The spring Toronto Marathon (not the fall Toronto Waterfront Marathon) attracts a lot of complaints from participants about poor organization. Pre-race problems with shipped bibs not arriving to people and … MORE
The spring Toronto Marathon (not the fall Toronto Waterfront Marathon) attracts a lot of complaints from participants about poor organization. Pre-race problems with shipped bibs not arriving to people and a complete lack of attention in answering questions on the race’s official social media. Toilet facilities were inadequate causing very long lines and people urinating in alleys and behind shrubs. The 2023 race started late. Again in 2023, Nuun sports drink was missing at the majority of the aid stations. The participant tracking website is of poor quality compared to other urban marathons. Full marathon chip times were not published within 24 hours after the race. Worst of all was finish line organization with no water or medals at the finish line. Instead, exhausted runners are funneled into an over-crowded building and have to hunt down a medal for themselves. Tons of sports drink samples but no water to be found. Directional signage at the finish line was absent. This appears to be a multi-year problem with similar complaints from 2022.
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Very Poor Organization
The spring Toronto Marathon (not the fall Toronto Waterfront Marathon) attracts a lot of complaints from participants about poor organization. Pre-race problems with shipped bibs not arriving to people and … MORE
The spring Toronto Marathon (not the fall Toronto Waterfront Marathon) attracts a lot of complaints from participants about poor organization. Pre-race problems with shipped bibs not arriving to people and a complete lack of attention in answering questions on the race’s official social media. Toilet facilities were inadequate causing very long lines and people urinating in alleys and behind shrubs. The 2023 race started late. Again in 2023, Nuun sports drink was missing at the majority of the aid stations. The participant tracking website is of poor quality compared to other urban marathons. Full marathon chip times were not published within 24 hours after the race. Worst of all was finish line organization with no water or medals at the finish line. Instead, exhausted runners are funneled into an over-crowded building and have to hunt down a medal for themselves. Tons of sports drink samples but no water to be found. Directional signage at the finish line was absent. This appears to be a multi-year problem with similar complaints from 2022.
Bring your own water!
This marathon has so much potential to be a good one but the lack of aid stations, lack of water/Gatorade/gels and volunteers at the ones they had really affected my … MORE
This marathon has so much potential to be a good one but the lack of aid stations, lack of water/Gatorade/gels and volunteers at the ones they had really affected my race and my overall view of it.
Toronto is where I grew up as a child so I was looking forward to running the Goodlife marathon. The course itself is very scenic in parts and not a tough course. I actually felt great in the first half of it. But approaching the latter part of the marathon, especially the last 15km or 9 miles, it was getting very hot and the route was going around a park near the lake and there were bicyclists and people riding and walking as you ran the race. The worst was the lack of fluid stations! Even the ones that were there were poorly managed and the cups contained a small amount of water. I also didn’t receive a single gel from any volunteer even though it was advertised as having three stations with gels. The quarter piece of banana a volunteer handed me was hard and green and inedible. This is definitely a marathon where you need to bring all of your own fuel. After getting out of the crowded park/lake area, the last 10K or so is run on the highway and it was hot. Making it worse was that there was no aid station for about 4 1/2 miles! After 33km, about mile 20.5, you won’t get another drop of water until 40km or almost til mile 25! That’s insane in the heat, especially at the home stretch. I was so dehydrated and my legs were cramping so badly. A cyclist actually stopped and rode his bike to the aid station and got me a cup of water and with that bit of fuel, I managed to get to the next aid station and make it to the finish line. Though I was so disoriented that a medic came to check up on after the race. Now I knew why so many people had hydration vests for this marathon. This is one where you need to bring your own fuel!
Post-race: I got a nice massage and there was plenty of food/beverages. I would have enjoyed the post-race festivities if I weren’t feeling so awful. Though, the recovery was fine. It was just feeling like crap for a few hours because of dehydration.
Sidenote, the medal was the biggest one ever and it will make you chuckle. The expo and swag were uneventful.
To conclude, this could be such a good race, with better organization, more fluid stations, and volunteers. Come on, Goodlife Toronto, step up!
Tightness in my hip did me in on 29Km
This is a very smooth and fast course with limited number of hills. However, there are several stretches that are extremely windy, especially the last 15Km or so by the … MORE
This is a very smooth and fast course with limited number of hills. However, there are several stretches that are extremely windy, especially the last 15Km or so by the Lake shore. Post race food could be better than just morning rounds and apples. A hearty soup would be nice. Bags are left on the ground, so if it is raining, be sure to put your change of clothes in a plastic bag before putting into your knapsack or bag.