News & Releases >> 2003 >> Oct 27 2003
NEWS Oct 7 2003
Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon—Feedback
Your feedback counts ... we've had some great compliments! And some room for improvement—but that helps us get even better for 2004!
Thank you for the opportunity to run and your hospitality. Although I truly staggered the last half kilometre I take some satisfaction that although 26th overall, I reckon I had the 17th fastest final split. For that I need to thank my helpmates Bezzara, Bedley, Sacks, Cholod and especially Gilligan who personally at some disadvantage to himself shepherded me along the finishing straight to the finish line, without them I doubt I would have got under the barrier. One of the important factors for me in choosing your race was that the start and finish were at the same place, no aids from wind or elevation drop. I'm glad you are happy with the way the day turned out, I know I am.
Ed Whitlock #72
Subject: Great Job !!!
Today I ran the Toronto Waterfront ½ marathon for the first time, but
definitely not the last time. The race was well organized, lots of water
stations and the course was great. Mother nature sure helped with ideal
weather conditions. Keep up the great work and I’m looking forward to
next year’s ½ or full marathon.
Tim Daley #2600
Hi guys,
Organizers did a wonderful job, and the number of volunteers was
astounding! Thanks to all who volunteered their time to giving out
water, encouraging, clipping off the time chips, the medical people,
etc. etc.....it was a fabulous race (it was my first 1/2 ever!),
first class in my opinion!
The only improvement I would suggest would be to have more kilometre
markings - the first one I noticed was 10K. Having those would help
with the pacing, for those of us less experienced folks. Apart from
that, good job!
Thanks for making my first 1/2 marathon experience a great one!
Regards,
Margaret Lannon
Subject: Comments on the 2003 Toronto Waterfront Marathon
What I liked: Darn near everything! Particularly:
1.) The 6:15 am start. I was a first timer and it took a lot of the
anxiety out of participating since there were quite a few people in
my situation.
2) All the nice people. The pace bunnies who were so helpful. Ray of
Ray's Runners who was so supportive of everybody. The volunteers at
every aid station. The police who manned the intersections. The fans
who lined the route. The other runners who were uniformly positive
with everyone. The medics who checked us in at the finish. The
announcer who called our names out
as we came in. The people who cheered us along the way by name.
3) The web-site. Very positive and runner-friendly - especially for
first timers such as myself.
4) The brochure. Cheeky and fun.
5) The overall organization. It was a mammoth undertaking that was
extremely well designed and implemented.
One suggestion for improvement: More Port-o-lets! At most, if not
all, water stations there were only 2 Port-o-lets for both
directions. I was in the 6:15 start with only 54 runners. Even so
when I stopped after about an hour to use one facility I had to wait
5 minutes to get in. I shudder to think how the main crowd fared
when they got there.
Rob Peck
Hi there,
I just wanted to provide some feedback on the marathon from
yesterday. I have run a few other half marathons in the past few
years and decided to try this one and have to say it was the best
organized run I've ever participated in. The course was more scenic,
the musical entertainment along the way was a great inspiration, the
scenic nature of the course was great for loosing your mind in the
run and forgetting about the pain your legs and body were feeling
and the way the support stands were organized around the finish line
and along the course sure was nice and made it easy to find those
supporters that came out to root you on. So, overall - way to go! I
think I may give the full marathon a try next year at this same
event.
There are 2 slight suggestions/improvements I would recommend and
they are:
a) to have pace bunnies for the 1/2 marathon - I saw them for the
full marathon but not the half and I'm sure many people would
benefit from them.
b) the km markings need to be a bit more frequent in the first half
of the course (and first part of 2nd half aswell) and clearer. The
first sign I saw was about 40 minutes into my run for 5km and that
didn't make sense as I know for my running time, I do 5km in less
than 30 minutes - I slowly figured out that some signs were for the
full marathon and some were for the 1/2 but it was hard to know
which was for which until towards the end so if you're trying to
pace yourself, its hard to know where you are.
Hope you can keep up the great work with organizing this event and
incorporate these suggestions in future runs.
Thanks!
Tanya Barberic
Great Race!!
1) great baggage check - each table dealt with a small enough number
of runners that the check was very efficient both in and out, also
the volunteers at the desk were motivated and upbeat. Also liked how
the tables were very spread out so that there were no bottle necks.
2) liked having an indoor heated warm up area so close to the start
3) great volunteers at the water stations - very enthusiastic
My only criticism is that for the 1/2 Marathon the km signs were not
visible for many of the kms from 1-11. They are very important
especially for the first 5 to get pacing down.
THANKS for a GREAT job.
Loved the race.
Heather Adam
Subject: Great Job
Thank you for planning such a well-organized, fun event. Our
Wellspring team had a great day, due in large measure to your
efforts. Carm Federico did a wonderful job in supporting our
fundraising efforts and answering our questions. We look forward to
next year's race and extend our congratulations to your organizing
team!
Eva Thurlow
Wellspring
Subject: Great Job!
Just wanted to say thank you to everyone that helped out with the Marathon yesterday. It was a great day. All of the volunteers and medical personnel were fabulous. Everyone helped in making my run a personal best! Thanks again.
Michelle Padley
Newmarket
Hello Alan,
I just wanted to drop you a quick note to thank you and your team for putting together a fantastic event yesterday! I truly had a wonderful time, and am also very grateful for the expert assistance I have received by yourself, Carm, Erika and Clif.
Your whole team helped me at one point or another pull together what was both my own first half marathon event, as well as assisting me in coordinating the team effort by the Canadian Liver Foundation, the success of which, was something that was extremely important to me on a personal and professional level.
I am thrilled to say that the whole experience was very positive for the entire team and it is a strong testament to the talent in your own team. Thank you so much to you all. I will certainly be back next year!
Thank you once again. You are a fantastic bunch.
Sincerely,
Liz Mulchey
Hello!
Thanks for a fantastic running experience and day yesterday.
I was impressed with the course (first time doing it) and aid
stations, organization - all around the best Canadian marathon I
have competed in. Congratulations to all organizers and volunteers,
and many thanks.
One item to consider - the only frustration was with the delay in awards ceremony start time - at 11:45, announcer began saying awards ceremony would begin "in a few minutes" and it really began at 12:30. Why not just publicize a 12:30 start time and stick with it? Also, would have been nice to know that age group prizes would not be a part of the awards ceremony ahead of time. I realize you wanted people to stay around, but many stayed in order to receive their age group award (me included). Then, to have only three volunteers working this area created a backlog for sure!
In all, though, this was a minor irritant in a fantastic day. I intend to compete again in the marathon in 2004!
Many Thanks -
CATHY KUENEMAN
Hi Clifton,
I was so impressed with the Scotia Marathon yesterday, I am sending you a copy of the email I sent to my fellow runners here at work and at the Running Room. I have run two 1/2 marathons, 2 fulls, and 2 other distance events over 15k in the 18 months I have been running. I have never had so much fun at any of them like I did at this one. I especially loved the Ray's Runners and hope other races follow suit. The early support, your volunteers, and the intimacy that comes from smaller enrollments made it a great experience. See you next year.
Nicole Scarlett, CMA
Hello there fellow runners and athletes!
This weekend, the Scotia Waterfront Marathon was held. I read
the reviews from this event last year, and frankly, had I read
these before I ran this little event on Sunday, I probably
would not have enrolled to begin with. Lots of comments about
poor race support (water stations running out of H2O), little
organization (medals had to be dug out of a box by the racer
at the end of the Finish Line), and a boring course.
My understanding is that the course changed for this year,
which would make sense because I found it very scenic going
along the lake and then out through Tom Thompson park. Yes,
there was a short industrial section, but I have found that
with nearly every distance event I have run, but it wasn't
very long. Even going under the Gardner Expressway was rather
'cool' because the sun was coming through and it felt like a
break in the scenery.
Race support was incredible even given low turnout of 550 marathoners altogether. This race had an early start for people who either took a little longer to finish or wanted to finish early. They were called "Ray's Runners". This was FANTASTIC because, for the slow and steady type runner like me, we weren't passed by speedsters all morning and loosing hope of anyone still being there when we crossed the Finish Line. I ran with a group I could keep up with and—if you can believe this....I HAD FUN. Yes, fun, fun, fun. Joked with the cops patrolling the route and spectators sitting along the side of the road drinking Tim Horton's coffee. Can't remember the miles ever flying by like they did yesterday.
Ugly finish line photos will come later, but thought you might like to keep this race in mind for next year. Very flat course. Very gentle. Maybe too gentle. Ray said he is expecting another 15 minutes off my marathon time for next year because I simply wasn't hurting enough after this race. Love that guy. No...Really, I do.
Hope to see some of you out for the Niagara event next month. Until then, get out and play every day.
Nicole Scarlett, CMA
Manager, Product Development
I thought the event was very well organized - the Early Bird start
is a great idea and having the different start times for the
different distances was great. Packet pick up was also well
organized - having it a few days before instead of the race day
helps keep things under control.
Had fun - thanks to all the volunteers!!
Suzan Avanesi
Canadian Diabetes Association/Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon
2003 Participants -- Runners/Walkers-- Volunteers -- Organizers --Scotiabank and Runners' Choice Promotions--
Thank you so much to everyone who participated yesterday in this
fantastic event! Special thanks to all of the participants who
pledged and gathered pledges to help the over 2 million Canadians
affected by diabetes. Over $15,000 has been submitted to date, with
more to come. I will keep you posted!
Warm regards,
Louise
Louise A. Mussio
Fund Development
Toronto Branch
Canadian Diabetes Association
Congratulations on an excellent event last Sunday. Speaking not just as an interested sponsor but also a participant, it was a first class race experience. A great launching pad for the coming years. Clearly the Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon has taken a 'giant step' forward towards being a major event. Great organization, great support services, great volunteers and a great Start/Finish area. The hard work you all put into it was evident on the day. Well done!
Jim Tobin
Alan:
Thanks to you all for giving Ed [Whitlock] a setting for this fine
run, and for seeing that it was promoted properly both before and
after. I'm glad you saw a copy of my article. As you can tell, Ed is
a favorite -- a hero, even -- of mine.
Joe Henderson, ed. Runner's World
Congratulations on a successful event!
Brenda Barrera
Chicago Athlete Magazine
Running Network
Hi Alan,
The overall event was superb. I have a few suggestions that would
make it even better for next year. The feedback we received
reaffirmed our decision to switch races. The exposure we received,
the superior coordination, the venue and the excellent course
ensured success.
Regards,
Robin Markowitz
National Director
Team in Training
Leukemia Research Fund of Canada.