The Nissan 10-Miler

Date of Race: Sunday July 15th. 2007
Location of Race: Distillery District, Toronto, ON
Type of Event: Run
Distance/Length of Event: 10 miles (16KM)
Web site: http://www.canadarunningseries.com/nissan/
Goody bag: Brooks technical T-shirt and a bottle of juice.This was my first race and it was very enjoyable. I got up, had an apple and some almonds and headed down the DVP to the Distillery District. The early morning drive was very enjoyable and I was lucky to find street parking. The weather was nice and crisp (16C) and breezy too.

Below is the Top 10 Reasons to Run the Nissan 10-Miler that was posted recently on the race Web site and I have added my comments in bold.

10. Over 2000 people will see your new running clothes
I had so many comments on my attire:

• Running skort (see my gear review): “Where did you get it?”, “It is so cute”, “Great length”
• Team Running Free red long sleeve shirt: “Oh, I love Running Free”, “That is my favorite store”, “Love her shirt, she is a running advertisement”
• Nathan Speed 1.5 Nutrition Pak (gear review to come)

9. Distillery… VERY good chance there are licensed premises after the race Yes, but did not participate so early in the morning. Most people were done by 9am and the race ended with the final finishers about 2:30 hours after the 8am start time. If I brought some cash, I would have enjoyed a cafe in the open air while listening to the music performance.

8. This Sunday morning run replaces your usual long run AND provides a shirt! True, it was right on schedule in my training program for my upcoming 1/2 marathon.

7. A good, easy run will help alleviate the post-Saturday night partying stiffness None of that for me. I was well rested.

6. Great training run to prepare for Waterfront Marathon or Half — but lets you sleep in an extra hour. I am the newbie racer so this was a good test run for my bigger 1/2 in a month. I knew adrenaline would kick in and made sure that I started really slow and comfortable so that I could last at the end. I started at the very end of the pack of the crowd but picked up my pace after 10KM. I actually ran 10 minutes quicker than my last training run and when I looked at my results, I did really well on the second half of the race.

5. Course is flat — no ‘tower’ to climb or mountain to scale This was extremely flat. No hills at all.

4. You get the “Tour de Tommy” (Thompson Park) … great views of shores, city & wildlife I think this was the best part of the run. I have never been to this part of the city and it is fantastic, quiet, and the scenery is so fab. I really enjoyed this part of the run and wherever I looked, I saw something wonderful, racers, bikers, the Toronto skyline, or the lake.

3. Post-run band, “Dr. Draw”, will knock your technical socks off Did not attend but there were lots of people there drinking too.

2. Over 300 volunteers will witness your run and the amount of food you eat at the finish The volunteers made me smile when I was not smiling. They were very very supportive and encouraging. A friendly bunch.

1. Only 16k… you’re totally there in your training… no vulture bait will you be… I would definitely do this run again. It was a nice distance, well organized, great temperature, beautiful scenery, and I got my first race medal (well so did everyone but I’m still happy with mine).