SeaWheeze lives entirely up to the hype. After years of choosing to skip SeaWheeze, we finally decided to participate for the first time at SeaWheeze in 2017. It was beyond fun and we knew we needed to try and run it again. It was quite the fiasco with the lottery for 2018, but it wouldn’t be in true Seawheeze fashion if there wasn’t some major difficulty with registration. When we got in for 2018 we were thrilled to have the chance to participate again!
SeaWheeze
SeaWheeze is a race hosted by Lululemon, and it’s not JUST a race but an entire weekend of yoga, running, and partying. As part of registration, you get a pair of exclusive SeaWheeze shorts mailed to you so you can wear them during training. There is a Showcase Store where you can buy exclusive swag. There’s also yoga classes in the days leading up to the race, a bunch of SeaWheeze activities, and then finally the Sunset Festival. We attended the festival in our first year, but since 2018’s event fell in September, the weather was too gross to head to Brockton Oval and do yoga in Stanley Park.
Where to stay
The Sheraton Wall Center is one of the host hotels, and we decided to stay there because they are dog friendly! The hotel is also in a great location close to plenty of restaurants, shopping, and the Robson St Lululemon Store.
Package Pickup
The package pickup went pretty smoothly this year. You got to book your pickup times in advance, so I showed up for my time slot and it was easy breezy. There was still a significant lineup though, so that surprised me a little considering they were touting this whole new package pickup process.
The Showcase Store
Justin and I were arriving in Vancouver at separate times due to our schedules. Since I got in first, I had nothing but time on Friday morning to go check out the The Showcase Store with some friends I had made/met because of SeaWheeze in 2016! It was such a mad house. You had to book your times to shop, and I was able to snag the first slot of the morning. The lineups were still insane when I arrived at the Convention Center at like 6am.
I also got to meet and hang out with Andrea Barber from Full House/Fuller House, since we have mutual friends! I didn’t know who she was until afterwards. Listen, it was like 7am and we’re all a little tired and haggard from waiting in the rain, being forced to walk through a maze of a million stanchions, and then racing or lining up some more to get ourselves whatever we could get our hands on. I had my heart on some matching reflective hats for Justin and I to wear for our next race, the Rock N Roll Las Vegas Half Marathon.
The Race
Race morning was gnarly. It was raining the days leading up to the race, so we knew it was most likely going to be a wet race. It was drizzling all morning but when we showed up to the race start, it was starting to slow. The rain stopped for a while and then it just sprinkled on and off throughout the race. Justin runs much faster than me so we typically start a race together, and then we both run our own paces.
I stopped listening to music a few years ago. I started to practice because you can’t listen to music in triathlons. I also try not to run with music because of safety reasons. And finally it’s also a SeaWheeze race, so typically there is a ton of entertainment on the course so you don’t really want to me running with your earphones.
Since we’ve done this race before, and also run the course a million times outside of SeaWheeze, it was a pretty boring this year. I was grateful for everyone who braved the weather and stayed out to cheer because it was pretty wet and cold, but compared to the previous year when the weather was nice, the difference was night and day. Our friend who didn’t get in was cheering near the 12 mile mark, so I kept an eye out for him and stopped to grab a selfie.
Post Race
The race finishes near the Convention Center. The finish line is on the seawall, and then after getting your medal, you walk up the ramp towards the Convention Center. This year, they handed out hats!! I was beyond thrilled for the hat, and it’s my most favourite race swag to date!
Bearfoot Bistro caters the Finisher’s Brunch, and it was pretty good! The way they organized the lineups was super annoying though. They cut off the line behind us to start a new one, and then the new one ended up going faster than our line. We were hungry and cold, so we weren’t exactly pleased about that. We headed inside the Convention Center with our food, and sat down to eat. They offer massages and physio, but I’m not a speedy finisher so the lineups are always crazy by the time we get in.
Overall, we’d do this race again. We’re going to put our names in for the 2019 lottery, but there’s no guarantee we’ll get in. It’s pretty decent value for the price tag. SeaWheeze is definitely a fun little race-cation.
Check out our 2019 SeaWheeze race recap here!
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