Making the big race a big celebration
Hit one of those really big milestones, and you mark the occasion with a sense of panache.
Crank up the tunes and hand out the party favours. Good ones.
The 125th running of Around the Bay Road Race comes around on March 31 and to commemorate it organizers are adding some extra flair to the oldest road race on the continent. They’ve enlisted Supercrawl to provide music in three places, baked goods companies to hand out brownies and bagels at the finish, and a local brewery to provide samples of specific-to-this-weekend craft beer to those finishers who are willing, and old enough.
“It’s certainly a celebration,” says race director Anna Lewis. “This is a big party, but we also wanted to enhance the race experience. As runners move through different parts of the course, they look for things that will help inspire them. And music always does that. Who’s best at music is Supercrawl.”
Final details are still being worked out but there will be live music at Bay Street and York Boulevard with three bands playing over a total of about four hours— when the runners start and as they near the finish— and a DJ at the second water station. There will also be recorded music in the concourse of the FirstOntario Centre, where all the races finish. The sound system inside the arena proper is reserved for announcing the runners as they cross the finish line.
“We’ll do our best to make this as much fun as possible,” said Supercrawl’s Tim Potocic, who added that the music component might extend into future Bay Races. “We’ll see how the reaction is. We want to make sure we have the right vibe with the music.”
The Bay Race has also partnered with Merit Brewing, the James St. North brewery-restaurant located just around the corner from the race’s epicentre.
After they cross the finish line, runners who are of age will receive a small sample of The Bay, a Merit beer to be produced exclusively for the race. Road racing is hip, craft beer is hip, so there’s some kind of link there.
“There’s no doubt about that,” says Merit’s Tej Sandhu, a McMaster graduate who’s competed in the Bay Race three times, including last year.
“They’re both having a really cool moment right now and I don’t think it’s going to end any time soon. They’re just great together.
“It’s a really responsible level of consumption. Running and then having a beer doesn’t take away from that sense of responsibility. I think in the evolution of running, it has become a very social thing.”
Organizers say this the first time since the Bay Race moved from the Convention Centre to FirstOntario Place for the 2006 event that a complimentary beer has been part of the finishers’ package.
Merit will be taking preorders for the Finish Line Four Pack available on race day. That will include three bottles of their regular brands and one bottle of The Bay, brewed for the Bay Race only. Each of the bottles will have a unique Around The Bay label.
The 125th Bay Race also has agreements with O’Doughs and Allfree to provide bagels and brownies, respectively, at the finish line.
Three years ago, local artist Dylan Swan dedicated himself to completing a set of 31 acrylic scenes, one for the starting line and each one-kilometre segment of the race, finished the project on Wednesday night, just in time for Thursday’s celebratory unveil at Merit Brewery. Swan has already sold 14 of the originals but all 31 will be on display at the Art Gallery of Hamilton from March 9 to May 6.