Thousands gathered along the city’s western waterfront on Sunday morning cheering on º£½ÇÉçÇø¹ÙÍømarathoners as a Canadian achieved the best female run time.Â
Canadian Ana Laura Fray, 47, had the best women’s time at two hours and 50 minutes, and Phil White from the U.S. had the best men’s time at two hours and 23 minutes.Â
Marathoners took over Yonge Street and parts of the western waterfront Sunday morning for the º£½ÇÉçÇø¹ÙÍøMarathon, which features a half marathon (21.1 km) and full marathon (42.2 km) race, as well as 5 km and 10 km runs, occurring in the Exhibition Place area.
According to the ” Fray grew up in Mexico but now lives north of Toronto. She took up running in her mid-thirties with her marathoning career taking off after she turned 40.
Spectators and runners cheered as runners made their way through underpass park.Â
Steve Russell º£½ÇÉçÇø¹ÙÍøStarThe podcast notes that Fray broke the three-hour race time for the first time at age 41, and by 44 she improved her personal best of two hours and 46 minutes.Â
On Sunday morning, the weather was cloudy and mild, with temperatures in the mid-teens, ideal for running as it wasn’t too hot or raining.Â
Many viewers of the race could be seen on the sidelines, cheering the runners and holding colourful signs encouraging race-goers to get to the finish line.Â
Signs read, “Pain is temporary, posting on Strava is forever.” Strava is a fitness app that tracks physical exercise that includes social media features. Another sign read, “Run, Anto Run!” a play on the famous phrase from the movie “Forest Gump.”Â
Another marathoner, Chris Watson, was dressed in a Star Wars costume, with many other race-goers wearing vibrant shirts of neon pink, purple, and red scattered through the crowds.Â
Between 5 a.m. and 3:30 p.m. more than 30 routes were diverted due to widespread road closures across the city accommodating the event, which goes from Willowdale south to Exhibition Place, with the marathon runners looping out to Humber Bay Shores.Â
The race began at 7 a.m, with approximately 13,000 runners set to take part, according to the races website. The º£½ÇÉçÇø¹ÙÍøMarathon has raised more than $8 million for The Princess Margaret Cancer Foundation since 1995.
Runners made their way down Rosedale Valley Road. Thousands ran from North York to downtown in the º£½ÇÉçÇø¹ÙÍøMarathon and Half-marathon that has raised more than $8 million for The Princess Margaret Cancer Foundation since 1995.
Steve Russell º£½ÇÉçÇø¹ÙÍøStar
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