Scotia Toronto Waterfront Marathon

(Photo by CRS Staff)

It's true: I'm faster with balls. I ran the Toronto Waterfront Marathon this past Sunday in 2:53:59, and I wasn't juggling, pushing a stroller or running backwards. I didn't set a world record. I was 24 minutes off my personal best. But I did finish the race, which was an accomplishment for me this time around because I didn't almost no training, and completed no training runs longer than about 10K.

As Perry pointed out to me, though, I did set a PB for a costume marathon. I ran the race dressed as 1907 Boston Marathon winner Tom Longboat, as part of a thing the race put together to celebrate 100 years of the marathon distance. Two others travelled all the way from Carpi, Italy to run as Dorando Pietri (who won the 1908 Olympic marathon, but was subsequently disqualified for being helped across the line). They also brought the cup the Queen presented to Dorando in honour of his achievement. Two guys dressed as Johnny Hayes, the official winner of the 1908 race, did the marathon, and brought Hayes's original Olympic gold medal, which I got to hold for a bit (wow!).

I should point out that I did not run in 1908 footwear, but instead opted for my trusty Reebok 3D Lites.

5K Joggling Race Splits

I'm too busy to write a proper report right now, but here are my splits from the 5K Joggle-off, according to my friend George:

Lap Time Cumulative
1 80.42
2 80.54
3 80.27
4 79.57
5 80.89 6:41.69
6 80.43
7 80.86
8 83.08 10:46.06
9 84.64
10 86.67 13:37.39
11 89.29
12 83.56 16:30.24
12½ 35.76**

** All of your splits were accurate except the last ½ lap (estimated, because it was on the opposite side of the track)

Pictures to follow soon.

I had a bit of a lapse in laps 10 and 11. I'm kicking myself now for slowing down. Now I'm all fired up to try again. Simon had a couple of friends pace us for 80-second laps, which was a huge help. The guys staying right on pace through 4000m, then pulled aside as planned for us to finish it up on our own.

Simon dropped five times, and surely would have broken the record with a drop-free race. I didn't drop, but didn't run fast enough. Thanks to everyone who showed up to spectate, and to Canadian Running Magazine for sponsoring the event. It was so much fun to joggle on the Varsity track.

Next up: Running the Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon on the Tom Longboat team. The race is celebrating 100 years of the marathon distance with teams of runners dressed as Tom Longboat, the Toronto runner who was favoured to win the 1908 Olympic marathon in London, Dorando Pietri, who crossed the line first but was disqualified for being helped across the line, and Johnny Hayes, who won the gold after Pietri's disqualification.