Toronto Marathon Race Report!

Woke up at 5:45 AM, walked and fed the dog, out the door at 6:30 AM and made the trek to Yonge and College to board the school bus at the Marriot Hotel. There were 3 buses ready. Arrived at Mel Lastman Square at about 7:30 AM. The bus headed north on Yonge Street rather than take the Don Valley Parkway route. This year, the bus wasn't free as it cost $5 to board -- no alternative but to pay.

Once I put my jacket in a Sears bag and dropped it off at the truck, I headed to the North York City Hall to stay warm. Not much to do except loosen my uper back (always stiff!) as well as stretch the left calf. I did see the half marathoners at the start which was great to see.

9 AM start. There were a total of 1991 marathoners in this year's race. Beautiful day for a fall race! A bit cool at the start but that quickly wasn't an issue.

What a beautiful route! South on Yonge Street, up the challenging Hoggs Hollow (I ran it!), and mainly downhill -- which is amazing. This is the first time I've run the full marathon and it was great to pass by Castle Loma (the downhill was very fast!) and then south on Rosedale Valley (again downhill!). Then through St. Lawrence Market before the half and full marathon route diverged. The remaining 20 K was on the Martin Goodman Trail, which I have done endless times. The wind was something at times :-| I had to power walk up the hill on the Lakeshore. The final 3 K or so north on York and University Ave were particularly challenging -- I had to stop every couple of minutes for a quick walk. Once I was close to the turn at Queen's Park to the finish line, I kept saying "Push" as I wanted to finish strong.

Place = 1061 out of 1991
Gun Time = 4:11:59.6
Chip Time = 4:10:36.2
Pace = 5:59
Age = 119/205
Gender = 813/1338
First 21.1 K = 1:56:46 (gun time)
Last 21.1 K = 2:15:14 (always happens as I struggle in the final 10 K)
Last 12 K = 1:08:16
First 30 K = 3:03:45

Overall, a truly AMAZING race! Love the route. Not the entertainment like the Toronto Waterfront Marathon. But, lots of spectators throughout the course. Never a dull moment! I did feel bad for the backlog of cars which had no where to go. What I like about this race is there isn't the feeling of elitism like the Toronto Waterfront Marathon -- no Kenyans in this race.

The usual bagels, bananas, and oranges at the finish line. But, there were vendors such as St. Yves which gave out free veggie chilli and potato chip sticks -- yum!

I'm very happy with this race. Surprised how well I did considering I ran the Toronto Waterfront 3 weeks ago. My finish time was only 4.5 seconds longer. The best part was the HEAVY finish medals -- puts the Mississauga Marathon medal to shame :-|

I will definitely run the Toronto Marathon next year on May 15, 2011. Love the downhill!

And Bud is proud to wear my finisher's medal!