Running in Toronto, Eh

The last time I was in Toronto, Canada, it was for a 9th grade orchestra trip. Over Labo(u)r Day weekend, I was in Toronto for my friend JF's wedding (He and his fiancee D had a really beautiful ceremony and threw and awesome bash afterwards). It was a great city (and I'll blog about the city later), but the day of the wedding I did a long run -- 14 miles. I headed east along the river. The concierge had recommended the path.  It was fairly industrial for a the first few miles. I passed the Cirque du Soleil tent and then another cirque like circus, but then I got to "the Beach." It was small and wooded, but really pretty. There was a running path that I took that provided a lot of shade and cover and was pretty.

But before long I was back on the road -- even after taking a detour to a marina. But I needed the miles so I forged ahead. About 500 feet about the bike/run path started up again so I went with it for about a mile and turned back. I had seen a park entrance and thought I'd log some miles in there. It was a nice -- and turned out -- big park. Tommy Thompson Park is called an urban park. It actually reminded me a lot of Wilmington, NC, -- wide open spaces, beautiful blue sky and the sound of water lapping on the shore. There were a lot of people running and biking in the park.

Then I headed back the way I came. By the time I reached downtown Toronto I was still a mile short so this time I headed west along the path. I stayed along the water, dodging all the people in line for the ferry to the islands. I didn't make it the the Toronto Tower, but I got to 14 miles. And my legs still felt good enough to dance at the wedding!

Running Along the Thames

In August and September, I did a lot of traveling and running. I didn't travel to run this year as much as last, but since I've been marathon training and I had different things to do in different cities I used the runs to see a bit of where city/town I was in. First up was Henley on Thames in the middle of August.

My friend GF and her husband spend a year in this bucolic town. It really, really lovely (as the Brits would say). The town center was bustling and there were food stands in the middle of the square with everything from paella to pimms cups. (The pimms cup was yummy.)

They live right along the Thames, which has a trail running along side. It was a no brainer where I was going to run. I got a preview of it the night before, when GF and I walked along.

It was a warm weekend and people were actually swimming in the Thames. (I had asked GF if people did, and she said no. Then about 100 feet further up people were jumping in!) What was really great though was seeing all the activity in the Thames -- the different boats and even ducks rocking the '80's mohawk.

But I think my favorite was the car boat. I couldn't figure out how it worked. I guess it's like those duck boat tours, but I wasn't sure.  The fact is though it still looked so much like a car and so little like a boat. I kind of imagined it as a car driving through a flooded road -- except for the fact that if it was flooded that car would have stalled out and been stuck there.

Anyway, it was pretty. I woke up early on Sunday and went up the path to the locks. It was fun and the trail even turned into a bridge across the lock/Thames twice. The running path then took the form of a dirt path with lots of high grass surrounding it. There was even a tent with some people sleeping inside it I imagine. But I turned around and went the other way.

A 1980s music festival was happening that weekend as well and the path went right along the festival grounds. So I was dodging people in their finest '80s get up. It wasn't a paved path, but a dirt path so I took it kind of easy. But I also had fun just people watching -- the festival, the other runners, and even the swimmers. Yes, swimmers! There was a swimming race of some sort.

It was fun to see. I ran a little bit faster than they swimmers swam, not surprisingly. But as I mentioned earlier, there are locks -- apparently there are 45 locks in total along the Thames River. So the swimmers would get out of the water walk a bit and get back into the other side of the lock and then start swimming again.

I think it was the Bridge to Bridge Henley Swim. The date and time work out. Anyway, I ran past another lock and then the trail went through more high grass so I hit a one lane road for about half a mile and then turned around and headed back.

It was warm and I only had a bottle of water. I thought it better safe than sorry. It was still a beautiful run and a nice way for me to see a bit of the English countryside.