Before I take you on the road of my most recent spontaneous decision to walk it, let me tell you about the Tartan Ottawa International Marathon. This is arguably the most beautiful marathon course I have experienced. Set along the Rideau Canal in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada’s capital city. About 100 miles from the US border, this international marathon is reasonably accessible.

This is a large race with a small-town feel (close to 5,000 marathon finishers and a 1/2 marathon and 5K offered the same weekend), though it is located in a major city. Even with the extra step of documenting a bib transfer, packet pickup was quick and easy. The Expo was a nice size without being overwhelming.

The race has some options. You can decline receiving the race shirt (green bib choice) and the finisher medal if you choose, allowing for a separate purchase of the shirt. I declined the medal. Savings on the number of medals produced is donated to one of the race charities. Another ecological saving is the use of paper cups throughout the race. There wasn’t a plastic bottle in sight, even in the recovery area.

Runners can park free for the day under City Hall, just steps from the start line. There are plenty of porta-potties at the start, although they were a bit more scarce on the course. From the grand government buildings and gorgeous stately homes to the paths along the Rideau Canal, past the agricultural facility complete with a herd of cows, through the gorgeous Rockcliffe Park and the equally gorgeous homes surrounding the park. All in all, a scenic course with enough hills to keep it interesting.

Enough bragging about this wonderful marathon and onto my experience. Only a few weeks before the Ottawa Marathon I realized I would be in the region the date of the race. This was a race on my ‘someday’ list, so when I saw it was sold out, I asked around in some running groups and found someone through Boston Running Buddies who was registered but not running (thank you Ann-Marie and Roger).

My training in advance of Ottawa was marginal, leaning back on my recent Boston training and only a couple of mid-distance runs since. As the date neared, I played with the idea of simply walking the marathon and enjoying the views. Race morning, with the early warning of a chest cold making itself known, a walk it would be.

I lined up behind the 4:45 – 5:00 group and ran the first few miles to stay with runner traffic. Once the crowd thinned, I changed to a walking stride. I did take advantage of a few downhills by picking it up to a jog, then returned to my walking stride.

A starting temperature of 59 degrees was comfortable with a slight breeze and cloud cover. That gave way midrace to a full sun, but intermittent shade was helpful. A couple of popsicles offered by spectators along the way helped to cool.

I found that walking a marathon distance is no less stressful for my body, but stressful in different ways. My calves became very tight in the last ten miles and at one point the sole of my right foot was cramping. An afterthought was that I don’t actually own walking shoes and was taking on a long walk in my running shoes.

Cloud cover returned as I came within a mile or so of the finish. I continued my walk stride and strolled across the finish line at 5:54:03.

Walking into the runner recovery area, I found the pickings were slim. Someone had previously enjoyed the beer offered in my registration package. There were no runner treat bags left, but I was able to snag a couple of bananas and a couple of the vendors were still providing samples of protein drinks and carb cookies. I was introduced to Xact energy bars, which, if they work for me on long runs, may be more valuable than the beer I missed out on. My Xact sample was delicious and compact in size. I ordered some for upcoming training runs to see how they work for my touchy tummy on long runs.

Although this was a beautiful scenic course to walk, I would like to return another year and run this jewel of a marathon.

Have you done the Ottawa Marathon and did you love the experience as much as I did? Have you made a decision to walk a marathon or any other distance?