The Pride & Remembrance Run (more commonly referred to as the Pride Run now) marks my racing anniversary! This is the race that got me in to racing, and it’s hard to believe that it’s my seventh time running this course.
There were a few changes this year: the most exciting one being that they’ve finally added some medals! I’ve always been sad we didn’t get rainbow ribbons and medals once we finished the race, but I understood that it was primarily a charity run and therefore medals are a bit of a waste of money. But they added them this year and I was so happy!
They also changed the course a bit. The start zone used to be just east of Church on Wellesley, and it was always a bit of a clusterfuck there. With Pride happening all weekend long, we were always jammed next to a sound stage that made the area incredibly crowded. They’ve now moved the start zone to Church street, with the actual gates being just west of Church.
I do think it made the area a bit less rammed with people, but it also became incredibly confusing trying to figure out where you had to get to. I ended up diving into the crowded and scurrying my way to the front as much as possible.
Once I got to the 27:40 race bunny I stopped, because going further forward would’ve been far too difficult. I like that the pace bunnies were more obvious this year – in previous years I felt like there weren’t that many of them and they were hard to find. I don’t really utilize them on the course, but I do use them at the start zone as a gauge on where to put myself in relation to the rest of the crowd (basically what I’m saying is… put yourself in your expected finish group).
I’ve had some finish times all over the board with this race: most often I come in around 26:40ish, but I’ve had some consistent 28 minutes ones, as well as a horrific over 30 (I was sick AND we got trapped behind a fire truck that had to cross the race path). While I love the community atmosphere of this race, it’s definitely not my favourite course AND it’s almost always incredibly hot outside during this race.
I started off this racing knowing that I was going to be quite slow. I had run the Rat Race only 36 hours prior, and while I thought I felt okay, I knew that fundamentally my muscles were quite exhausted. But I had run such a good Rat Race, that I had somehow hoped I would do equally well in this one… but hahah NOPE. As soon as I started to run I felt like I had knives in my hamstrings. They were so tight and painful, and it’s just because they were healing from the previous race and weren’t ready to be put to the test again.
Since I had already put out a great race on Thursday, I wasn’t that bothered by what my time would end up being on this one. Now it just became a matter of getting through the darn thing without expiring from pain and heat.
I finished up over 28 minutes (makes me cringe, even though I knew it was coming), and really I was just happy to be done. I do love where they’ve moved the start zone, and I hope that stays for next year. (To compensate for the slight movement west, they extended the loop at the top of Queen’s Park by a little bit.) I also liked how the split off for the finish line was separated out a bit better too – it seems like the Pride Run has really stepped up their game!
So while this wasn’t my best race, the Pride Run is still one of my favourites to participate in. I’ve lived in the gay village for about 15 years now – it’s home to me. And this run has one of the best community atmospheres out there – it’s vibrant, welcoming and a whole lotta fun.
Race Results
- Finish Time: 28:14
- Pace: 5:38 per kilometer
- Overall placement: 556/1472
- Age group placement (Female 30-39): 67/279
- Gender placement (F): 165/770