In awe

Tag: Toronto Marathon

  • [627] My two cents

    I went and ran the Toronto Marathon last year. I already did my race report, but coming across another person’s report just brought back all the negativities about this race. 

    It was one of worst marathon experiences I had due to it being “disorganized” and we runners were blamed of causing it to go out of control (being mob ruled). I only had couple bad ones but none was at this level of failure as the Toronto Marathon. I guess that was one improvement that no one was being trampled and there’s no more stealing of supplies. Everything else though was still the same.

    The organizer vowed to do better.  And guess what?  This year is as chaotic as last year or maybe even worse, with many similar problems, such as traffic, the course crossing over on itself, several events mixing in, finish line mayhem, post race chaos (of not water or food given, the illogical setup of making runners enter a “small” building for food).

    And again, the organizer came out to apologize. Luckily, I am not running it again.

    Lack of bathrooms – was not a new issue.  We went into the mall too to use the facility.

    Buses – what. I didn’t know they had buses. Oh yeah, I did not ride them. I was lucky to be dropped off

    Traffic arriving at the start. Not a new issue. But many running it first time might need a bit of guidance to arrive early.  This could have communicated better to tell runners the time they needed to get to the start. When 10-20 thousand cars showing up at a place at a given time, there’s bound to be heavy traffic.

    My year when I ran it was not the first year they had issues. I read reviews prior doing the race, and heard about them. I ignored it at the time thinking there always will be complaints.  But when it is year after year, and the community at large is frustrated by it, something needs to change. Toronto is not the only big city that has a marathon. This stuff can be solved.

    When are they gonna learned. And why the city continues to issue them the permits to host such a race just baffled me.

    a race report (not mine) [https://runningmagazine.ca/the-scene/the-toronto-marathon-a-series-of-unfortunate-events/?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAR1pV3DM6dIAZfLMHNhFaO0NfTBvShpGUjcv_q-2Fm8y4gLAQ3LMquJP3lg_aem_AfpjT0YwcI8t2_5uHpDEgneQW6hvtGffOTMROpTUTMUXaJGNLfwD6mw0WExS3FA5a1w96OFSQ1nVnGxcUron2vZ7]

  • Run-cation (night before) [Day553]

    Niagara Falls – passed by during a night run

    I am having my International Debut at the Toronto Marathon.

    The trip has been short. I spent a night at Niagara on my way to Toronto. And two nights in the suburb of Toronto (Markam). It is maybe 45 mins north of Toronto. Traffic is pretty bad here but probably not as bad as back home in the Washington, DC area.

    It is a bit far from the marathon start and finish, but there is a large chinese population and many chinese stores. Some considered this the new china town(s). For me, the whole weekend have been tasting many chinese cuisines. They are low price and good food. People speak my native language. I can understand them but I can’t speak to them. I had dimsum for breakfast, Hong Kong beef noodle soup for lunch, and congee/soup for dinner.

    I had a bit of problem for the first couple days because of not able to connect to the canadian cellular network until I was able to sign up for a local data plan. I purchased a prepaid sim card at a supermarket. Many stores no longer sell sim cards because you could order them online. I didn’t know that before I arrived.

    Tomorrow would be the Marathon. I have been resting quite well. My mileage has been quite low. I started the GVRAT – and this year, I am aiming to run 10k (ish, 5-6 miles) everyday for 123 days.

    It adds a bit of challenge. Day 1 was good. Day 2 was a bit hard. Day 3 was very hard, especially with the trip to Canada. Day 4 and 5 were a bit better. The body started to adjust of being out there every morning. Tomorrow would be day 6 plus, the marathon. I don’t know if I could handle the day after tomorrow. I bet the body would be screaming for recovery.

    The Amory at Niagara

    One good thing about being able to run is exploring places on foot. I ran down either direction from my hotel, traveling 3 miles one way and then another three miles the other way. It doesn’t beat driving, but it does give a sense of accomplishment to cover the surrounding area of I am staying.

    It is not my first time visiting Niagara Falls or Toronto, but actually the first time to cover a lot of miles on foot. One reason I picked Toronto Marathon (May race instead of the September race) is the course being point to point.

    I think the race will be good. I will write more (hopefully).