Iron Rogue: A September of Family Races Part 1: Levac Attack 2013

It was the day we had long been waiting for; now an annual tradition for the whole family - the 2013 Levac Attack! We saw both the weather forecast and the sky itself, and managed to throw a bit of rain gear in along with our Chariot, a bike and helmet for Shark Boy, camera & tripod as well as a boom-box that would play the special “Levac Attack Playlist” I had put together the night before. What we didn't pack were dry clothes...

On the way to Brampton it was pretty clear that this would be a rainy day; no hope of sun peeking out or clearer skies anywhere in our future. I pulled up to John and Lorna’s house to drop everybody off; luckily they have some big trees in their front yard in addition to the tent set up on the driveway so they could stay dry while I went and parked. Of course, that meant I’d be putting the Chariot together in the rain, along with gathering together the rest of our gear.

Final registrations were done, and we got our fabulous Race t-shirts and bibs on. It seemed like everybody was eager to get going (or at least get it over with!) and the door prizes were quickly drawn. The horn sounded and they were off! Between setting up the stroller and herding 3 generations, we always start last, but I suppose that keeps us from having to get passed by everyone (though getting lapped is common on this course anyway).

I had tried to impress upon Shark Boy the importance of finishing the race you set out to do, and that I wanted to see him finish 2 complete laps (for 5.6 km) on his bike. There is an even more important lesson for him though, and that’s to stick by your family and respect your elders. Since his Omi was walking the course and it was pouring so hard, I don’t think they got the complete ‘Soft Taco’ course done, but I’m glad they stuck together.

Speaking of sticking together, in spite of her protests that she was in no shape to complete the 11.2 km ‘Hard Taco’ course (due to missed training runs), and also in spite of the miserable weather, my wife kept up the run for the entire four laps, and I couldn't be more proud to cross the finish line with her at my side (and the Lightning Kid was in the Chariot too, of course!)

You can see some video of our race below. Sorry about the raindrops on the lens, but, you know, the weather is out of my control.

I was surprised and pleased to see what the finisher's "medal' was.... something snazzy and useful, though I waited till I was home to take my modelling pic...

The usual awesome post-race food included fajitas, hot dogs, but I was especially impressed by some of the desserts... one was very tasty, but I don’t know how to describe it... the other was a red velvet cookie with white chocolate chips. Yum!