WIN a trip for two to Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon
Contest is now closed
Closing date was Monday, April 30th, 2007.
Winner will be contacted and announced here shortly.
Prize: return airfare for two, plus up to 3 nights at our race hotel, 2 tickets to the Pasta Dinner with John Bingham speaking, plus 2 entries to the marathon, half or 5K.
Please note: While you could enter as many times as you like, only one ballot per person is included in the final draw.
Flat, fast and festive...Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon & Half offers exciting, new Fall option!
Looking for an exciting new marathon or half marathon option this Fall? Why not join John "The Penguin" Bingham, Team America, 76-year-old Canadian phenomenon Ed Whitlock, and more than 10,000 others from more than 30 countries and 40 US states at the Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon & Half, on September 30th?
Toronto is exotic, international, but just round the corner from Buffalo on Lake Ontario. [For 2007 you need a passport to cross the border into Canada by air, but NOT if you are entering by land—just a photo ID for land. And it's an easy process for US citizens to get your passport: see "Applying for your US Passport the Easy Way"]
The UN has designated Toronto as "the world's most multicultural city"; it's vibrant, friendly and safe, with great music, theater, restaurants and shopping. According to New England Runner editor, Bob Fitzgerald:
"NERs inaugural trip to Toronto uncovered a friendly, vibrant and diverse culture featuring a wonderful big-city skyline, a scenic waterfront, and a hopping theater district... We were bowled over with the food at Fred's Not Here Smokehouse & Grill on King Street, and the best pub we've run across in a long time is the Duke of Argyll on John Street. Try the Steamwhistle Pilsner!"
Hotels are reasonably priced compared to New York, Chicago or Washington, flights can be found from many US cities for around $200 (go expedia.com, and orbitz.com), and your greenback is worth a buck fifteen in Canada!
And the race itself? It starts and finishes in the same spot in the heart of downtown, then goes out and back along the lakeshore, on a super-flat course that's ideal for Boston hopefuls and first-timers alike. Toronto Waterfront was North America's 6th fastest marathon in 2006 (2:10:15)!
With bands and Neighborhood Entertainment Centers every 2 kilometers, cheerleaders, and The Penguin hamming it up on the mike after his finish in the half, it also has a great, festive atmosphere. For slower runners, there is a 7 hour time limit.
All marathoners AND half-marathoners get [different] adidas Climalite technical t-shirts, and there will be terrific, new finishers' medals for 2007, fashioned after our new logo.
As Michael Williams of Edmond, OK, wrote after last Fall's run:
"I particularly appreciate a class act when I see it. Having run over 50 marathons in my career, I can say yours was executed with perfection. The course was as advertised [flat, fast and scenic], the water stations were excellent and numerous, the kilometer and mile markers were easy to see, and the course split for the marathon and half marathon was as it should be. Please know I will recommend this race to all my friends as the best Boston qualifier out there and a great place to run a really fast time and have a good time. Thanks for all your hard work."
As the city's slogan says, "Toronto—you belong here!"
More about the Toronto Waterfront Marathon
Toronto Waterfront is much more than just the run, it's a festive, full weekend:
- Start with John Bingham and some great speakers at the 2-day Expo, Friday and Saturday;
- Saturday morning there's a (free) International Friendship Run;
- Saturday afternoon, put your feet up and watch the Blue Jays vs. Tampa Bay. 20% off tickets for race participants;
- Saturday evening has the Pasta Dinner with The Penguin;
- The runs are Sunday morning, then don't miss Sunday evening's Victory Party at Milestone's Restaurant where you can mingle casually with all the elites, as well as many of your fellow runners from the US, Canada and around the world;
- And if that isn't enough, Niagara Falls is only 90 minutes away, with convenient day or evening trips available from downtown Toronto.