I am eventually hoping to complete a half marathon in all 10 Canadian Provinces after I finish the 50 states. However I am actually going to be moving out of … MORE
I am eventually hoping to complete a half marathon in all 10 Canadian Provinces after I finish the 50 states. However I am actually going to be moving out of Rochester and back to New England this summer so I wanted to do a half in Ontario before I left Western NY. I chose this race mostly because it worked the best with my schedule and was the closest half marathon to me this weekend. The race is located in Burlington which is a small city inbetween Niagara Falls and Toronto. It is a little over 2 hour drive from Rochester depending on border traffic. Packet pick-up is required before the race and can be picked up Saturday from 10 to 4pm. I do wish they had later packet pick-up Saturday. Normally it wouldn’t be a problem but there was a large snowstorm Friday night which cleared up by Saturday afternoon. I would have preferred to drive in Saturday afternoon but as the border can be unpredictable I had to leave in the morning to guarantee getting there by 4pm. I drove carefully Saturday morning and it ended up not being problem and the border was super easy as no one was traveling until the afternoon. Packet pick-up was in a church in Burlington. It was pretty easy. You are assigned a bib, you also get a bag of goodies and a nice long sleeve half zip shirt. The bag of goodies included a very cute stuffed chili pepper. It wasn’t really an expo just bib pick-up. After I picked up my bib I visited Toronto which is about 45 minutes past Burlington. If you decide to visit Toronto I highly recommend the restaurant PLANTA. It has the best vegan sushi. I did stay overnight as it would be a lot of driving and border crossing to keep going back and forth. I stayed at the Best Western in Burlington which was especially convenient because the race shuttle stopped there. The race starts at 10:05 which is nice so you don’t need to get up too early. As I said I took the shuttle from the hotel. The start had porta potties. The start and finish were the same location and had timing mats and a finishing arch. They had pace groups to help runners line up and everyone seemed to line up pretty correctly. There were pre-race warm ups, the Canadian anthem and some announcements before the start. This is called the Chilly half as it can be very Chilly in early March in Ontario. Luckily it heated up after the storm and weather was perfect around 40 degrees and sunny. I think it may have been warmer than South Carolina earlier this year. The course is pretty nice. It is about 3km (this is Canada so everything is in the metric system) through downtown Burlington and then an out and back along the road next to the lake. Scenery was pretty nice. Not amazing or super special but a pleasant run with some water views and some views of downtown. There was a good number of spectators for a winter race in a smaller city. There is also about 3000 runners which is a nice number to always be running with people but not be too crowded. The roads were closed and wide for passing people even with the out and back. Elevation profile is perfect for me. It’s not flat but it’s also not hilly. Just some small inclines and declines and the kind of course I am fastest at. Race was well marked and there were 4 aid stations you passed twice. One minor complaint is they only had water but this was advertised. I brought some Clif chews for electrolyte and nutrition. Given the perfect weather and the fast course I was having a good day running. I am slowly working towards my goal of getting back to under 2:45. I am setting goals of 5 minute increments and my goal was to do under 2:55 today. I was really close when I saw the finish line and I ran as fast as a could to make it. I was disappointed my Garmin said just over 2:55 but I usually start and stop it a little before and after the timing mats so I was happy when I looked at the results and saw my finishing time was 2:54:59. Literally 1 second under my goal. It’s my fastest race so far this year. At the finish line you get your medal. Which is nice with a sparkly chilly pepper. The post race was a little disappointing just water and bananas. I’m not sure if this is usual for Canada. Beer and junk feed at the end of race seems like it might be an American thing lol. But don’t worry there are plenty of restaurants within walking distance of the finish line. Some had deals with the race where you could get chili if you visited. I didn’t opt for those restaurants but instead went to the nearby Lettuce Love Cafe, a vegan and gluten free restaurant. There is also a vegan/gluten free bakery Kelly’s Bake Shop right by the finish. I did miss the last shuttle grabbing lunch so took an uber back to the hotel. Overall this was a very good race. It was well-produced, had great swag and was a fast course. I would definitely recommend it to locals and it’s definitely worth the drive from Western NY. If you are looking to do run a half in all 10 Provinces this is a nice one but as the weather can be dicey this time of year I’m not sure it’s the best choice.
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Luckily Not so Chilly
I am eventually hoping to complete a half marathon in all 10 Canadian Provinces after I finish the 50 states. However I am actually going to be moving out of … MORE
I am eventually hoping to complete a half marathon in all 10 Canadian Provinces after I finish the 50 states. However I am actually going to be moving out of Rochester and back to New England this summer so I wanted to do a half in Ontario before I left Western NY. I chose this race mostly because it worked the best with my schedule and was the closest half marathon to me this weekend. The race is located in Burlington which is a small city inbetween Niagara Falls and Toronto. It is a little over 2 hour drive from Rochester depending on border traffic. Packet pick-up is required before the race and can be picked up Saturday from 10 to 4pm. I do wish they had later packet pick-up Saturday. Normally it wouldn’t be a problem but there was a large snowstorm Friday night which cleared up by Saturday afternoon. I would have preferred to drive in Saturday afternoon but as the border can be unpredictable I had to leave in the morning to guarantee getting there by 4pm. I drove carefully Saturday morning and it ended up not being problem and the border was super easy as no one was traveling until the afternoon. Packet pick-up was in a church in Burlington. It was pretty easy. You are assigned a bib, you also get a bag of goodies and a nice long sleeve half zip shirt. The bag of goodies included a very cute stuffed chili pepper. It wasn’t really an expo just bib pick-up. After I picked up my bib I visited Toronto which is about 45 minutes past Burlington. If you decide to visit Toronto I highly recommend the restaurant PLANTA. It has the best vegan sushi. I did stay overnight as it would be a lot of driving and border crossing to keep going back and forth. I stayed at the Best Western in Burlington which was especially convenient because the race shuttle stopped there. The race starts at 10:05 which is nice so you don’t need to get up too early. As I said I took the shuttle from the hotel. The start had porta potties. The start and finish were the same location and had timing mats and a finishing arch. They had pace groups to help runners line up and everyone seemed to line up pretty correctly. There were pre-race warm ups, the Canadian anthem and some announcements before the start. This is called the Chilly half as it can be very Chilly in early March in Ontario. Luckily it heated up after the storm and weather was perfect around 40 degrees and sunny. I think it may have been warmer than South Carolina earlier this year. The course is pretty nice. It is about 3km (this is Canada so everything is in the metric system) through downtown Burlington and then an out and back along the road next to the lake. Scenery was pretty nice. Not amazing or super special but a pleasant run with some water views and some views of downtown. There was a good number of spectators for a winter race in a smaller city. There is also about 3000 runners which is a nice number to always be running with people but not be too crowded. The roads were closed and wide for passing people even with the out and back. Elevation profile is perfect for me. It’s not flat but it’s also not hilly. Just some small inclines and declines and the kind of course I am fastest at. Race was well marked and there were 4 aid stations you passed twice. One minor complaint is they only had water but this was advertised. I brought some Clif chews for electrolyte and nutrition. Given the perfect weather and the fast course I was having a good day running. I am slowly working towards my goal of getting back to under 2:45. I am setting goals of 5 minute increments and my goal was to do under 2:55 today. I was really close when I saw the finish line and I ran as fast as a could to make it. I was disappointed my Garmin said just over 2:55 but I usually start and stop it a little before and after the timing mats so I was happy when I looked at the results and saw my finishing time was 2:54:59. Literally 1 second under my goal. It’s my fastest race so far this year. At the finish line you get your medal. Which is nice with a sparkly chilly pepper. The post race was a little disappointing just water and bananas. I’m not sure if this is usual for Canada. Beer and junk feed at the end of race seems like it might be an American thing lol. But don’t worry there are plenty of restaurants within walking distance of the finish line. Some had deals with the race where you could get chili if you visited. I didn’t opt for those restaurants but instead went to the nearby Lettuce Love Cafe, a vegan and gluten free restaurant. There is also a vegan/gluten free bakery Kelly’s Bake Shop right by the finish. I did miss the last shuttle grabbing lunch so took an uber back to the hotel. Overall this was a very good race. It was well-produced, had great swag and was a fast course. I would definitely recommend it to locals and it’s definitely worth the drive from Western NY. If you are looking to do run a half in all 10 Provinces this is a nice one but as the weather can be dicey this time of year I’m not sure it’s the best choice.
A good race, but my first DNF
It's always super cold when this event takes place - and hence the name - but that's not the fault of the organizers. The cold weather is the only reason … MORE
It’s always super cold when this event takes place – and hence the name – but that’s not the fault of the organizers. The cold weather is the only reason I would hesitate to run this race again.
The swag was an attractive New Balance half-zip and there was the usual free bottle of beer and bowl of chili afterward, along with protein bars, water, and bananas.
excellent value & a well-organized race
Many good things about this race: - course is out and back, but is very flat - lots of pace bunnies - lots of water/Gatorade stations - lots of crowd … MORE
Many good things about this race:
– course is out and back, but is very flat
– lots of pace bunnies
– lots of water/Gatorade stations
– lots of crowd support
– indoor heated area for before and after race
– free and frequent shuttle buses to/from the Appleby GO train station
– free parking at “Green P” lots close to the start/finish line
– random prize draws
– indoor washrooms
– free bowl of chili and bottle of beer afterward at local restaurants
– nice swag: a Levelwear tech jacket (see images)
– the whole town supports this race, e.g. in front of a church on the race route, the Minister and volunteers were handing out orange slices and banana sections
– big gorgeous medal (see images)
– heavily discounted entry fee for next year offered to all runners (regular fee is $75, but discounted fee is only $50 if you sign up within 2 days after the race)
This is a very well organized, fun race.