Contribution: Randy C. Edited/posted by Harold P.
Event Name Date: TCS Toronto Waterfront Half-Marathon
Date: Sunday, Oct 15, 2023
Location: Toronto, Canada
BackGround: I ran in the Toronto Waterfront Half Marathon this year, after doing the marathon last year (before I joined K2J). I wrote up a detailed race report for the full marathon in 2022, which you can find here. I’ve added some notes about changes to this year’s race in my report below. My wife Ifi (who sometimes pops up on the long runs with Sue) ran the full marathon this year.
Pre-race: We drove to Toronto two days early this year, which made for a more relaxing day before the race. It can be done with just one day, but it’s more challenging logistically. From a driving perspective, Toronto can be a navigation nightmare over the weekend, with lots of road closures. Despite the extra time, I still had my frustrations, especially getting to the Enercare Centre for race kit pickup and then driving back to our hotel. I did the leg work to let Ifi rest up for the marathon. If I had to do it alone, I definitely wouldn’t try driving around that city right before the race.
We also changed hotels this year, after having some issues with the late checkout at the Sheraton last year. The Hilton is literally right at the start and finish lines, and is also a bit nicer hotel than the Sheraton. We also had a great view of the CN Tower. But it’s expensive, as are all of the downtown hotels. Restaurants are everywhere within a short walk, so no problems finding pre-race meals. The biggest negative about being downtown is seeing all the homeless people, who are just everywhere. It’s really sad and hard to ignore.
Ifi carbo-loaded like crazy, but I didn’t worry too much about it. I mean, I ate a lot of carbs, but I wasn’t counting them like Ifi had to do (and I did last year). The half is so much less complicated than the full marathon.
We woke up around 6:30. The race has a generous 8:45 start time, so plenty of time for sleep! The weather on race morning was dry with some strong wind gusts, but no real consistent hard wind. The temperature was near-perfect, hovering around 9C. I dressed the same way I did for my 2022 race, with arm warmers and very thin gloves. Ifi got a rain sprinkle during the marathon, but nothing significant.
Organization: As with the marathon in 2022, the race was well organized and a pleasure to run. The course route took a different path during the first 5K this year, adding more turns, which made it harder to navigate with all the crowds. The tight turns, combined with impolite runners and flat-out crazy pedestrians, meant I had to stay more alert than ever. And, I have to ask, why do people who run 6:00+ min/km pace insist on putting themselves in the fast corrals? Several of those folks impeded everyone else. Ifi noted that at the Athens marathon if you go into the wrong corral, you are disqualified. Of course, a runner can always lie on the registration form, but it’s hard to understand the logic.
Nuun Endurance replaced Nuun Sport as the drink of choice this year. It has a small of amount of carbs along with the electrolytes. I was curious to try it, but I never managed to get the Nuun, always grabbing the water for whatever reason.
The race: For my race, this was my first official race in the 60-64 age group. My training plan was limited, having run a marathon in the spring and then shorter races through the summer. I trained at longer distances for about five weeks, which was just barely enough, and my bad knee was cooperative. I used non-super-shoes this time out, just wanting to set a baseline for my new age group.
The race went off perfectly on time. Corrals leave every five minutes. I started a bit slow, in part because of the crowds and tight turns. And then the first part of Lakeshore Drive was into a noticeable headwind. So, I was behind my scheduled goal time of 1:43 for more than 10K, only really picking it up after making the big turn on Lakeshore around the 12K mark. But I felt like I was building momentum.
I finished in 1:42:06, which was faster than my goal time, so I was happy with it. I managed to run each 5K a bit faster, which felt really good! If not for a nagging sense of a hamstring cramp coming on around 17K, it would have been a perfect finish. But the cramp never materialized. Funnily enough, I’ve run my last three half marathons within 4 seconds. In 2019, I ran 1:42:02, then in in the spring of 2022, I ran 1:42:04. I’m slowing with age, but the long-arm of death is going to have to wait! 😉
On an even brighter note, Ifi ran a lifetime PB by more than 7 minutes, in 4:16:49, which was also 12 minutes faster than her Athens Marathon a year ago. Because our hotel was nearby, I was able to shower and go back out to cheer her on to the finish. She did great, passing more than 400 runners over the race course, while keeping a remarkably consistent pace the entire way, even slightly speeding up after 30 km. Who does that?!
The famous K2J: This was my first race wearing the K2J singlet. It gets noticed! A woman named “Fay” met up with me around the 8K mark, after recognizing the shirt. She was running around 3:25 pace for the full. She said she moved from Ottawa to Toronto and used to run for K2J. She mentioned Judy. Then, around 14K, a bearded man bellowed out “K2J!” and pointed to me from the other side of Lakeshore Drive. He was running somewhere in the 2:20/4:40 area. Cool.
We looked for Wilson at the start and finish, but Harold says he was not feeling well. That’s a shame, because he seemed in good shape and was excited about the race. Hope he is feeling better!
Overall, this is a great event, and we’d both wholeheartedly recommend it. But it’s Toronto, so be sure to plan out everything well in advance.
Run K2J 