This whole Running Thing is giving me more than just an opportunity at smaller pants; I'm getting a look at a culture I didn't know existed before, and its wide variety of events.
In May, three friends and I took part in the massive Sporting Life 10k in Toronto, along with 27,000 other people. Our bibs contained a chip, we paid $45 to run and along with the other racers, raised about $3,000,000 to fund a camp for kids diagnosed with cancer.
Yesterday, I finished 62nd out of 67 runners in the Duntroon to Stayner Road Race, a free event started in 1967 to promote fitness.
In the Toronto race, we passed iconic buildings and had the CN tower in our sights the whole time. Duntroon to Stayner, there was a roadkill skunk at kilometre 4 and a very ripe pig barn at kilometre 5.
At Sporting Life, we had to be ready to run more than an hour before the race, because the crowds were so huge. In Duntroon, it was, "show up when you're ready, and we'll take off sometime around 8:30..."
Back in May, there was a sea of people in front of and behind me on Yonge Street, and my running buddy beside me. Yesterday, the crowd thinned out pretty quickly, and I found myself alone on the road, so far behind, I thought was going to be 'lapped' by the other racers (an impossibility, since it was a point-to-point race). In that sea of people in Toronto, I knew only my friends and ran with them. In Duntroon, I knew nearly every face in the crowd, but still ran alone.
At the end, at Fort York, runners were offered bananas, apples, bagels and cream cheese and a medal. At the Stayner Community Centre, popsicles were distributed by the Lions Club and we were each given a crest to show we had taken part.
Both races were a good time, different, but equally good in their own way.
Thanks to Dayn Leyshon and Pam Jeffrey for organising the race yesterday. I hope you continue it for years to come. I'll be there!
