For Hamilton runners, the pain starts now.
There are exactly three months until thousands lace up for the Around the Bay 30-kilometre road race and now is the time many runners kick their training into high gear.
Race director Mike Zajczenko said if runners need a reason to get out there — beside the fear of the course's rolling hills — it's the so-far mild winter.
"Look at the weather. If that's not an incentive, I don't know what is," he said.
Last year, many runners dropped out of the Around the Bay race after a frigid and icy winter interrupted their training plans.
'Running on a treadmill and running on the road is a completely different animal.'- Mike Zajczenko, Around The Bay race director
In total, 6,763 runners took part in the 2014 race. While the number was down from the previous year, which had 6,850 participants, it was the first time in recent years that the oldest long-distance running race in North America hasn't grown.
A winter in which people couldn't walk, let alone run, played a major factor in that, Zajczenko said. And while treadmills can help a bit, it's hard to replace training outdoors.
"The problem is running on a treadmill and running on the road is a completely different animal," said Zajczenko.
There's also the boredom factor, a big part of why many runners refer to the machines as "dreadmills."
"That's a tough thing to do all year," Zajczenko said.
For those ready to get outside, many running groups will be starting their training programs for the race in the coming weeks.
The Running Room's marathon training group begins on Sunday, Jan. 3. Many in that group — there were about 15 people last year — will run the Around the Bay race, either taking aim at a personal best time or just using it as a long training run.
Westdale's Runner's Den also has Around the Bay-focused running groups, which leave the shop several times a week to tackle parts of the route. There's also a schedule in the store dictating the distance and intensity of workouts leading up to the race.
The Running Room's Ben Jurkovic's said he's mainly hoping for better conditions this winter.
"Last year was brutal," said Jurkovic, who raced in the event.
His advice to runners: train on hills.
Cheryl Howell-Townson, of the Runner's Den, agreed. Runners need to work on "the up and the down."
"If you're only training to go up hills sometimes, you may end up with some problems going downhill."
That advice stands even though Valley Inn Road — a steep spike at the 26th kilometre of the race — may be closed for construction on race day.
"Right now, I've been told it's closed," Zajczenko said, adding he has meetings lined up with the city to see what can be done. He's hoping by race day, they'll open one lane to runners so the tradition of suffering up the hill can continue.
If it's closed, runners will endure a long, slow uphill instead.
"In my personal opinion, I don't think it's going to make too much difference in times," he said, adding that it's often the rolling hills after the 20-kilometre mark that really take it out of the field.
Still, it would be sad to lost the "triumphant" feeling of cresting that hill with only three kilometres to the finish, the race director said.
There are still spots left in the five-kilometre and 30-kilometre races, although the three-person relay is sold out and there are only a few spots left for two-person relay teams.
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