A true sign of spring in Toronto is when the Canada Running Series event, the Race Roster Spring Run-off happens in High Park in early April. This is a favourite event for me and my clients, as it is a wonderful opportunity to test our early season running fitness that we have been working on over the winter. This year the event fell on Saturday, April 6th, 2019.
The weekend before the race, we gathered in High Park to go over the route, practice hill strategy, pacing and have a sociable group run outside in the park. After all, the treadmill gets boring after the long Canadian winter, so it was about time to gather the crew for an outdoor run. Despite the late season wet snowfall, we braved the slush for a fun route familiarization run.
This event has 2 options for runners: the 5K and 8K courses. This year both Alice and Juliane returned for the 8K event, while new comers to this event, Erica, Maxime and Suneethi toed the line for the 5K event.
The weather was much better on race day - no snow, rain or sleet this time! The sun was shining and jackets were shed for the run.
Being the supportive coach that I am, I was waiting for all the runners on the infamous Kill the Hill section of the course, ready to encourage them on through the toughest part of the race route. No doubt about it, High Park has some challenging terrain with lots of rolling hills and a steep climb to the finish line. But we had prepared for the terrain on the scouting run the weekend before, and nobody quit on the hill, as promised. The entire run crew climbed that hill strong and steady making their coach proud.
The 8K runners went first @ 10am. Juliane finished in 52:09 and Alice finished in 53:01 (placing 4th in her AG).
The 5K runners went next @ 11:15am. Erica finished in 26:59 (placing 7th in her AG), Maxime finished in 31:31, and Suneethi finished in 34:36. Of all 5 runners, Erica won our own Kill the Hill challenge, finishing the climb in 2:23, a mere 7 seconds ahead of Mad Max! A thrilling surprise to the finish.
Overall, it was a great day out for all of us, and the tone has been set for a summer full of further run training that will include more speed and endurance work for this run crew. I am looking forward to more runs with these inspirational ladies.
Want to join us? Leave me a comment below or send me an email, and I’d be happy to help you with your running skills.
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