Fifteen runners joined forces with iRun and Athletic Brewing to train for and compete at the TCS Toronto Waterfront Marathon this past weekend and raves were received from the entire team. On a near perfect Toronto weekend with 30,000 participants and spectators screaming at the top of their lungs, it was an extraordinary weekend at the races, put together by the best non-alcoholic drink crew in the world. After the race, our team reassembled to reflect.
“It was a huge crowd and a perfect day, so much energy on the course and with the spectators,” said Tim Hartley, who works in a Cardiac Rehabilitation program and runs, he says, to slow down getting slower. On Sunday, Hartley completed the marathon. “There were spectators all along the course and there was a group of four runners connected as a train! I crossed the line just behind a couple and so witnessed their marriage proposal at the finish. She said yes!”
“Anything can happen on race day.”
The race days in Toronto—the 5K was run on Saturday and the half marathon and marathon this past Sunday—were sunny, relatively windless and smoothly run. Elites were resplendent and, reporting from the race course, I can confirm that the weekend was exciting and fun. There were more than 30,000 competitors and Athletic Brewing hydrated runners and their friends both all weekend long and after the race. Kristen Antaya, approaching the finish line below, demonstrated how any day running is a good day.
“My race went really well even though I felt undertrained going into it and was worried the wheels would fall off early,” says the runner who attended the race from her home in Halifax, Nova Scotia. “While I fell short of a PR I actually ran seven minutes faster than I ran the Ottawa Marathon earlier this year so overall I’m more than pleased the way everything went.”
Melissa Sweet, who also raced this weekend, sent us this report. “I had a blast!” enthused Melissa, who fell in love with running as a transplant to BC and joined their local running community. “As someone who is not a fan of road running this race may have helped me see things a bit differently. The energy of the volunteers, cheer stations and random people along the course was unmatched! It was so nice to be back in Ontario!” continued Sweet. “I’m an ultra-runner so I’ve run the distance before, but this was my first official marathon and I PR’d it! Shout out to Kristen who came to Toronto from Halifax. We we walked from VIP to the start line together and she definitely helped calm my pre-race nerves!”
That, in essence, is the reason behind the Athletic Brewing team: we know that running is an individual sport, but we also know that running is made better with a community. In the end, running is something each of us have to do by ourselves. But being part of something bigger, adds richness and depth to the entire experience. At the TCS Toronto Waterfront Marathon, the Athletic Brewing race team experienced this in spades. We’ll give team member Jen Savage the last words.
“The race was amazing and there was so much energy from the crowd,” she said. “My strategy was to run a relaxed 10k and then see how long I could hold on after that since over 10k is new territory for me and the plan worked!! After 14K, my IT band started to act up, but I still finished strong at 1:42:37 and I was really happy with how my first half marathon went and was surprised to come twemty-sixth in my age category. I can’t wait to do it again.”
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