London’s Forest City Road Races, held each year on Mother’s Day, is tailor-made for the old-school runner. I took part in the 2008 half-marathon and found it to be a nice, less crowded, back-to-basics run with fundamentally sound organization that would especially be appreciated by those who remember what marathons used to be like more than 10 years back.It came as a suprise to some of my running buddies that I chose this race over the other Mother’s Day marathon in Mississauga (many of them had not even heard of London’s race). Not surprising, since the Mississauga Marathon attracts thousands more and is rapidly starting to resemble the large, high profile marathons in Ottawa and Toronto. Ironically, I had a friendly discussion with another Toronto area runner shortly after crossing the finish line in London. She praised Mississauga as the better race, citing the larger number of participants, post-race massages and point-to-point course in that event.
True, the Forest City Road Races event does not have all the bells and whistles of the bigger marathons — massive expo, music bands, shuttle buses, 10,000 runners, free massages, huge cheering sections, large race kits, etc. But there are the little things that the Forest City event does better, such as space out the aid stations effectively, ensure each station does not run out of fluid, have visible direction/km marker signs and keep the post race area simple, less confusing and well stocked with food (all aforementioned big events failed to do these things at least once in the recent past). On top of that, the finisher’s medal is quite nice, and you are actually allowed to pick up your kit on race day (what a concept!)
There are not a lot of spectators, but that is to be expected in a smaller race of about 1,000 participants. And of course, the smaller field enabled me to run my target pace from the very first kilometre.
The course itself was moderate (not overly difficult, but not a course). It could have been less twisty and was a bit narrow in spots – the bike path route around the 8km mark comes to mind. The marathoners ran the exact same route as us half-marathoners did, only when we turned to the finish line, the full marathoners were sent on a seemingly lonely out-and-back loop to complete the second half of their race. Organizers and the city should look into making the first 21.1km more of a single loop with less twists and turns. Even so, the course was still more user-friendly than many smaller race routes that are exclusively confined to parks and gravel trails.
So if you like all the excitement, freebies, bells and whistles that go with a big, grand production, New York/Chicago-style race, look elsewhere. If you are looking for a modestly polished, medium sized, old-school, made-for-runners race, definitely give this one a try.
Ben,
I work for Thames Valley Children’s Centre, the organization that benefits from the Forest City Road Races. For the past 26 years, a group of dedicated VOLUNTEERS put this race on and give approximately $40,000 to our centre where we support children with disabilities. A lot of decisions that are made are based on cutting costs to benefit the charity. We appreciate your comments and I will pass them on to our race director. If you have any other suggestions, please don’t hesitate to contact me. Thanks and good luck with the rest of your running season! Michelle