The first road race of the season in Toronto has traditionally been the long standing 8K and 5K Spring Run off in High Park. I like this event for its natural beauty, challenging course and ease of accessibility (right on the subway route). Not many courses offer all three of these options, but High Park is a beautiful and rugged park right in the heart of Toronto. Although the first Saturday of April is still early in the season and often windy and cold, its always a fun day out, and runners forget the chill once they get running.
This year, I had four clients who were running this event, and after leading so many group training runs through the park myself, I decided it was about time I finally ran this race and put an official time in the record book for myself!
Alice was up first in the 8K event. Last year she ran the 5K and took first place in her age group (AG), so the success of last year weighed heavy on her. However, with consistent training and hard work, she did not fail in her attempt at competing in a tougher and longer course. Alice ran the 8K in 53:27 and placed 3rd in her AG, collecting a bronze medal this year.
The 5K event followed shortly after the 8K, and this year I ran the course with three of my clients - Eric, Jane and Muge.
The husband and wife team of Eric and Jane had a great day out on the course, running 28:16 and 33:34 respectively, which secured top ten placements in their AGs. Jane paced just as we had planned and expected based on her past running experience, but Eric (our dark horse) was a pleasant surprise, running under 30min for his first ever 5K road race. Way to go!
Despite missing some hill training work, Muge posted a solid 35:11 on the 5K course, not bad for a first outdoor run of the year.
While I have ran this course many times with clients as part of their training plans, I had never personally raced this course before, and I had no idea what to expect for my own performance. I had never ran this challenging and hilly course on my own terms before. I ended up holding an average pace of 4:42, laying down a time of 23:30 which was good enough to secure 3rd spot in my AG. I was happy with that, as there were some fast runners testing their speed out there.
A key feature of the High Park Spring Run off is the ‘Kill the Hill Challenge’ - the tough 400m climb up Spring Rd right at the end of the race. This is the reason I had everybody running hill repeats, both outside and on the treadmill. The more hill repeats squeezed into training the easier it will be to tackle this hill. So how did we do?
Kelly - 1:58
Eric - 2:34
Alice - 2:40
Jane - 2:44
Muge - 3:26
Like I said during all those hill repeats in training, you’ll thank me later...maybe.
I’m proud of everyone for showing up on a chilly day and killing the hill.
Alice and myself, both came out with bronze medals, while Eric, Jane and Muge all put down solid runs with valuable experience gained from the event. I’m looking forward to a fun and exciting run season with this fantastic run crew. Here's to more medals and personal bests ahead!
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