Tag: run for women
A few months ago, Shoppers Drug Mart asked if I’d like to run the Shoppers Love You Run for Women 2017
, which took place on June 10th, and given that it’s in support of a cause I think is important — women’s mental health programs — I agreed right away. I had missed running the race last year as I was out of town, but I did run it the year prior and had a lot of fun.
I wasn’t planning on racing it, but to run it for fun. I’d taken a long break after running the Barbados Half-Marathon in December, and was only running about once or twice a week for several months, so my pace has gotten much, much slower. Although I have been training more consistently for the past month or so, it’ll take awhile til I get close to the running shape I have been in before.
So my approach to this Run for Women 10k was very relaxed. I didn’t stress leading up to it. I wasn’t even quite sure where the race start was when I looked it up at 9 p.m. the night before. I also didn’t get my nails done for it. I KNOW. I never race without my nails done!
My friend and fellow iRun colleague Anna Lee agreed to do the race as well and we met up before the race started. Saturday turned out to be a sunny, hot day, I believe it was about 18 degrees when I stepped out to head to the race. We started the race together and my plan was to run it as a tempo, that is for it to feel comfortably hard. Anna Lee was faster and I knew I had to dial back my pace or I’d be miserable and hurting the entire race (and I had zero desire to feel that way) so she went ahead and I could see her about half a block ahead of me most of the race.
There is little support along the route. Much thanks to the cheerful volunteers smiling and encouraging runners, and thank you to the man standing at Queen’s Park with a neon bristle board sign that read “You are a life-changer.” Because it’s always nice to have a reminder that this is about furthering such an important cause.
As for the route, it was flat and interesting enough as it was through midtown Toronto so stores and buildings for scenery. Because I’d only glanced at the map, I didn’t realize until during the race that the 10k is the 5k route done twice. I spent much of my time behind one runner, who each time I’d catch up to her, she would speed up. In fact, after the race, she found me and thanked me for helping to pace her, haha! That’s another favourite aspect of this race, it’s a pretty friendly, feel-good kind of race. Oh, and the medal is a cute bracelet that reads Love You.
Because I had zero plans to aim for a PB, I didn’t work my way to the front of the corral for the race start. But I wish I had, because when I looked up the results, the results are based on gun time, not chip time! Doh! Oh well. In any case, I finished in 54:01 gun time (which is about 30 seconds longer than the time I recorded on my Nikeplus, which is 52nd out of 291 runners, and 29th out of 229 women. Which I’m fine with, I actually expected to be slower, and there was the hot temperatures that day, too. How I’ve run the same distance about 7 minutes faster boggles my mind…but it’s helping to inspire me as I have to kickstart my Chicago Marathon training soon and it’s nice to remember that it is possible for me to run a much faster pace. I just have to put in the training.
I’d be remiss if I did not mention the very generous swag bag. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a swag bag like this before. I stuffed it into my backpack for the 4k walk home from the race, and it legit started to hurt by back, it was that heavy! If swag is a motivator, ladies, you need to get in on this race next year. We’re talking full-size hair products and chocolate and more. This photo doesn’t even feature every item from the bag.
Congrats to everyone who ran the Toronto edition (and all of the other cities, too!) of the Run for Women, and good luck to you in St. John’s running it on June 25th!
June 13, 2017
“It’s up to us!” is the motto of the Run for Women and there was a great sisterhood ambiance at the race eight days ago that made the day cheerful and full of hope despite the rainy weather.
That Sunday’s grey skies and cool temperature (it was 8C but felt like 4C) was welcome, though, considering the Saturday was very warm and it would’ve been a very sticky, uncomfortable race with that heat. My fellow runners, Anya and Simone, trekked to Oakville reminding ourselves of this as we shivered in our running gear waiting for the race to start. I started my 10k race at 10 am. and Anya and Simone ended up switching to the 5k race (both weren’t feeling 100 percent) and they started at 10:15 (which meant they would finish before me). I didn’t anticipate it being a great race for me; having been in Squamish just a few days earlier, my legs had been sore for days after a 3.5 hour hike of the Chief and I was still tired from my traveling.
So I ran at about 75 percent capacity (which I describe as feel slightly painful but not extremely painful and out of breath), and even at this somewhat comfortable pace, I could tell that I was towards the front of the pack. I didn’t realize I hadn’t started my Nike+ app when I started the race so it wasn’t telling me an accurate pace, but I could tell I wasn’t going at my strongest, but I knew that going in (given how I was still tired from my hike, and generally tired and worn out since the Goodlife Toronto Marathon) and I’d accepted it was not going to be a PB.
The race was on a gravelly road, which was a bit muddy and wet in spots, and the 10k race is two loops of the 5k route. I normally am not fond of loops but it didn’t make much of a difference this race since we were in Bronte Creek Provincial Park and the scenery to me looked the same (pretty and green). The only not so great aspect of the loops is I eventually started passing the 5k walkers, who would walk spread out across the entire path.
There’s something charming about smaller races such as this one. I’ve mostly run larger races, and while the crowd support can be great (but not a given, there are many bigger races with very little crowd support) there’s definitely more of a close-knit feeling at this Run for Women that all three of us noticed.
Another plus of a small race? It turns out you can place pretty well in the standings. I finished in 54:02 (which is slow for me), but that still makes me the 12th woman to finish (and the 5th in my division out of 59 women), so I’m pretty pleased with that. And it was so nice that Anya and Simone were able to stand right at the finish line to cheer me! They both crossed the finish line smiling, and we immediately went back to Toronto and indulged in a post-race brunch to celebrate.
I’d definitely run this race again (despite it being a decent distance from Toronto). It’s for a great cause (women’s mental health) and I loved the happy, positive atmosphere. There’s still one more Run for Women this season — in Montreal, this Sunday, June 14th, if you’re looking for a race!
Much thanks to Shoppers Drug Mart for the opportunity to run this race (and for supporting women’s mental health!), and to Brooks Running for our running shoes (from the Running Room) and our running outfits for the race!
Now, onto my final spring race: the Nike Women’s 15k Toronto! Who else is running this race??
June 8, 2015
When Shoppers Drug Mart asked me to take part in the Run for Women, they asked me to round up two friends to also join me. You know the Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants? Well, think of this as the sisterhood of the traveling running shoes (except we each have our own shoes…or how else would we all race at the same time, haha!)
I asked two amazing girls, Anya Georgijevic and Simone Olivero, to join me and they said yes! We met up at the Running Room several weeks ago and had our gait analyzed and got set up with Brooks Running shoes for the race. You should never try anything new on race day so we needed to get our shoes in advance to make sure they’re comfortable. While we’ve been training separately (busy schedules and living in different hoods makes it hard to get together to train), we’re excited to race together this Sunday, May 31st in Oakville. Have you registered yet? Online registration closes on May 26th so don’t miss out!
Since you know a bit about my running history and why this race is important to me, I wanted to share a bit about my awesome teammates, too:
I’ve known Anya Georgijevic (that’s her on the left in the grey sweatshirt) for about three years now through the industry (and we first met in real life over dinner in Vancouver when I was out west to run the Vancouver Marathon in 2013). She’s since moved to Toronto (yay for me!) and we now regularly hang out and go for dinner or drinks and work out together weekly at the Nike Training Club classes and we’ve also traveled together (last fall, in Chicago, she was the best support, helping keep me calm as I prepared to run the Chicago marathon). Anya’s a freelance writer (you may know her work from Flare, the Globe and Mail and Nuvo Magazine, to name just a few), and she also keeps her loyal readers up to date on fashion and beauty on her site anyageorgijevic.com.
What’s your running history?
I’m not a serious runner. I ran a Seattle 1/2 Marathon in 2012 as an excuse to travel. I prefer doing charity runs. My favourites so far have been the Vancouver Salmon 14k Run and Granville Island 10k Turkey Trot.
The race is for women’s mental health, does that hold any personal meaning for you?
Most of the women in my family have been diagnosed with a mental illness, including myself. It’s a cause that’s very close to my heart and I’m grateful for the variety of treatments offered to my generation.
Do you have any specific goals for the Run for Women race on May 31st?
To finish and stay positive.
How has running improved your well being?
Running helped me quit a decade-long smoking habit. No other exercise keeps your lungs and heart in check like running does.
Now, Simone Olivero (she’s on the right in the black hoodie) and I met at a beauty event in Toronto, but we also go to Nike Training Club classes together on Thursday mornings (the same one Anya and I go to!). She, too, is a freelance writer, and you may know her byline from publications such as Toronto Life, Glow, the Toronto Star and many online publications as well.
What’s your running “history”?
I started running out of the blue six years ago with my first race being the Island Girl 10k on Toronto Island–I heard they were giving out free makeup! A couple months later, I ran a half-marathon with very little training, which was a humbling experience. I spent the next year preparing for my next half with slightly better results, but then a surgery in 2011 gave me an excuse to pack away my shoes for a couple years.
I have always trained for my races alone but this November I decided to change things up and started running with the Parkdale Roadrunners twice a week. I also run with the Nike Running Club, which means I spend a lot of time decked out in running gear.
The race is for women’s mental health, does that hold any personal meaning for you?
I’ve lived a block away from the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) for almost 15 years and have witnessed too many times the stigma surrounding mental health. Mental illness affects more people than we realize and yet many of us are still afraid to talk about it. I hope races like this will help promote continued education and awareness.
Any particular goals for this Run for Women race on the 31st?
I think there’s always a desire to beat your last race time but I honestly just want to have fun running alongside you and Anya. I’ve also never run in Oakville so I’m excited to explore. Hopefully it’s a nice and sunny day 
How has running improved your well being?
Physically, I can’t believe how much running has transformed my body. My legs are leaner, I feel stronger and every so often I can spot abs in the mirror! But mostly I run for the adrenaline rush. Even when it was -30 this winter and the last thing I wanted to do was lace up, I found myself getting hooked on the incredible feeling of accomplishment I got afterwards. It also helped being in really good company—shout out to the PDRR ladies!
And there you have it, my two awesome teammates for the Oakville Run for Women 10k (follow them on Instagram (@anyageo and @simoneolivero) as we ramp up for the race this Sunday! We can’t wait for the 31st—see you there! Oh, you haven’t registered yet? Hurry, registration closes Tuesday, May 26th!
May 25, 2015
Previous page
