The Training
Going into this race, I had just come off an injury. I had just had painfree runs maybe 2-3 weeks ago so going into Nike Women’s 15K Toronto, I was not gunning for a PR. Instead, this run was all about enjoying myself and spending some quality time with my fellow run buds.
Race Day
Um holy crap? I woke up at 5AM, got a ride down and reached the docks at 6:15AM, lined up for my 7AM ferry and got to the island shortly after. I was wave 4 and we left the corrals at 9:50AM so you could imagine how much time we had on our hands to kill… So commence photo taking and peeing in all the pot-a-potties! (and I finally was able to meet some online friends in real life! ie Christina (aka The Athletarian), Athena, and many more! I’m a little sad I missed Rebecca though since she mentioned she was behind us for a stretch!)
First 5K
The weather was GORGEOUS until we went into the corrals… then it was ten thousand runners covering themselves with ponchos and heat sheets!
The vibe was upbeat (at least in my little circle of runners) as we danced around to the music for 15 minutes as the first 3 waves headed out. However, by the time wave 4 got to the front, the speakers stopped working! Super awkward but those closer to the front could still hear some from the booth directly. That bummed me out a little but hey, go with the flow right?
And we’re off! Girl with the pack is Cathy! Cathy, Crystal, Lisa, and I tried to stay together for as long as we could be soon we were separately from her ):
The first 5k were decent. Due to the recent rain, there were a lot of puddles that needed dodging but so far, our fears of bottlenecking were unfounded! The path was narrow but decent enough to get girls going two by two with room for passing. The first 5k, I got to see the girls coming in from the turn around point up ahead.
It was honestly unreal – at the 4-5k mark, we were running on a runway at the Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport! We got to see a plane take off beside us as we ran by! My main struggle was the dirt path. The dirt was loose and digging in was very taxing on my calves. It was half cross country style, half road race! The grass was slippery and required way more energy.
Second 5K
5-10k was a little unfortunate. I kept running funny because my toe was bothering me. By the 9k mark, I was hurting and soon after had to stop. Took off my shoe/sock to check it out and well, my toe was a wee bit bloody. Panicked a little (huge thanks to Crystal and Lisa for staying with me!!!!!) put my sock back on and ran 5m because I just couldn’t run. I ended up taking my sock off and running sockless so the sock couldn’t tug on my toenail anymore (rookie mistake – remember to trim your toenails folks!!). It was still bothering me but hey, power through right? Not the first time I had to power through and probably not the last!
Last 5k
The last 5K was pretty amazing (minus the toe thing….). Nike managed to get the residential area to allow us to run through so the residents were either out cheering, children giving out high fives, or watching us from the comfort of their porch! I’ve never seen that area before so it was nice to see their gorgeous homes and large gardens!
On top of that, the 13-14k mark was unreal. I’ve always wanted to run on the sea wall in Vancouver and well, this is pretty close!
We ran along their boardwalk and it was amazing being so close to the water. Nike also put up posters on the edge with some motivation like how hard we worked to get to this point. Those small touches were great!
After the boardwalk, we were getting close to the end and honestly, I was ready for it to be done. We picked up the pace and by the last half k, I was sprinting (to the medic tent haha)!
Post-race thoughts
My unofficial time was 1:31. My splits according to my watch were: 5:56, 5:51, 5:48, 5:50, 5:51, 5:59, 6:08, 6:11, 6:10, 6:14, 6:08, 6:13, 6:12, 6:07, 5:26
It was a very interesting experience! I wasn’t much of a fan of the half country cross half road race style. We had to go through those stretches 2-3 times and it was quite slippery with the rain. The bottleneck worry that was on social media wasn’t too big of a concern during the race. However, due to the rain, I was frozen and pretty much tried to leave the island right away (through no fault of Nike of course – Mother Nature just decided that rain was needed!).
My friend Melly and I walked 3k after to the Ward’s Island Ferry spot to try to avoid the large group we assumed would be racing to the Centre Island Ferry closer to the start/finish line. We ended up waiting 30 minutes in the rain for the ferry and were quite miserable! There were concerns about how to get 10000 runners (and extra spectators!) off the island and at first, we were okay because the forecast originally said sun – so we could hang around and go to a later, emptier ferry, however the rain kind of ruined that.
I was pretty cold and was upset that they ran out of heat sheets at the finish line and it was pretty much treated as a free for all as ladies were running into the tent and grabbing what they could.
However, everything else such as baggage check was super well organized! I’m quite happy to have been able to be a Brand Ambassador for their first Toronto race in their Nike Women’s Series and wouldn’t trade the experience in for anything else!
Oh, and here’s the “medal”!
[Tweet “Toronto Nike Women’s Run 15K recap via @runcarmyrun #runTO #niketoronto @runnikewomen”]
So were you one of the ten thousand of runners running on Centre Island for Nike Women’s 15K Toronto? Or were you running elsewhere? Let me know how it went!
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<3 Carmy
Mar @ Mar on the Run
so cool!!! I never ran Nike when it was in DC and now it was moved so no luck for me but this looks like an amazing course! congrats :)
Rebecca
I will make sure to see you next time! I’m coming down a few times in July :-)
I liked the race – although the total time spent at the race was a bit much. Looking forward to literally walking out of the hotel and going in the corral for STWM!
Carmy
YES. I was SO hungry by the third 3 I thought my pace buddies would leave me from my complaining hahaha
Margo
I wish I was there. I love Toronto!
Jenn
I had heard about the rain being quite the damper on the day. Boo.
I’m sorry about your toenail. You definitely powered through, quite brilliantly, I might add. Way to go!
Susie @ SuzLyfe
I love all the Nike Swag! I wish they would do a Chicago half, but I was talking to my friend Lisa who works for them, and she made the good point that they sponsor a kind of a big deal race here called the Chicago Marathon. BOO. What an awesome experience to be an ambassador for them!
Maureen
Congrats on your race! I love the bling at the end!
Nicole @ Fitful Focus
Congrats on powering through the pain! It sounds like a beautiful race. I ran the Nike Women’s Half in DC last year and loved it. I hope they come to NYC one day!
Wendy@Taking the Long Way Home
They could ask me to run through manure to collect that medal! Great job!
Deborah @ Confessions of a Mother Runner
I love all of your pics! I did the Nike the first year it was in DC and loved it. can’t beat the swag! Congrats!
YogiCrystal
Great recap!! Love all the pics :) It was awesome running with you yesterday, Carmy. Thanks for being a great pace buddy!!
Kathryn @ Dancing to Running
I’ve never done a Nike race, but you definitely can’t beat the swag! Way to go despite the rainy weather.
Amber
What a shame that it was cold and rainy! That would completely turn me off to the cross country portion of the race. & No heat sheets at the end?! That’s terrible!
I’ve totally been there with the too-long toenail too. Was kicking myself last time I did it -_-
Way to power through though, and hooray for another fun run race right? :) That view at the end was beautiful!
Victoria @ My Bright Pink Runners
I was there too but in Wave 7. The speakers weren’t working for most of the time we were waiting to run (we didn’t start until after 10:00). We had a lot of bottle necking and congestion at the back. We started intercepting all the runners that weren’t having good days as i guess so it got busier and busier at the back. I’m assuming most of the heat sheets were taken before the race to help with the rain. I didn’t get one either. I managed to get on a ferry pretty quick though. Glad you had fun!
Carmy
I assumed that’s what happened with the heat sheets since the people handing them out had people coming back for multiples in the morning :( we passed a lot of runners too – maybe people estimated their time wrong. Super bummed your wave didn’t get music! I hope it wasn’t too boring! Hope you had a blast!
jill conyers
What fun photos! A Nike race is on my to run list.
Bri
COngrats on the race! That looked like loads of fun :) 15 k is an odd distance for me… I run it like a 10 k and end up wanting to vomit by the end because I’m pushing so hard. I really want to run a Nike race for that “medal!”
Carmy
Thanks! 15K is def a weird distance for me too because they’re usually training runs
Kate @KateMovingForward
That necklace is gorgeous!! I want it! :D :D Congrats on a great run!
Marcia
Congrats Carmy! Sounds like a great race, minus the bloody toe.
Courtney @ eat pray run DC
So fun! I had a friend from DC who ran it and she enjoyed it. I liked Nike when it was in DC but because of the price it was a one and done for me.
Carmy
We had girls upset about the price too. I hear the American ones are more expensive too… :/
Lauren
That’s awesome you got to be an ambassador! It sounds like such a unique race. I ran both the DC halfs they did. I liked how special it was, but didn’t like how the focus seemed to be on buying lots of gear. The necklace is a special touch though.
Carmy
Yes! The “limited time only” really added to the frenzy too! I wanted to buy EVERYTHING.
Sue @ This Mama Runs for Cupcakes
Very cool! I’ve never run a Nike race, but I hear they are great. I’m guilty of the “rookie” mistake and not trimming my toenails before…big mistake!! Hope your toe is better!
Agnes at @AggieRuns
Congrats on finishing the race when race conditions were not ideal (rain).
How cool that you were chosen as a Brand Ambassador. What did you have to do for Nike as an Ambassador? Just promote the race?
Carmy
pretty much! :)
Toni
So sorry about your toe, I have done that, now I always trim my nails before races. Congrats on finishing! I love that Tiffany necklace.
Patty @ Reach Your Peak
I have made the toenail mistake many a time. I actually lost the same toenail on both feet and now those toenails grew back all weird…kinda embarrassing when I go get a pedicure lol
I really want to do aNike race one day! I’m thinking of entering the lottery for San Fran but it just stinks because I always run with my mom so I hate the thought of me getting in and not her or vice versa
Meranda@Fairytalesandfitness
I was looking for a race recap of this race and came across your blog! Thanks for the recap. I am bummed I never got to run the DC race so am considering the one in Tornto if I can get in. I know you were local, but did Nike give a list of Host Hotels? Did ya’ll get race shirts too? I’m so glad to see that the necklaces were given out at the end because I know that was up for debate seeing as it was a 15K and not a half. Was there a finish line party or any other post race events? Thanks
Carmy
I’m not sure about the hotel info because I’m local but I know a lot of folks were staying at the Trump hotel. We got a race shirt BUT finisher shirts had to be purchased by first come first serve (until SF where they got one for free). The weather was rainy so no finish line party – people their to get off the island asap. Some people had to wait 2hrs for the ferry.