This was the first time I did the Spring Run-Off in High Park. It’s apparently the oldest race in Toronto and kicks off the race season for the city. The route is quite hilly and there’s a hill in the last ~400m which is timed separately called the Kill the Hill Challenge. Despite the sponsor bring Race Roster, some people still call this race the Harry Rosen Spring Run-Off or they just call it the Spring Run-Off. I hope Race Roster didn’t spend too much money to be the title sponsor for this race.
Packet pick-up
Packet pick up was located at the Runners Shop which is easily accessible by subway. The swag included a soft cotton tshirt, cetaphil wipe (I love these), and some other samples. Not bad. A bag for bag check was included.
The corrals
When we arrived, the corrals were well marked. The race started promptly at 10am and we were off!
The race
The route were well marked. There were 3-4 aid stations on the course even though it was only an 8k race. They provided both water and Nuun which was perfect because I had run out of nuun by the time the race started (we ran 20km to High Park). The course was crowded at times but because we weren’t racing it, we just ran at the pace of the pack. It would have been hard to weave through people if we were racing it. There were plenty of photographers on the course and lots of cheersquads including Tribe and Rouge Runners. They have these funny posters that they bring to races.
At the last 2km, I started to feel it (we had run 26km by then) but I knew that there was still the Kill the Hill challenge ahead. By then, it was all a mental game so I just pushed through it knowing the end is literally right around the corner.
They gave out Nuun samples and water at the finish line. The medal is quite nice although I liked last year’s medal better.
The food at the end was plentiful: banana, yogurt, an individually wrapped pita, and cookie. I also bought the pancake breakfast for $5. Kind of expensive for 2 pancakes and given all the free food, it wasn’t necessary.
In the post-race area, Oasis was sampling smoothies and there were other vendors there like Top Knot. We didn’t stay very long so we didn’t visit any of the other vendors.
Overall, this race was fun and pretty good value for the cost, especially if you sign up early.
