42 Photos of My 4:18 Waterfront Marathon in Toronto

A New Personal Best: With few words, sans poetry, sharing with you here another set of 42 photos and a matter-of-fact recollection, this time of my PR (personal record)-setting marathon run in Toronto - my fourth 42.2-kilometer (K) race for this year.

Arrival: With the waterfront shimmering and the CN Tower looming in the horizon, the plane I boarded in New York landed me for the 6th time in Canada and for the 3rd time in this 'immigrant city', less than 24 hours before gun start of the Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon (STWM), 21st edition.

Hotel:  After an hour’s ride on Toronto’s Airport Express to the core of downtown, I  was pleasantly surprised to find that runners were very much welcome in the hotel I booked on-line just for a night – early check-in and late check-out were both allowed.

Start Area:  A visit to the assembly area prior to the run itself is a must for planning a warm-up routine and race strategy.  I was happy to find that Nathan Phillips Square was just a short 15-minute walk from my hotel – just right for an early morning warm-up jog.

Expo Shuttle:  Held at the Direct Energy Center in Exhibition Place, 4 K west of downtown, the marathon's Health and Fitness Expo used school buses leaving every 15 minutes from City Hall and back, to ferry runners

from morning till dusk the Friday and Saturday before big Sunday.

Expo (Merchandise): Billed as the biggest-ever with 40,000 expected attendees and a record number of exhibitors, products, even those with just the remotest association with running were showcased - from shoelaces to GPS watches to jewelry to running lingerie and every thing in between.

Expo (Race Briefing): Michael Brennan’s presentation on 'Running the STWM Courses' highlighted the route as a great flat, fast, and traffic-free Boston Qualifier, among North America's top 10, and an AIMS (Association of International Marathons) 42K with Athletics Canada certification.

Expo (Speakers): Hugh Cameron, Mike Dyon, Jenny Hadfield, Michal Kapral, Roger Robinson, James Rooney, and Tara Quinn Smith delivered talks on the ‘2500th Anniversary of Marathon’, ‘Revolutionizing Cross-training’, ‘Simple Ways to Race Better’, and ‘Chi Running’.

Expo (Celebrities): John Stanton, founder of The Running Room and author of six running books including the best seller: Running: The Complete Guide to Building Your Running Program, just released in April 2010, gave out wearable metric pace charts that would prove handy the next day.

Expo (Freebies):  Free sample items were aplenty, from photographs with a humongous STWM trophy as prop to nutrition and hydration products – energy gels and chomps; electrolyte and recovery drinks – to bags, brochures, even a Kinesio tape-up for a pain-free marathon Sunday.

Expo (Motivation Corner): Then there was a motivation corner where family and friends prepared the ‘go, go, go’ messages intended to boost sagging runner-morale's and erase self-doubts the next day or perhaps simply to invite a loved one to ‘marry or re-marry me’.

Fueling Up:  Back to my hotel by dusk, it was time for the final carbo-loading meal – a generous and unlimited ‘eat-all-you-can’ offering of either or both of a meat-based or vegetarian pasta, with loaves of garlic bread, right at my hotel’s restaurant, all for 12 Loonies!

Gear: The running gear had to be chosen from the bottom-up: a pair of Brooks Glycerin 8s, Balega socks, CWX compression tights, Brooks Sherpa shorts, a dual pouch Spibelt, a Fuelbelt pouch and bib holder, a Brooks STWM short-sleeve shirt, a pair of Oakley FlakJackets, a Marathon Maniacs cap, and lots of guts.

Nutrition:  Then there was the matter of race nutrition and hydration.  I settled on Powerbars and Clifbars for pre-race and post-race energy and recovery supplies, six pieces of assorted Gu gels as on-course energy sources, all flushed with liters of water, plain Gatorade, and Gatorade G.

Corrals:  22,000 people from 40 countries raced for 5K, 21K, and 42K in what STWM organizer Alan Brookes would describe as a historic running event that also generated >$2.7 M for charities. At 7:30 AM, I started from the blue corral on University Ave., reserved for those aiming for a 3:59 finish.

Costumes:  Pompous costumes and outlandish gear bring color and life to races.  Toronto was no different - Jefferson the dog set a Guinness record for running the full marathon in 4:15:03 wearing a 25-pound fur, beating the old 4:30 marathon time for a mascot.

Landmarks & Weather: The race course was smooth and indeed, mostly flat, and passed along famous landmarks such as the Princes’ Gates, after which the 2010 STWM finisher's medal was minted.  The weather - only 11 degrees Celsius by finish time - was just about perfect for running.

Marshals: Race marshals were aplenty and guided runners at critical junctions along the course.  At 8K, I encountered the lead pack of elite runners already heading back along Lakeshore Boulevard (could already have been on their 15K or 16K marks) escorted by race marshals in bicycles.

Elite Runners: A dozen or so contenders were in the lead pack with eventual winner Kenneth Mungara (2nd from right), a 37-year old erstwhile barber from Kenya until racing full-time three years ago, among them. Pacers made sure the run was fast (their time at 21.1K was reported to be 63:42). 

Cheering Centers: Organized as part of the STWM Neighborhood Challenge, the Cheering Centers gathered cultural communities along the Waterfront to celebrate the city’s diversity with song and dance performances as the runners, including this 4:00 pace group that I ran with, raced along.

Separation: At close to the 18K mark, the half-marathon and full marathon runners who had started and ran together up to this point separated, with us 42K runners heading to Stadium Road and unto Queen’s Quay along the magnificently scenic Toronto waterfront.

Hydration:  Water & Gatorade were provided at ‘Water & Aid stations’, some manned by youthful volunteers, and spaced roughly every 2.5 kilometers: at 3, 5, 8, 11, 13.5, 16.5, 18.5, 21, 23, 24.5, 27, 30, 31.5, 34, 36, 38, and 40K. My plan was to hydrate at almost all stations, alternating the two drinks.

Elite Drinks:  At selected stations were laid out in exclusive tables the hydration aid of elite runners – in a variety of colors. One could only wonder what some of those interestingly-shaped bottles contained.  Everybody, elites and ordinary mortals, however, had to pack their own gels.

Neighborhood Challenge and Cheering & Entertainment (NCE):  The 12 NCE Centers along the route provided various types of entertainment and themes.  I counted at least five live bands performing. This one on Yonge/Queen's Quay had the theme of ‘Blow the Whistle on Bullying'.

NCE6: This live band on the sixth station along Commissioner Street

in South Riverdale played the danceable beats of the Caribbean while a solo dancer playing a maracas gracefully sashayed on!

NCE7:  This Little Asia station on Lakeshore and Leslie Streets, winners of the NC competitions in 2006, 2007, and 2008 celebrated their Asian ethnicity and offered runners a quick peek at the different cultures of Asia.

NCE9: While this one named ‘The Beach 2’ on Kingston Road and Queen Street, directly across from Murphy's Law, had a Celtic theme and featured HerciniArts- a multi-disciplinary performing arts collective which fuses aerial, dance, acrobatics, theatre, music and visual arts.

Pacers:  Neon yellow-shirted pacers - the continuous run and the run/walk types - with 15-min differences in target times helped runners achieve their goal times. I ran with the 4:00 run/walk pacer up to 25K and felt I had the energy to do a sub-4…until right leg cramps came at 26K!

Garmin GPS Watch: Left behind by my pace group at 26K, I called on my Garmin and pace chart to guide me the rest of the race.  Using a run/walk strategy to delay cramping (forgot my Saltsticks), by 33K I said goodbye to my dream sub-4 but reasoned a 4:15 time, with less than 10K to go, was still within reach.

CN Tower:  With the famous landmark coming into view again at 39K on the uphill run on the Don Valley Flyover, I dragged my now very stiff right leg, knowing the finish line was drawing near – just 3K more.  The cheers of the motorists on the opposite lane no doubt raised our sagging spirits.

Balloon Arches:  The sight of multicolored balloons along Front Street helped me forget the pain and heaviness in my legs -both were now feeling like lead! At this point the lady runner on the left of the picture egged me on - come on, it's only a kilometer more! Realizing how true this was, I dug deep and ran on!

Finish: In the final K, my Garmin, preset at 42.2K, stopped at 4:15:08, but still 600m from the finish arc. Turning it on again as crowds chanted the name on my bib, I ran with wings. The video footage of my dash to the finish line saw me raising both arms in jubilation- I had just ran my fastest marathon!

Cape and Medal.  Then followed the shimmering astronaut cape-draping and the medal. And what medal! The 2010 42K version was shiny gold, 2.5 inches wide, 7 mm thick, and heavy! This Princes' Gates medal is part of the STWM Collector's Series, featuring landmarks along the course. This landmark was opened by princes Edward and George (later Edward VIII and Duke of Kent) in 1927.

Medics: At the finish line was a medical tent and along the route were first-aid stations for those with on-course race injuries, medical concerns, or athletic therapy needs, all supervised by the Canadian Ski Patrol and The Center for Sport and Recreation Medicine.

Food Station: The post-race food, again served by youthful volunteers, was simple- assorted bagels, muffins, banana, and apples - just enough to tide everybody over until a more sumptuous lunch or festive dinner at home or in a fancy restaurant came along.

Rest and Recovery.  Nathan Philipp's Square had enough benches, space for stretches, and a massage service for the tired and sore runners after the race.  It was also to be the site of teary but joyful reunions, the awarding ceremonies, and even some last-minute shopping.

Hydration and Dehydration:  Rehydration is recommended the first half-hour after a race - the free Oasis post-race drinks served this purpose while Port-o-lets at the finish in Larry Sefton Park were convenient for those that needed to dehydrate.

The Family & Friends Zone:  It was easy for family and friends to meet and reunite in alphabet-guided meeting areas after the race.  Help, Information, and Lost and Found booths took care of the missing - whether objects or persons.

2500th Anniversary of Marathon:  To celebrate the first-ever marathon run by Pheidippides in 490AD, the official Marathon Flame came to Toronto from Greece and was used in the STWM award ceremonies.  Greek men and women escorted the flame.

Canadian Records Fall. Kenneth Mungara and Sharon Cherop, both of Kenya, won the men's and women's 42K races with the fastest marathon times ever on Canadian soil. Both pocketed $40,000 for their winning records -2:07:58 and 2:22:42, respectively.

Actual Run:  My Garmin FR405 recorded the run distance to be 42.73K with a run time of 4:18:38, an average pace of 6.03 min/K, and an average speed of 9.9 K/hr.  The time logged at the 42.2K point, was 4:15:28, creating a 0.53K and 3 min:10 sec variance in actual and official times.

Bottom Line. All these didn't really matter...In the running pavement close to the 41K mark were etched these words...I had ran Toronto fast and, with either time, had set a new personal record, with loads of photos to boot. Smiling as I checked out of my hotel to fly back to New York before heading home, I couldn't have agreed with the words more.

The sub-4 can wait Toronto.  I will be coming back!