Peter Sialtsis's Staging Area

This is a wonderful community event and is a welcoming event for those new to running events.

The organizers do a great job putting it all together with lots of friendly dedicated volunteers.

The race swag is a little bit basic but the entry fee is low and entrants also get a $35 coupon to use at Sporting Life and you can always find some good shoes on sale. Everything from bag check to post race celebrations went smoothly and were top-notch.

It’s really cool to run down hill along Yonge St, from uptown, through the city core and then across the Lakeshore to the Exhibition grounds. Yonge St. is one of the busiest streets in Canada and is the longest street in the world and there’s something cool about running along it and then the Lakeshore which is always super-busy, to just outside the beautiful exhibition grounds, that makes for a lovely course and a great post-race celebration.

Getting out of there is also easy with transit. Only problem is you kinda need to arrive early at the start or get dropped off as the race starts before the subway starts running.

This event will be enjoyable for runners of all levels. However, if you are an elite runner, you may want to make sure you’re up at the front because it can get crowded in spots and many beginner runners don’t corral themselves properly and walk 4-across blocking the road almost intentionally.

I’ve now done this race 3 times and intend to continue this enjoyable event which also supports Campfire Circle, a worthy charity that provides medically-supervised summer camp experience for children undergoing cancer treatment. ❤️

This was a well-run event. They kept it simple but it was well supported and had all that one would ask in any larger event. I loved running through the beach-front roads and the boardwalk it expected to see more ocean views.

This race lives up to the reviews for sure. In every way it’s a top-tier big-city race in a beautiful city. What I didn’t expect was just HOW beautiful Indianapolis is!

It’s a great flat course with plenty of volunteers and police (there were a few unmanned side streets where I saw cars turn across the running lane), but generally everyone was great.

Participants, organizers, lots of citizens out cheering and plenty of Halloween Candy, in addition to the GU, medical and other support.

The course is flat and fast and very beautiful. Unfortunately it was a cool damp day with a cold wind blowing at times, but thankfully it didn’t rain.

Parking was a bit pricy and I stayed at an airport about 15 minutes away as the downtime hotels are very pricy, although very convenient to the location, which begins and ends outside the Capitol building.

The medal, race shirt and toque they gave us were excellent! Among my best. The merchandise on the other hand was somewhat uninspiring and with the ridiculous prices of the clothing I didn’t end up buying anything further.

However the race expo was very good. Right downtown at the beautiful Convention Centrr. I got a good deal on a couple of pairs of shoes I’ve been wanting to try out. So it was easy to decide between a $130 running jacket or 2 nice pairs of shoes (Saucony and Brooks) for only $10 more after discounts and some negotiating.

I strongly recommend this race to all 50-staters as the Indiana race and to all runners in general. I can see how the elite guys would like this. I enjoyed running with the others back in the “E” corral!

#bemonumental

This is a 5000 ft downhill course, descending from winter conditions at the peak and constantly descending for 21 downhill miles before flattening out in suburban Las Vegas.

Pros: friendly, accommodating people who don’t nickel and dime (peer pics and a generous refund policy), gorgeous and fast course. Great volunteers and satisfactory support.

Race swag and medal were standard corporate issue and really needs to be better customized to the race.

Nice run through the older residential neighbourhoods of Elizabeth City. Felt very relaxed and was very enjoyable. Nicely organized and well supported by the volunteers.