The 2017 Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon, Half Marathon and 5K finisher medals were unveiled last Thursday night as more than 120 local runners led by the RunTOBeer crew and Canadian Olympians Reid Coolsaet and Lanni Marchant covered a mystery “reveal run” from Rorschach Brewery to the Leuty Lifeguard Station.
Built in 1920, the lifeguard station is an icon in The Beach neighbourhood and for Toronto’s waterfront. The medals – gold for the marathon; silver for the half; bronze for the 5K – were designed by Canada Running Series’ Inge Johnson. The design was based on a photograph by Beach artist and runner, Erwin Buck, taken one sunrise last September. “We’re thrilled to feature the Leuty Lifeguard Station on this year’s medal, and with the way the design has worked out,” said Race Director Alan Brookes. “Just like The Beach neighbourhood, its residents and businesses, the ‘Leuty’ is very special to us.”
Toronto is globally acclaimed as a waterfront city, a “city of neighbourhoods”, and The Beach is one of its finest. The Beach also comes at a critical point in the Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon, between 30k and 35k, when runners can hit that legendary “wall”, only to have the great crowds in neighbourhood lift them and carry them to the finish.
This year’s medals are the 10th anniversary of the “Landmark Collectors’ Series”, all designed by Johnson, that has featured other famed Toronto icons such as Honest Ed’s, The Princes’ Gates at the Canadian Exhibition, and the Gooderham Flatiron Building.
The unveiling was done by Marchant and Coolsaet, who have been important parts of the Toronto Waterfront Marathon event. In 2013, Lanni ran 2:28:00 at the IAAF Gold Label race, to take out a 28-year old Women’s National Marathon Record. In 2011, Reid almost re-wrote Jerome Drayton’s 1975 Men’s Record, as he surged to take on the East Africans in The Beach section, before fading a little in the last 5k to come home 3rd (2:10:55) in a world-class field and book his ticket to the London Olympics.
The Olympians were joined in the ceremony by the artists/designer; Dr. Johanna Carlo and Jessica Wright, Director of the Beach Village Business Improvement Association and Paula Murphy of Pegasus, the neighbourhood charity for the race, who invited the world to run The Beach on October 22nd. On that day, some 26,000 runners of all abilities, from 70 countries are expected to earn one of these fabulous souvenir medals of the city and its marathon, and take them home around the globe.
For more information and entry: STWM.ca
kilometre covered in 2:55, and the second in 2:59. A group of four broke away immediately; Matt Loiselle and Sami Jibril from Newmarket Huskies High Performance group in the Greater Toronto Area pushing the pace, with Kenyan Bernard Ngeno and Reid Coolsaet of Guelph’s Speed River TFC tucked in behind. After settling into a couple of 3:08 kilometres, the pace began to slip. Reid Coolsaet moved to the front to pick things up, and Ngeno and Jibril were immediately detached. Coolsaet and Loiselle then ran together out of the UBC campus area, and down to Spanish Banks, passing 10k in 30:26. In a 2:55 12th kilometre, Coolsaet broke clear. He extended his lead after the sharp hill up from Jericho to West 4th, and cruised for home.
Up until last week Marchant had stayed with Wodak at her Vancouver apartment before Wodak flew to New York to compete in the NY Mini 10k and Marchant went south to California. The pair are friends when they are not competing.
Canadian Olympic marathoner Reid Coolsaet. The Guelph, Ontario resident will also be racing Vancouver and acknowledges the focus has switched to the two ladies when it is usually upon the Canadian Olympic marathon men.
