Under Armour Spring Run-Off, Toronto

Toronto’s High Park is home to the Under Armour Spring Run-Off, the first race in the highly competitive Canada Running Series. Best compared to New York ’s famous Central Park, it covers 161 hectares and is Toronto’s largest and most scenic. This historic setting makes the Spring Run-Off a unique event, with all races run entirely within the park ’s boundaries. “It’s arguably one of North America’s most scenic urban road races,” says race director Alan Brookes.

But the Spring Run-Off isn’t a stroll in the park. “I think most people think of ‘the hills of High Park,’” Brookes says. (Two deep ravines extend across the park, and they make for a hilly course that attracts a number of elite athletes to the race each year.) “There are two good uphills and two good downhills in the traditional 8k with one good up and one good down in the 5k.”

Participants are automatically entered in the“Kill the Hill Challenge,” in which runners race to complete the last 365 m, an uphill section at the end of the race route. Times for the hill climb are tracked separately with prizes on offer for the fastest male and female non-elite racers.

Racers follow the shores of historic Grenadier Pond, named for a British grenadier rumoured to have fallen in while defending Toronto in the War of 1812 . Participants in the 8k also pass near Colborne Lodge, the former home of John George Howard, an early citizen of Toronto who donated the land for High Park. The race also has a lengthy history, which started in 1978. It is now Toronto’s oldest continuously held road race and the first in Canada to offer prize money.

The event also features familyfriendly traditions. Yearly since the race’s inception, a bagpiper has lead runners to the start line. The race also includes live entertainment, maple syrup, prizing and a pancake breakfast. Runners can collect pl edges to help support cancer research at the Princess Margaret Cancer Centre.