cibc run for the cure

The photos on today's page were taken at the CIBC Run For The Cure yesterday morning. Click on the photo above to see a bigger version.

Jeff and I were both blown away by how many people there were at the event. I'll be curious to hear the numbers for this year's event; last year, over 115,000 people participated across Canada. The weather yesterday was perfect: sunny, clear, cool but not cold.





Our registration kits came with an optional "I'M RUNNING FOR..." sign to pin to our t-shirts. I was moved by how many of these had been filled in with the names of friends and relatives, and nearly started outright bawling when I saw the name tags on one family waiting near us before the race began: a man and his two young daughters. Under "I'm running for...", the father had written "MY WIFE", while his daughters had each written "MOMMY" in their own handwriting. The girls were about Sara's and Annie's age.





After the race officially began, it was about ten minutes before the crowd thinned out enough for Jeff and I to actually start running, and by then it was obvious that more than half the crowd were planning to walk, not run. Some athletic parents were running with jogger-type strollers. One super-mom was pushing a stroller with THREE children in it!

Some of the crowd did the 1k; Jeff and I opted for the 5k route. We were entertained along the way by steel drum bands, fire engines wailing their sirens and flashing lights, the Lady Godiva engineering band (I think that's what they're called) from the University of Toronto, scantily clad cheerleaders, other musical and visual diversions. Actor Jon Voigt cheered on the walkers and runners at the corner of University and Bloor.

I have no idea who won the race or what place Jeff and I came in. Neither of us really cared. It just felt wonderful to be participating, especially on such a gorgeous day and with so many others who were out to support a good cause.

Thanks again to Robin Scanlon, JeffB, Rand, Parki, Ruth and Kaarel, Andy and Christine, my Jeff, Luisa and Reid, and Allison for sponsoring me in this event. And thanks to my pals in Cornucopia for helping calm my pre-run jitters. :-)





Links/News:

Three years ago, I was going through Compuserve hell.

Four years ago, Allison and Jodi took me on an ear-piercing expedition.

Five years ago, I was puzzling over the spelling of "Hallowe'en" vs "Halloween".