… “you did one hell of a job putting this together” (Jemal).
So, there you have it. We experienced so much together as a team that day. We had so much fun. And if there is one thing that we all agree on, it is this: the best part of the RunAround125 race were the friendships developed. The strong feelings of camaraderie. The powerful sense of community and pride.
