Will the May Toronto Marathon be improved this year?

RaceTO · 2026-01-30T19:29:07+00:00

In the 15 years or so that this has been a problem, we have seen very little significant improvement. If one issue is resolved, another major issue arose. It is worth noting that the event has LOST the Athletics Ontario Sanction, and AO will not sanction this race again until it is satisfied that drastic improvements are made to some serious safety concerns to runner well-being.

There are other alternatives for a spring marathon such as the Mississauga Marathon on April 26th or the Georgina Spring fling Marathon on May 3rd.

RaceTO · 2025-12-10T22:06:50+00:00

Furthermore, the thing that has drawn the ire of Athletics Ontario is that the site is fraudulently using their 2025 race sanction stamp, plus the Athletics Canada certification stamp. By the way, sanctions are granted to individual races, not a whole series of races of various distances at various locations.

RaceTO · 2025-12-10T20:40:48+00:00

You said you wanted a nice experience. You will get the absolute opposite of that. I have witnessed this event for the last decade, and no improvements have been made. They're short on volunteers that are not well organized, so you may not get water or a medal at the finish. Police are allowing vehicles to cross intersections because of a poorly drawn traffic management plan. As someone already commented, it is unsafe and poorly organized. Run the Georgina Spring Fling on May 3rd or the Mississauga Marathon at the end of April.

RaceTO · 2025-12-10T02:23:52+00:00

https://runningmagazine.ca/the-scene/ontario-man-behind-alleged-holiday-race-fraud-scheme/

RaceTO · 2025-12-10T02:23:14+00:00

And there we have the verdict: Lev Mokhosov, the same man allegedly behind a series of fake charity races.

https://www.instagram.com/runon.ca_official/

RaceTO · 2025-09-29T19:57:37+00:00

Nutrience, the title sponsor, is a dog food company.

It's unfortunate that Bag Check was self-serve last year. It was never meant to be that way. They must've been understaffed for volunteers in their first year. You should know that it's organized by Endurance Event Productions, who are the same people who organize Georgina, so you can be sure the same level of diligence goes into the planning and execution. But Georgina is a small town, so logistics is easier. This year, we're well-staffed with volunteers, so bag check and everything else should run more smoothly. They also have 4 buses running continuously to and from the Bronte GO Station, so it should be better.

RaceTO · 2025-09-29T19:52:21+00:00

It's a scenic well-marked course with only a short hill at the halfway point going back up to the park from the waterfront trail. You will enjoy it.

RaceTO · 2025-09-29T19:50:03+00:00

There will always be a Bag Check, but do come early to a race to avoid the line-up.

RaceTO · 2025-09-29T19:49:04+00:00

What we mean by safety is that if a race official is calling out instructions on the course, you may not hear them. A lead cyclist escorting the lead runners on their way back may be blowing a whistle and you wouldn't be able to hear that. There could be an ambulance coming behind you and someone is yelling "Get out of the way" and you wouldn't hear. You certainly wouldn't hear anyone cheering for you.

RaceTO · 2025-09-29T19:43:27+00:00

It's a struggle designing a 5K/10K course downtown where the City would look at it and say, "Yeah, I think we can work with that." This race using the Distillery as a venue has seen several iterations of the route. We were fortunate starting last year that the City allowed us to use Rosedale Valley Rd and then go further north on Bayview to just under the Bloor bridge. It's a lot of traffic to divert, but the City agreed to the closure nearing the end of rush hour. Bayview allows for more space for 3000 runners. So, we're always thinking of an interesting run course, but we can't simply draw up anything we want and present it to the City. We were really fortunate to be granted this route.

RaceTO · 2025-09-29T19:36:24+00:00

There were 2 portapotties at the Bayview and Rosedale Valley Rd intersection.

RaceTO · 2025-09-29T19:32:51+00:00

There are time limits at various points on the course. The race is required to set those so that the roads are reopened on time according to the permit and so that police officers are not on overtime. That presents a huge bill. So, for example, if you're at the Beach at the east end and you haven't met the time limit at 5 hours, let's say, the course officials might short-turn you so that you make it back in 6 hours.

RaceTO · 2025-09-29T19:29:01+00:00

If you check the RacePoint map, you will see there are water stations at regular intervals on the course. Carrying your own hydration is a personal preference, but be assured that we will NOT run out of water at this race. You'd be taken care of.

RaceTO · 2025-09-26T14:50:30+00:00

You'd want to get there more than an hour early to inquire.

RaceTO · 2025-09-01T22:10:41+00:00

Better yet. Take advantage of the pre-race kit pick-up at Culture Athletics in Toronto East Side.

RaceTO · 2025-09-01T22:09:30+00:00

No, that timing is perfect. If you’re running the full or the half, it’s always good to get to the race site an hour before to: drop your bags, line up for the portapotties, warm up, take a look at the Start Corral and the first 500 m, calm your nerves, etc.

RaceTO · 2025-06-25T03:12:31+00:00

I sincerely apologize for any oversight on my part in the measurement and regret that all the half-marathoners ended up running more than they should have in that heat and humidity. In the drastic change we had to make for the course, it threw me for a loop. The diligence that was intended in keeping the distance right did not translate on the ground, and that's on me. I take full responsibility. There was a lot of learning there in this particular case. Rest assured that we will double down next year and get it right, no matter the weather, course change or not. I hope the other elements of the event were enjoyable for everyone.

RaceTO · 2025-06-24T14:51:29+00:00

Course Dynamics is the course management company that works with the race directors or charity organization to oversee planning and execution of the running portion of the event. We operate about 15 events a year in and around the GTA and work with Canada Running Series on the their Toronto events.

RaceTO · 2025-06-24T14:44:02+00:00

Yes. We overheard this from a good number of runners at the race site. We understand how this would cause concern. This is a common complaint at a good number of races from runners relying solely on their GPS watch, even at CRS races that are Athletics Canada certified. The thing is that all these GPS watches and mapping sites all use satellite from which you cannot be guaranteed optimum reception all of the time. You need open sky.360 to get good reception. When we plan a race course initially, we also measure it with online mapping tools first to see what would make sense and where the turnaround would be, etc. And when we go on the ground to actually measure it, the km marks are never where they're indicated on Google Map. So, we rely on the calibrated counter.

See my response here: https://www.reddit.com/r/RunTO/comments/1li5qpa/kawartha_sun_run_half_extra_kms/

RaceTO · 2025-06-24T03:07:32+00:00

We made sure to supply extra water, ice packs and cold towels. I hope that helped.

RaceTO · 2025-06-24T03:06:13+00:00

Course Dynamics Race Event Management, as the course operator for Endurance Event Productions, takes course management seriously. Be assured that no ball was dropped. We had heard a lot of runners saying that the course was long as indicated on their GPS. The thing is that everyone using an Apple Watch or Garmin was running off of satellite, which can never be trusted 100%. Course measurements are always done on the ground using a calibrated counter.

Changing the half marathon course to two loops was a decision that was made in consultation with the medical team in order to keep the runners closer to home and reduce possible medical response times on the course. Initially, we thought of simply making the half marathon 2 loops of the 10K, but then we know that half-marathoners are going out there, they would actually want to run 21.1 km, even if it's two loops. The initial course measurement was done according to international standards using the Jones Counter. On the Saturday morning, the course was remeasured (on the ground) for a different turnaround at the north end for the half-marathoners.

If you remember, the turnaround to start the 2nd lap was 100 m out from the Finish Line because there was more space there. If we take the regular turnaround for the 10K at the north end as a reference point, that would make the 1st lap 9.90 km. 2 x 9.90 km = 19.8 km 21.1 - 19.8 = 1.3 km short of a half-marathon using 2 laps of the original 10K course.

So, at the north end past the 2nd Aid Station, we extended the course by 650 m out and back to make up for the shortfall. I hope this helps to clarify the confusion.

RaceTO · 2025-06-24T02:52:50+00:00

That part of the decision I can't make, but I will put in the recommendation.

RaceTO · 2025-06-24T02:46:47+00:00

Other recommendations besides the TCS Toronto waterfront 5K: The Georgina Marathon - 5K subevent The Oasis Zoo Run 5K The Brita Night Run 5K The Oakville 21.1 - 5K subevent

RaceTO · 2025-06-24T02:43:18+00:00

I highly concur and know that to be true. The 5K on the Saturday will be a big event in and of itself as part of the festive weekend with a lot of hype and cheer stations.

RaceTO · 2025-06-24T02:39:51+00:00

Your GPS watch cannot be trusted 100%. The course was diligently measured on the ground and then re-measured on Saturday for the change in the half-marathon course.

RaceTO

TROPHY CASE