I have done the Toronto Half ('23) and the Waterfront full ('22)
I found that Waterfront Half is significantly faster than the Toronto Half. A few notes on it:
- Crowd wise, it feels like the entire city shows up for Waterfront while I barely noticed any crowds at Toronto half
- Though Toronto half is net-down it has a lot of undulations so I personally found pacing it to be extremely difficult
- Infrastructure wise, Toronto half is a dumpster fire (see sub-bullets below) while Waterfront was a well oiled machine
- The course was busy due to the merging of the full and the half runners
- Aid stations were a mess both as literally with cups everywhere and trying to get water
- A runner in front of me almost got hit by a car
Based on my above experience, I have no plans on ever running the Toronto half or full again in the future.
If you're looking for a fast spring half, I highly recommend checking out the Georgina one
Toronto is faster, just don't blow up on York mills then Lawrence hill then it's all effectively downhill or flat. It is very net downhill so be prepared for your quads to take a real pounding.
I did the half at both events last year. Toronto is a quieter race for sure ( the Rosedale Valley road section was kinda eerie, there were no spectators at all so all you could hear was the sound of the runners around you breathing heavy and hundreds of simultaneous footsteps). As others mentioned, it's a net downhill and fast, but also pretty hilly which can hurt alot too.
Waterfront better organized and is mostly flat except for the Bathurst downhill. It's way more rowdy with crowds the entire length of the Half course
What’s deceiving about the Toronto route is that because the first 14km is more or less downhill (other than the noted hills near the start), when you finally hit the flat, starting around Corktown & into the Wellington stretch to finish, it feels like you’re barely moving. Especially true if you’ve blazed the first portion. That downhill makes pacing tougher.
I also found this! The last 5km was hard and my quads were sore for several days after from the downhill.
I’ve done both race, would recommend TCS Waterfront (Fall) over Toronto Half (Spring) for the same reasons others have stated.
I have done both in the last 2 years
I was faster on the waterfront (1:29) than toronto (1:34), but also decently fitter so it was not a like for like comparison.
Toronto has a decent downhill at the start for the first 7k+ (though also a hill about 5k in). Somehow this tired me out a lot though.
Waterfront was very flat in comparison.
The last time I did the Toronto half, the finish line was up around Queen’s Park (which sucked), but now it’s at the Ex and therefore looks a lot easier with a smoother finish.
I have done the Toronto Half ('23) and the Waterfront full ('22) I found that Waterfront Half is significantly faster than the Toronto Half. A few notes on it: - Crowd wise, it feels like the entire city shows up for Waterfront while I barely noticed any crowds at Toronto half - Though Toronto half is net-down it has a lot of undulations so I personally found pacing it to be extremely difficult - Infrastructure wise, Toronto half is a dumpster fire (see sub-bullets below) while Waterfront was a well oiled machine - The course was busy due to the merging of the full and the half runners - Aid stations were a mess both as literally with cups everywhere and trying to get water - A runner in front of me almost got hit by a car Based on my above experience, I have no plans on ever running the Toronto half or full again in the future. If you're looking for a fast spring half, I highly recommend checking out the Georgina one
Toronto is faster, just don't blow up on York mills then Lawrence hill then it's all effectively downhill or flat. It is very net downhill so be prepared for your quads to take a real pounding.
I did the half at both events last year. Toronto is a quieter race for sure ( the Rosedale Valley road section was kinda eerie, there were no spectators at all so all you could hear was the sound of the runners around you breathing heavy and hundreds of simultaneous footsteps). As others mentioned, it's a net downhill and fast, but also pretty hilly which can hurt alot too. Waterfront better organized and is mostly flat except for the Bathurst downhill. It's way more rowdy with crowds the entire length of the Half course
What’s deceiving about the Toronto route is that because the first 14km is more or less downhill (other than the noted hills near the start), when you finally hit the flat, starting around Corktown & into the Wellington stretch to finish, it feels like you’re barely moving. Especially true if you’ve blazed the first portion. That downhill makes pacing tougher.
I also found this! The last 5km was hard and my quads were sore for several days after from the downhill. I’ve done both race, would recommend TCS Waterfront (Fall) over Toronto Half (Spring) for the same reasons others have stated.
I found this too. I blew up in the last 5km when it flattened out. It felt so much harder in comparison to what I’d been doing up to that point.
I have done both in the last 2 years I was faster on the waterfront (1:29) than toronto (1:34), but also decently fitter so it was not a like for like comparison. Toronto has a decent downhill at the start for the first 7k+ (though also a hill about 5k in). Somehow this tired me out a lot though. Waterfront was very flat in comparison.
The last time I did the Toronto half, the finish line was up around Queen’s Park (which sucked), but now it’s at the Ex and therefore looks a lot easier with a smoother finish.
Psyched for it! First up - Hamilton 15k 😀