The Toronto Yonge Street 10K put on by the Canada Running Series is very quickly becoming one of my favourite races here in Toronto (look out Zoo Run!). It’s a great course through downtown, it finishes blocks from my condo, and it is all  downhill! (although not really).

TYS10K Shake Out Run. Photo by Canada Running Series

What definitely causes this race to take the lead is social media presence and connection to community. For the past two years I have had the amazing opportunity to become a Digital Champion for this race. A DC is someone who loves social media and loves running, so what’s better then fusing those two into an awesome online community which creates awareness for the race by sharing what we love, to run. The Canada Running Series also reached out to Tribe this year and featured us as one of their three training clubs. We ended up with 21 runners racing under the Tribe name, although we also had a number of our runners as DC’s so they didn’t count in this and this partnership only furthered our connection with the Canada Running Series and Toronto running community allowing us to share our #TribeLove with an even greater network.

Driving to the Finish Line. Thanks for the photo Alex!

For me this race is always about pacing. It often involves me starting off way to quick and at about 8km, cursing myself for not pacing properly – this year was no different. I’m starting to think that this race and this situation is my pacing wake up call for the rest of the year – I remember how awful it felt (although I still met my race goal) and that keeps my head in the game for the rest of the season. I joke about the downhill (which I think is part of my pacing problem) because pretty much everyone promotes the race as being downhill – well it’s not. There are two ups, which often catch first timers off guard and regularly become the first thing out of their mouths when finished “I thought it was all downhill?!?!” hehe, nope.

Some of the Tribe Heading to Brunch

This year I loved having so many people from my community running and cheering. The Tribe cheer crew has become a staple in Toronto races and people are starting to look for us (and miss us when we’re not there). Everyone from Tribe met their race goals at this event and it was awesome to be there with them.

The weather was amazing, the race is always beyond well organized, and the CRS have the most rocking on course volunteers supporting and cheering. Lots of fuel is always to be had by those who need it, and lots of on course music and fun. Definitely a great race for first time 10km-ers and those trying for a personal best – hey it’s all downhill! (Well not quite).