Originally Posted: http://www.runningmania.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=21076

The Maniaslam challenge is to complete 7 races in 1 year, at each of the following distances:

- Half Marathon
- Olympic Tri
- Half Iron
- Ironman
- 5k
- 10k
- Marathon

So far I think Stella is the only one who has completed it. My first race in the challenge was the Vancouver Half Marathon on May 6th, 2007. I am planning to finish it on October 7th with the Royal Victoria Marathon.

Unlike most weekends, I didn't have my kids this weekend because I had to go to a wedding on Saturday night. So I planned 2 races, 24-hours apart, so I could check the 5k and the 10k off my list. Yesterday was the 5k (20:32), and today was the 10k.

Today's race was the Port Coquitlam "Trail River Run" 10k. There is also a half marathon that starts at the same time. At the package pick-up yesterday afternoon, I found out there were only about 45 people signed up for the 10k, and about 100 people signed up for the half marathon.

The wedding went pretty late last night. My girlfriend was the maid of honour, and her daughter was the flower girl. (I think having a daughter makes her a 'matron' of honor, but I let the GF win that argument just to be safe). I finally got to bed around 2am last night, and I was back up at 7am for the 9am race.

It was an out-and-back course on a gravel road. I was running along with a couple of people who were in the half marathon. When we got to the 10km turn around, there were maybe 10 people in front of me, but only 1 guy turned around. Everyone else was doing the half marathon, and I realized quickly that I was in second place overall for the 10k.

For the 5km back, I increased my effort because I really wanted to hold onto second place. There was a 15-year-old kid about 100 meters back, and I didn't want to let him get close enough to beat me with a sprint finish. I finished in 44:19. I was second overall. Not really a very good 10km time for me, my PB is 41:20. But running on gravel is always a bit slower than running on paved roads. I was a bit disappointed that there were no prize medals for the 10km race, only for the half marathon.