Two years ago I trained for six months and ran my very first half-marathon.
As I crossed the finish line I immediately began to bawl… And vowed I would never run again!
Running was absolutely not for me and nothing was going to ever change my mind about that.
That was until I heard about the Oliver Osoyoos Half Corked Marathon.
An 18km half marathon that has participants weaving through the beautiful vineyards and rolling hills of BC’s wine country.
An event where water stations are transformed to wine stations and they appear like a mirage in the desert every kilometer!
…And with that, I was register for my race bib!
So what’s it like to indulge in wine and pasta the night before and wake up still tipsy at 6:30am to run a marathon?
It looks a little something like this!
The half corked marathon is absolutely one of the wildest, most insane, exciting and unexplainable events I’ve ever been a part of!
The morning started at Burrowing Owl Vinyard with, you guessed it, Wine.
There was no warm up, just a warning;
“If you come in first, you’ve actually lost!”
With this warning – Heat 1 and 300 racers were off!
With the wind in our wigs, my BFF Jasmine and I scurried forward with the pack.
Encouraged to dress for the event, we decided a couple of ‘Runaway Brides’ would be a nod to the only possible thing that could ever go wrong in one of the most beautiful and picturesque places in Canada!
The sun was hot, the dresses didn’t breath and by the time we reached the first sampling station, it was clear no man would be able to tame us!
After a swig of white and a swig of red, we were back running through the vines in what felt like a dream.
We continued to swirl and twirl through the next 8 kilometers of winery stops, sipping and spilling as every classy bride does, until we came to Silver Sage winery and its shady oasis.
Not only was this the perfect place to peel the veil from my sweaty back (thanks strapless gown), it was the perfect place to recharge.
Silver Sage was ready to impress and had an unbelievable spread of meat, cheese, desserts, fruit, sunscreen and popsicles.
Oh, right, and there was WINE!
And a delicious amount of it!
We were 7 stops in and we had come to a complete stop! There was music, dancing and we stayed too long!
Then, after a in-determinate amount of time, we stumbled and swayed our way back into the vineyard and continued our task at hand… Quickly getting to the next winery.
Along the way we made a ton of friends and stopped for an endless amount of amateur photo shoots using the stunning Osoyoos vineyards – like Stoneboat – as our backdrops!
We were having the time of our sweaty, sticky lives!
But as all good things must come to an end sooner or later, we spied the finish line in our horizon and made a heroic, Olympic sprint.
As we crossed the finish line, ‘Here Comes the Bride’ played and we were given our medals (a wine glass).
We had completed our 18km Half Corked Marathon.
And what would have taken an untrained runner in an average marathon 2 hours to complete, we finished in 4+ hours and came in 185/186th out of 1300 racers!!
(We believe some are still out there!)
The Half Corked Marathon not only shared the beauty of the Oliver Osoyoos Vinyards with me, it highlighted its spectacular wines and warm hearted residents.
Everyone from volunteers to wine makers made us feel like a welcome part of their family and community.
This was a memory and experience I’ll never forget!
It’s no wonder why the event was named the 2017 Canadian Event of the Year at the Canadian Tourism Awards!
Now off to source a lightweight, breathable costume for 2019!
See you there next year!
You do not want to miss this!
Mr. Fab Corked
