Nat's Nike 15k in Toronto

[n_fraser]

A little late, but here is my race report on the Nike Women's 15k in Toronto (was on June 14th). My running has been sporadic lately, as I've been traveling almost weekly since March for work. I've been getting in my long runs, but not much else, so my goal was just to go out and have fun.

I checked out the expo on Saturday morning at 8am with a friend. There were no crowds at all. Got a free gait analysis, bought a few little things and got some pictures.

My friends and I booked the water taxi for 8am on Sunday, instead of taking the 6:40am ferry we were all assigned to (yuck). This worked out well, we had enough time to get to the island, use the washroom and look around a bit before getting in our corrals. Once we got in the corrals it started raining heavily, so we huddled and waited to start.

The course itself I really enjoyed. It was a mix of running on grass, sidewalk, boardwalk, dirt and my favorite part - running on the tarmac at the airport! A plane took off right over us, which was pretty neat. I felt like a superstar until about 9k, then felt a bit "meh" for the rest of the race. I focused on enjoying the beauty of the island and running somewhere totally new to me, getting some high fives, and forgetting about my knee/IT band that were speaking to me. I got to see my husband and a friend once who were troopers standing out in the rain all morning. My goal was to finish in under 2 hours and I finished in 1:54 so I was pretty happy. I think I had a bit more in me if my knee wasn't aching, but overall I'm pleased. It was also my longest run since my car accident in the fall, so it was a little personal victory.

After the race I found my group, had a beer, then we waited in line for about 30 minutes to go home on the water taxi. Everyone was sore/tired/soaked, so we didn't check out the food trucks on the island or take any pictures.

Overall, I would probably do the race again next year. It was really a joy to run on Toronto island. There are definitely some things that Nike doesn't do a great job of, but the beauty of the course and the fun I had during the race made up for it.

[Robinandamelia]

Congrats!! That's a great result! It wasn't a course to race I don't think, but one to be enjoyed. The runway was very cool!

We took the water taxi over as per your suggestion and it was great. We thought there was none going back though, as they said they wouldn't be available. The ferry line was over 2 hours long. We ended up catching a ride through a shuttle at the marina, though our wait was long.

I loved the course as well, saw parts of the island I never saw before. I don't think I'll do it again though, once was enough.

[Habs4ever]

Sounds like a fun race, congratulations.