I have completed the Sporting LIfe 10K twice in the last 3 years. I really like this race. Here’s a few reasons why I keep returning.
a) it’s down Yonge street which means, I keep entertained by looking at all the stores.
b) it’s near my house so I don’t have to get up 2 hours early to get there.
c) it’s downhill (this list is NOT in order)
d) it’s in May so the chances of it being 40 degrees with humidex are rare.
e) it’s fun…bands all the way, water stations, medals for everyone, etc.
I have completed this race with almost the exact same results. This means, I shuffle down Yonge vs. running down Yonge.
The goal this year was to complete the race in 59 minutes. I swear I huffed and puffed on a treadmill at GoodLife all winter in order to achieve this goal!
So what happens? Let’s see. Let’s blame the WEATHER CHANNEL.
I studied the weather patterns all week and they predicted RAIN. Not isolated showers, not drizzles, not intermittent showers…they said RAIN. 90 percent chance of rain.
So I did not register.
But I set my alarm at 7:15 a.m JUST IN CASE.
Guess what? NO RAIN
SO I got into my running clothes, grabbed a banana and peanut butter and off I went to Yonge Street.
Everyone was wearing a bib and had a race chip. I did not. As I did not register. I was kinda angry at the weather channel but it was my choice not to register and take a risk.
I simply ran. No watch. (as usual).
It felt great and it was truly awesome to be amongst 10,000 other participants.
I wonder if I will sign up for another 10K to find out if I achieved my 59 minute goal.
Let’s ask the weather channel!!! HA HA.
P.S. Did anyone else run this race?
P.S.S. My apologies to the organizers who really want people to register.
ADDITIONAL ENTRY (WEDNESDAY MAY 5th): Dear Readers: I have made a mistake and wanted to apologize. Today I wrote the course director to apologize to them as well. It was not appropriate not to register in the event yet participate in the event. I have asked him to contact me so that I can give my visa number to “post register”. My apologies to everyone.
Amazing display of tasty goodness! Adding to my must try list NOW!
Ok you made a mistake, you admitted it, and you have made it better. I think the tone of the replies was a bit harsh but they all have made good points and as a runner and marathoner, I would be totally pissed if someone ran the marathon unregistered…not so much with the 10k but that is wrong too–no matter the distance, you have to register, especially if it is a charitable race. I am a bit guilty too in a way, my husband registered and didn’t run so I ran in his place. I did a PB and wasn’t even registered as myself! Darn.
Registered or not, there were hundreds of runners with an “all about me” attitude at that run judging from the amount of make-up, cell phones, and perfume I noted along the race. Mascara?!! Seriously….mascara for a run???!!
Dear Readers:
ADDITIONAL ENTRY (WEDNESDAY MAY 5th): Dear Readers: I have made a mistake and wanted to apologize. Today I wrote the course director to apologize to them as well. It was not appropriate not to register in the event yet participate in the event. I have asked him to contact me so that I can give my visa number to “post register”. My apologies to everyone.
I totally agree with Kris. Regardless of whether it was supposed to rain or not, pay the $25 registration fee and do the right thing – most everyone else did. If it rains and you decide not to run then you’re out a trifling $25 but still helping a worthy charity; if you do run then you are doing so legitimately and are entitled to the benefits associated with the event. You have clearly lost sight of what this run is about in the first place which is helping kids with cancer – not whether or not your hair will get wet in the rain. The “all about me” attitude evident in your posting is very disppointing.
I came across this post after searching for thoughts, comments, and photos of this weekend’s race, and I am disappointed that someone would actually post their experience of being a bandit.
If you have done triathlons, then I ask how would you feel if during a race you were injured badly enough that you needed some real assistance, only to have your treatment delayed thanks to the injuries of others who crashed the party so to speak? You may counter that just one more person in a sea of others might not make that much of a difference, and in the grand scheme of things you may be right, but as with a lot of things isn’t it just something called ‘the principle of it all’?
You forgot some other apologies: to the runners who paid to support a cause, the volunteers who gave their time to do the same, anybody who may have got stuck behind you trying to get a PB in this race of their own, not to mention the organization that the proceeds of this race went towards.
I ran it too and like you was not sure until about 6am when the rain didn’t arrive. I usually find 10K runs too crowded and prefer longer treks, but I really enjoyed it this year. It was something to see the runners on Yonge St. knowing we were all raising money for such a good cause.
Just tell yourself it was a PB run….because you got up and did it!
Yup, the Weather Network was WAY off. I was up @ 5:30am and weathernetwork.com said it was raining “right now” (and would continue most of the day). What?! Looked out the window and not a drop of rain. The rain didn’t start til around 9-9:30
Myself, I’ve run 10Ks before but this was my first time doing the Sporting Life, and the downhill was a lot of fun! Final time 41:05, a new PB!
PS: Treadmill training is not as good as hitting the streets (my training was a combo of both), it’s a tad easier because of the lack of wind resistance, plus roads have an incline grade of 1% on average
How the heck do you train on a treadmill?
I stopped running last summer and started on the treadmill (at GoodLife!) over the winter and when I went back out onto the pavement last month I just about died.
10K? I can’t even imagine. I think that the max I can get to 5k…after running for months.
Kudos to you for getting out there and doing it anyways!!