The Moose goes to jail

Yes the moose spent the night in jail. That’s right, but the funny thing is, it turns out one of her cellmates was a wounded Canadian soldier racing the half-marathon the next day. The first time I saw her I noticed something wasn’t quite right: the unusual gait, the sway of the head just before talking and of course some scars on her face told me that there had been some trauma in this woman’s body. She never mentioned anything, just let slip the word “injuries” at one point but when I saw her in the lineup with the other wounded soldiers I knew my suspicions were right. It was very touching for me to see her there, to put a face on our troops abroad. V. turned out to be fiercefully funny and stronger than most people I know. She is not pictured in this photo because I didn't have a chance to ask her if she wanted to be featured on my blog.

Now I’ve baited you long enough. What’s this about jailtime? Well, imagine this 19th century jail turned into a youth hostel 5 minutes from the race start at 40$ a night. I just couldn’t let that opportunity pass and so I spent the night in a small cell with 5 other women. I must say it was rather dreadful at first and I was wondering if I had made the right decision but the mind is a surprisingly adaptable thing and after an hour I felt right at home. The architecture itself, although heavy and claustrophobic had nice features: double vaulted ceiling in each cell well complimented by modern lighting. It wasn’t a 5 star hotel but it was a wonderful glimpse into how the British treated bad debtors: those who had debt were simply jailed and thus families (yes exactly like in Dickens novels) would spend months cramped in jail mixed with thieves and riffraff. The thing I didn’t know was that we had this practice here in Canada as well and not that long ago...

Now moving on to the race. The course was just beautiful and the weather breathtaking. I tried to join a pace group but was snubbed by the pacer… that’s right! So I went on my merry way and finished in a fine 32:26 for my 5K race. I must say I enjoyed this race more than any other this year and will register for the half-marathon next year. It was just so nice to see 11 000 people joining up to raise funds for the families of our wounded soldiers. I may disagree with Canadian presence in Afghanistan but I can’t stand by and watch insensibly the damage those families endure.