The Dirty Little Secret Trail Race is hosted by a Toronto-based charity called Don’t Mess with the Don. The primary focus of Don’t Mess with the Don (DMWTD) is the environmental stewardship and preservation of Toronto’s Don River Valley, primarily through organizing large-scale volunteer cleanup efforts and habitat restoration projects. Their mission is to protect this vital ravine system and raise community awareness about its ecological importance and responsible public use.
This race is in its third year and is entirely supported by DMWTD volunteers and some other brand sponsors. Therefore, there is no registration fee for the race, and there are only 125 runners, which gives this event a small, local race vibe. Thanks to the 30 volunteers for course marshalling, registration, and everything else, the event went really smooth and organized. Youth runners were able to start a couple of minutes early. Meanwhile, there are also team entry options, which placing will be based on combined time.
The race is on November 1st at 10 a.m. and starts at the container hub at the Loblaws trailhead at 11 Redway Rd. Similar to other regular Toronto Trail Runners weekly runs or events, runners gathered earlier to socialize at 9:30 a.m. They also came early to pick up the race shirt, which costs $25, and all the proceeds are going to support the DMWTD charity.
This race was originally 7K long, but due to the construction, it has been cut down to 6K. After the first descent, the course immediately enters the Metrolinx construction site, which has put a major crimp in trail access for the past year and for several years to come. Some of the course marshals guided us to run on one side, as we were sharing the roads with the construction vehicles. The course consists of about 1K of concrete road and 5K of muddy trail. There are only a couple of hills that are about 5–10 meters tall, and the rest are super flat and runnable, so some of the serious runners actually wore carbon-plated road shoes for this race. Plus, the course is not technical at all; it is pretty smooth and straightforward. If you have joined the Toronto Trail Runners before, you should be fairly familiar with the course. Throughout the course, the sharp orange course marking along the route was really clear, despite most of the course being covered in fall leaves.
As I was still recovering from my injury, I mostly walked the course, joining a small group also using the walk/run strategy. Within the group, there was someone trying out trail running for the first time, so we were taking our time, not rushing to finish. We even stopped several times to take some pictures with the scenic Don Valley fall leaves.
As the Metrolinx construction is underway near the trail, some construction materials and metal fences are placed along the course to detour or block some of the trail.
At the 4.5K mark, a volunteer told us, “Just follow the smell of the burger,” and everyone laughed about it. Climbing the last hill section, I could already smell the burger and hear the cheering and the cowbell-type of ringing.
Right after I crossed the finish line, some cheer members passed me the stainless steel bowl and fork for me to use as a cowbell to cheer the rest of the participants. After the run, most people were hungry and lining up for the burger, and some fruits and soda pops were also available.
Overall, this is not a typical race where you aim for a time goal or personal best, but it’s a gathering for the Toronto trail community to come together to contribute to supporting and protecting the Don Valley trail. This could only have happened thanks to the volunteers and everyone who is willing to contribute to help preserve the Don Valley and the Toronto trail community.
