{"id":54997,"date":"2016-05-23T07:00:42","date_gmt":"2016-05-23T11:00:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/?p=54997"},"modified":"2016-05-24T10:12:18","modified_gmt":"2016-05-24T14:12:18","slug":"toronto-hate-marathons","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/2016\/05\/23\/toronto-hate-marathons\/","title":{"rendered":"Does Toronto hate marathons?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Toronto loves its sports teams; just head down to the square in front of the Air Canada Centre, or Nathan Phillips Square around playoff time\u00a0for proof of this. This affinity, though, tends to come with limits. Despite its enthusiasm for sports throughout the rest of the year, Torontonians adopt an attitude towards marathons that is at its best cavalier, and at worst, downright spiteful: in 2009, runners were booed<\/a> by drivers fed up with road closures; the Sun <\/em>said that \u201cmarathon is actually a four-letter word,\u201d and complained of a \u201cmarathon of headaches.\u201d In 2010, the late Rob Ford suggested that marathoners ought to run laps of city parks rather than on Toronto streets, while in 2014 current Mayor John Tory complained that marathons were \u201ccreating nightmarish problems\u201d<\/a> and said (of an event that draws runners from all over the world<\/a>, brings in millions in economic benefit, and brings people out of their homes and into public spaces with their neighbourhood communities) that \u201cit is time in a big city like this that the public was placed first.\u201d It begs the question: what did marathons ever do to Toronto?<\/p>\n

Whereas in cities like New York, Chicago, and London (the crown jewels of the marathon world) marathons are city-wide events that engage runners and non-runners alike, Torontonians tends to view marathons as an inconvenience, something that stands in the way of the city\u2019s functionality. \u201cToronto\u2019s a running city,\u201d says marathoner Mike Anderson, owner of BlackToe Running, an independent running store at King West and Bathurst. Being a running city, though, extends only to the running community itself in Toronto and, unlike other major cities, has garnered little enthusiasm in the non-running community. \u201cOne of the things I find most frustrating is that other cities embrace it,\u201d says Anderson. \u201cIt\u2019s a little ridiculous that people [in Toronto] are upset that there\u2019s more traffic at 6am on a Sunday.\u201d<\/p>\n

When Anderson, who has lived and ran in Toronto since 1989, ran the New York City Marathon, he remembers crossing a bridge into Manhattan and being greeted by crowds ten to fifteen people deep, cheering so loudly that he could barely hear himself breathe. In comparison, he says, \u201cToronto\u2019s pretty quiet. For whatever reason, the city\u2019s not behind [the marathon] yet.\u201d<\/p>\n

At first glance, it may seem like the pedantic complaints of the running community. But it sits within a larger trend of Toronto\u2019s struggle to conceive of itself as a world-class city (\u201cthe city loves to self-flagellate over how it stacks up against the rest of the world,\u201d writes Ashley Csanady in the Post<\/em>). One metric by which to judge a city, though imprecise, is to look at its marathon. \u201cEvery city worthy of the name has to have a marathon,\u201d says Alan Brookes, head of the Canada Running Series and the head organizer of the Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon. Indeed, a list of the world\u2019s greatest marathons and a list of the world\u2019s greatest city would tend to look nearly identical.<\/p>\n

Elitist and niche though they may be, marathons are both tourist attractions and showcases of the city\u2019s urban environment. Unlike other sports, the quality of a marathon depends directly on the environment it takes place in, making a city marathon an event which depends on the urban space and design of a city. Sport \u2014 which includes marathons \u2014 is a vibrant part of urban life in major cities, and it is significant that Toronto lags behind other world-class cities that have embraced marathons and turned them into cornerstone events in the city\u2019s calendar. The question of marathons is implicitly a question about a city\u2019s relationship with sports within its urban space.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"8702548451_df2da6c865_o\"<\/a>
Photo courtesy of William Mewes.<\/a><\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In 2015, Paris Mayor Ann Hidalgo stood at the start line of the Paris Marathon and issued a proclamation<\/a> that is now famous among marathon enthusiasts and those who work to organize city marathons. \u201cParis is yours,\u201d she said. \u201cIt is the most beautiful city in the world, and you make it more beautiful.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mayor Hidalgo\u2019s opening proclamation has come to exemplify, for organizers like Brookes, the ideal attitude towards city marathons. A well-organized and successful city marathon \u201cputs a city on the map,\u201d says Brookes. Over the past decade, marathons have increased dramatically<\/a> in popularity and participation levels. Between 2005 and 2013, there was a 36% increase in the estimated number of marathon finishers in the US. (Growth has been even more dramatic in developing countries like China, where marathon participation since 2009 has increased by 260%.<\/a>)<\/p>\n

With increased numbers, and an increased demand for courses that highlight a city\u2019s best urban assets, planning the course \u2014 which, for many marathons is the biggest point of conflict with city administration, as it blocks traffic and forces road closures \u2014 is a balancing act. The big challenge, says Brookes, is \u201cto develop city marathon courses that run through neighbourhoods with character that showcase the city, and where there is a maximum spectator draw \u2014 but without antagonizing residents, politicians, and stakeholders.\u201d<\/p>\n

Outside of traffic congestion, marathons tend to be beneficial to the city in which they\u2019re held. Beyond the obvious benefits of a \u201cfitter, healthier city\u201d that Brookes says city marathons bring, there is economic and charity benefits as well: the 2015 New York City Marathon brought an estimated $415-million in economic<\/a> benefit to the city, as well as generating $34.5-million raised for various charities. Even at smaller, lower-profile marathons like the Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon, the economic benefits are large: Toronto draws in somewhere in the range of $25- to $30-million in economic activity as a result of the marathon.<\/p>\n

Despite the benefits, Toronto has had a complicated relationship with marathons \u2014 with many, like Anderson, feeling that Torontonians don\u2019t support running events like the marathon. \u201cI\u2019d say the verdict\u2019s out, the jury\u2019s out,\u201d says Brookes, who says that it really comes down to the individual: \u201cIf people like festivals and events, then they will help us,\u201d he says. \u201cIf they don\u2019t, they\u2019ll hate us.\u201d<\/p>\n

But online, Torontonians are quick to voice their distaste for major road races. \u201cMarathons f***ing suck, go run into the lake,\u201d said one Reddit user. \u201cWe have more interesting things to do in Toronto than watch people run at a moderate pace in a straight line for a few hours,\u201d said another. One took aim at marathoners themselves, saying \u201cpeople who run marathons are the same people who make going to high park to see the cherry blossoms a day trip.\u201d The notion that a marathon is a city-wide event seems lost on most Torontonians: \u201cMost of these marathons are for the participants to accomplish, not to cheer for\u201d wrote Reddit user Bobzyurunkle. \u201cFamily and friends are the perfect spectator for these, why should strangers do it?\u201d<\/p>\n

Ambivalence towards the marathon goes deeper than the grumblings of city residents. Marathons have, on occasion, been matters that have pestered City Hall. Since 2000, two major marathons have been run in the city\u2019s downtown core \u2014 the Toronto Marathon (currently sponsored by Goodlife) and the Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon, first held in 2000. While the Toronto Marathon is older and has traditionally laid claim to being the city\u2019s \u2018official\u2019 marathon, since 2005 the Waterfront Marathon has drawn both more runners, more spectators, and has been considered a superior event. (In 2015, the Waterfront Marathon was awarded an IAAF Gold Label, acknowledging that it meets certain athletic standards.)<\/p>\n

For over a decade, the two marathons were direct competitors: they ran within three weeks of one another each fall, battling for participants and cultivating a great deal of ill-will among city politicians, right-wing commentators, and frustrated motorists. By 2009, the City was actively trying to find a solution for what they saw as a problem: in January 2010, the city released \u00a0titled \u201cEstablishment of One Toronto Marathon\u201d<\/a> in which they called for one of the marathons to be scrapped and folded into the other.<\/p>\n

Unsurprisingly, neither Jay Glassman, organizer of the Goodlife Toronto Marathon, nor Brookes were willing to give up their race, and both remained recalcitrant to the idea of moving one of the marathons to the spring. (Eventually, under the implicit threat that the city might make the decision on its own, the Goodlife Toronto Marathon agreed to move to the spring.)<\/p>\n

The largest source of conflict comes both from the way the city conceives of marathons and a fragmented decision-making process at the city level. Events like marathons are considered extraneous to the day-to-day business of city management \u2014 police officers responsible for traffic control and event security are paid-duty, which, though a small distinction is telling: for the City of Toronto, hosting marathons (and events like them) are considered on-the-side events, rather than part of its regular responsibilities.<\/p>\n

On top of this, the city lacks a central department responsible for sporting events, which creates conflicts between departments \u2014 transit officials, for example, want the marathons run earlier, while those concerned with noise bylaws want marathons to be run closer to the midday. On committees, inter-departmental conflicts can clog the decision making process, and dissuades marathon supporters from fighting for the events: \u201cIf I\u2019m a junior member of one of these committees, there\u2019s absolutely no upside to fighting for it,\u201d says Brookes. \u201cAll it\u2019s going to get is another department that hates me.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"2897536512_28642576e1_o\"
Photo courtesy of \u677e\u6797 \uff2c<\/a><\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In 2015, The10and3.com named Toronto<\/a> the second most miserable sports city in North America. For Toronto runners, this attitude seems to extend towards marathons \u2014 events that in cities like Chicago, Houston, and Vancouver are attended in large numbers. One metric that is used to judge community support is the estimated number of non-running spectators that come out to watch the race. The Waterfront Marathon, in comparison, draws in just over 100,000 spectators \u2014 a number that seems large until you contrast it with comparably cities: despite its downtown population being one quarter of Toronto\u2019s, the Vancouver Marathon draws 92,000 spectators; the Houston Marathon boasts that it draws \u201ca couple hundred thousand spectators<\/a>\u201d every year; the Chicago Marathon (a city with a similar population to Toronto) boasts an astounding attendance<\/a> on crammed streets \u2014 part of the reason that the Chicago Marathon has been elevated to be considered one of the world’s major<\/a> city marathons (a group that includes the New York, Boston, London, Berlin, and Tokyo marathons).<\/p>\n

Toronto\u2019s reputation when it comes to marathons isn\u2019t great \u2014 runners tend to feel that, historically, the city hasn\u2019t done much to foster a welcoming atmosphere for running events, and that community support for running is lacking. Is that still the case? Brookes is optimistic that this attitude is being left in the past. \u00a0\u201cThirty years ago, it was true, but not anymore,\u201d he says. \u201cIf you\u2019d asked me ten, even five years ago, I\u2019d be less bullish, but we\u2019re really turning a corner.\u201d On paper at least, Brookes is doing much to help change Toronto\u2019s reputation as a poor city for marathons: in addition to the gold label his marathon received in 2015, they have had significant increases in terms of spectator support.<\/p>\n

Even so, as the sport of running and interest in marathons grows in Toronto, so too does the discontent. \u201cMarathon racing is growing like crazy,\u201d says Anderson, \u201cbut the people who aren\u2019t doing it don\u2019t want that to happen for some reason.\u201d Within certain vocal and outspoken circles of Torontonians, it seems clear that marathons are something to be tolerated rather than enjoyed by the public. \u201cThere\u2019s segments who are welcoming, there\u2019s segments who are ambivalent,\u201d says Anderson. \u201cIt\u2019s the people who are vocally against it that are the problem.\u201d That problem is intensified when you consider that those circles include Toronto\u2019s last two mayors.<\/p>\n

The road closures inherent in organizing a city marathon drew the ire of noted car-enthusiast Rob Ford, who during his 2010 mayoral campaign said, \u201cI think we’re using the roads one too many times, and it’s really frustrating for people trying to get in and out of the city,\u201d and instead proposed that marathons be staged in High Park or Downsview Park (Ford backed off the idea after he was elected, which among marathon organizers and runners alike is a logistical non-starter). John Tory has, more recently, used traffic to justify the idea of reducing the number of road races (all of which are charity fundraisers) saying that he was \u201cwilling to take the heat\u201d for saying no. \u201cDavid Miller once told me that for a major city-wide project and any description to be successful,\u201d says Brooks, \u201cit needs strong central leadership.\u201d Whether or not that strong central leadership exists (as far as marathons are concerned) remains to be seen \u2014 organizers like Brookes are still waiting for an \u201cAnn Hidalgo moment\u201d that can take marathons in Toronto from a niche event to something with broad appeal.<\/p>\n

There is a certain subset of Toronto residents who are quick to wrap themselves in the flag of \u2018war on the car\u2019 \u2014 as if such a thing ever existed (and, even if it did, that it would at all be a bad thing.). The way Torontonians have interacted with both the concept and physical realities of marathons being run on city streets betrays a larger degree of apathy towards large-scale community engagement. What\u2019s more troubling is that this apathy, reflected in vitriolic debates about bike lanes and condo development and low-income housing, seems more and more like Toronto\u2019s default setting.<\/p>\n

When drivers complain that they are inconvenienced by race-related road closures, they fail to realize that having one trip obstructed is the implicit trade-off with a community of runners who generally work around them on the other 364 days of the years (some early morning runners, for example, do so largely for the benefit of decreased traffic at 5:30am). I\u2019ll admit that there\u2019s a bit of self-interest at play here: even if few people understand the realities of training for a marathon, when (if all goes to plan) I run the Waterfront Marathon this fall, I don\u2019t think it\u2019s even remotely too much to ask that I don\u2019t get booed. For runners, after a year of dodging cars, waiting for traffic, and running in parks and along bike paths, it would be nice that for three and a half hours on a Sunday morning in October, that the roads \u2014 as they are in Paris, as they are in Boston, and as they are in New York \u2014 were ours.<\/p>\n

Top photo courtesy of Onno Kluyt<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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This affinity, though, tends to come with limits. Despite its enthusiasm for sports throughout the rest of the year, Torontonians adopt an attitude towards marathons that isContinue reading \"Does Toronto hate marathons?\"","og_url":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/2016\/05\/23\/toronto-hate-marathons\/","og_site_name":"Spacing Toronto","article_published_time":"2016-05-23T11:00:42+00:00","article_modified_time":"2016-05-24T14:12:18+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1024,"height":680,"url":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2016\/05\/5113609747_700569f518_o-1.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Kieran Delamont","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@Spacing","twitter_site":"@Spacing","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Kieran Delamont","Est. reading time":"12 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/2016\/05\/23\/toronto-hate-marathons\/","url":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/2016\/05\/23\/toronto-hate-marathons\/","name":"Does Toronto hate marathons? - Spacing Toronto","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/2016\/05\/23\/toronto-hate-marathons\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/2016\/05\/23\/toronto-hate-marathons\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2016\/05\/5113609747_700569f518_o-1.jpg","datePublished":"2016-05-23T11:00:42+00:00","dateModified":"2016-05-24T14:12:18+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/#\/schema\/person\/9a0e1047f0a46abc8db58768bc1c2261"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/2016\/05\/23\/toronto-hate-marathons\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/2016\/05\/23\/toronto-hate-marathons\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/2016\/05\/23\/toronto-hate-marathons\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2016\/05\/5113609747_700569f518_o-1.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2016\/05\/5113609747_700569f518_o-1.jpg","width":1024,"height":680},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/2016\/05\/23\/toronto-hate-marathons\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Does Toronto hate marathons?"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/#website","url":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/","name":"Spacing Toronto","description":"Canadian Urbanism Uncovered | Toronto Architecture, Urban Design, Public Transit, City Hall, Parks, Walking, Bikes, Streetscape, History, Waterfront, Maps, Public Spaces","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/#\/schema\/person\/9a0e1047f0a46abc8db58768bc1c2261","name":"Kieran Delamont","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/4ad1f53d18e8800a9accc6270ca85d60?s=96&d=blank&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/4ad1f53d18e8800a9accc6270ca85d60?s=96&d=blank&r=g","caption":"Kieran Delamont"},"url":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/author\/kieran\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54997","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8304"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=54997"}],"version-history":[{"count":13,"href":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54997\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":55072,"href":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54997\/revisions\/55072"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/55004"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=54997"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=54997"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=54997"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}