I know of 5 RAers ran this race in the east end of Toronto on Saturday night. 3 did the 15k and 2 ran the 30k. Here is my go at a mini race report. All photos courtesy of backstretch and family (the greatest support crew) Started the evening by meeting the crew. L-R: tuf_aint_enough, rururunner, daddyo, backstretch, JasonR A little confusion at the meet up... I managed to give a totally inaccurate description of where we should meet up, but we all got together before the race. The confusion continued as the race started late and there was a last minute switch of start order, the 15k was about to step to the start line when they switched the 30 k to start first. Weird. I did my usual.... went out too fast and faded in the end... but ended up pleased with my time. 1:22:08 for 15 k. tuf_ait_enough starting his second run of the day... a little 25k warm in in the AM before the evening 15k race. JasonR before he crashed and burned. backstretch & daddyo in the first 5 k of 30. daddyo sets a PR in the 30k. Now that we have the silly running part out of the way on to the good stuff.... BEER GARDEN Beer, food, Good Times

Sweet!! Wait. Does that mean Daddyo is real? Uh oh.

The Midsummer Night's Run was fantastic! It was so wonderful to meet everyone in person - these guys are smokin' hot! Thanks Daddyo for starting the group! This was my longest race ever so I PR'd! Time doesn't matter. The night was truly magical. Many of the runners were dressed as fairies with wings and sparkles everywhere. We started the run in an industrial area then moved on to a man-made park which is a "spit" or finger of land that goes into Lake Ontario. I didn't know it even existed before. The terrain is ever-changing - from asphalt to broken asphalt, trails, gravel, a bridge and a mini-lighthouse. The sun was starting to set as we began our run and we got the bonus of a beautiful sunset with the Toronto skyline in the background. We ended our run in near darkness. It was truly magical for me, as it was my 51st birthday and I also celebrated a milestone of 8 years to the day when I had my last radiation treatment for cancer. Thanks for the pics Backstretch! Ruru

The Midsummer Night's Run was fantastic! It was so wonderful to meet everyone in person - these guys are smokin' hot! Thanks Daddyo for starting the group! This was my longest race ever so I PR'd! Time doesn't matter. The night was truly magical. Many of the runners were dressed as fairies with wings and sparkles everywhere. We started the run in an industrial area then moved on to a man-made park which is a "spit" or finger of land that goes into Lake Ontario. I didn't know it even existed before. The terrain is ever-changing - from asphalt to broken asphalt, trails, gravel, a bridge and a mini-lighthouse. The sun was starting to set as we began our run and we got the bonus of a beautiful sunset with the Toronto skyline in the background. We ended our run in near darkness. It was truly magical for me, as it was my 51st birthday and I also celebrated a milestone of 8 years to the day when I had my last radiation treatment for cancer. Thanks for the pics Backstretch! ! Ruru

NOW THAT IS WORTH CELEBRATING!

It was truly magical for me, as it was my 51st birthday and I also celebrated a milestone of 8 years to the day when I had my last radiation treatment for cancer.

So much has been said already, but this warrants being repeated. Congratulations Ruth and happy birthday. Glad we could celebrate both milestones with you. Awesome meet up. Great bunch of folks. It was fantastic to relax post race with a few beers from local brewery Steamwhistle. I didn't eat, but the steak sandwiches, ribs and burgers from Dangerous Dan's looked awesome. A quick note about the race: despite a bit of pre-race confusion about start times, long bag check and porta-potty queues, I thought the organization was very good. Marshalling and on-course support was perfect. Results were posted promptly. The Leslie Spit was a great place for a race of this distance, though I think the 30k runners had issues on the back half of their course. 15k was great! Great views of the lake, marina and Toronto skyline. Lots of post race goodies to munch on. Oodles of prizes. Shirt and finisher medal where awesome. Top drawer. I went out a bit fast. First two kms were 4:16/4:19 respectively. I should have known that I could not hold that pace. Once onto the spit, things settled down and fell into a decent rhythm. The pack had shaken out a bit by now and I was focusing on my turnover and breathing. At the turn around by the lighthouse I could feel the effects of the morning's run. Legs were tired and this was not helped by the dodgy footing (gravel and loose rocks). At the 8k mark I got passed for the first time since the start. At 9k I walked 100m to shake out a stitch in my side which had been bugging me since 5k. A few more runners would slide by, but I would catch and pass them before the end. Coming off the spit, there was a bit of a headwind, but nothing too bad. Bearing down now and hanging on. Somewhere in here I missed a split. Passing a few runners here and there. With about 2k to go, I could feel someone pull even with me. Wasn't about to let someone pass me at this point. Just trying to match her stride for stride. She grunts something and I mutter 'almost done'. Little does she know if she surges at all, I am the one that's done. Her surge never comes, so at 750-500m from the finish, I push just a bit to drop her and see if I can't catch a couple of the blokes in front of me. I catch two and bring it home in 1:09:18. Good enough for 35/623 (5.6%) overall. Just missed the top 10 in my age group. Not a bad effort for a 40k day. Side note: Daddyo must be the 'Trent' of the Great White North. It is scary how many people he knew! Next Toronto RA meet-up: Oakville HM Sept 1 @ 7:40.

It was truly magical for me, as it was my 51st birthday and I also celebrated a milestone of 8 years to the day when I had my last radiation treatment for cancer.

Excellent on both counts! Sounds like such a great race was had by all involved! Love seeing the photos of you all.

RuRu! This is awesome. Belated HB and way ultimate congrats on the 8 year milestone! We totally owe you a birthday beer or 6 at our next race! ~D

You're on! I'll run the 10 k starting at 7:30 in the morning - and I'll repeat my comments earlier - and I'll be ready for my 6 beers at 8:25 a.m. (In my wildest dreams!) 8 years? It was a lot easier than the 9 months before that. Thanks!