A Most Relaxing Sunday Run - the Acura 10 Miler

I just ran the Acura 10 Miler in the Distillery District of Toronto this morning, a most relaxing Sunday run . After backbreaking work to renovate our kitchen the whole day yesterday, Jojo suggested to me not to run the race so I could finish our project, including repainting the kitchen . As always, she was unsuccesful. My run day is never negotiable. Nobody can take it away from me (even under the threat of sleeping outside the kulambo, :)) , unless I give it up on my own. To keep the peace, I promised to complete everything after my run. As I am typing this post with my two fingers still dirty with paint, I just finished painting the whole kitchen. If I were back home in Quezon City, I would have just hired laborers to do the job for me. Here, their (carpenters/painters) services are too expensive.

The start area at the corner of Trinity and Front Streets in Toronto, the CN Tower in the background. The morning was sunny with the temperature just above 20 degrees Celsius, for me a bit too hot for comfort. This race also introduced a new thing in running, the timing chip on the bib numbers instead of placing the chip on the runner's shoe or around the ankle.

The yellow brigade of young volunteers were hard at work early preparing to assist runners in the race with hydration (gatorade or water).

A young and cheerful volunteer ready to answer all kinds of questions about the race from runners and their friends and loved ones.

Shortly before the 8:30 am start, more than 2,000 excited runners await the starting gun for the 10 miler and the 5k run.

The race is on, I ran at a leisurely pace of between 7 -8 minutes per k at the early part of the race, and after the warm up, ran even much slower. The winner finished in 48 minutes.

More runners, around 75% ran the 10 miler, those on the right and the 5kers on the left.

More volunteers serving the runners at the water stations,which were strategically located every 2k with more than enough cups of cold water and gatorade. Runners were also treated to tents with showers to cool them down.

It was a joy to see the the skyline of our beautiful city, Toronto basking in the sun this bright Sunday morning.

Another view of the Toronto skyline farther away just behind these yachts /boats in the lake.

Wild flowers and plants abound everywhere along the race route.

At the end of the run, a sight I always look forward to, the smiling faces of volunteers handing out the finisher medals.

Sweet!

My next long race is the Toronto Scotiabank half marathon in September.