Awesome finish time, awesome RR, awesome detailed RR I should say. I very much enjoyed it, especially the thoughts going on in your head with each split. I like your "just wingin' it" attitude, love it, love it, love it!!!! You looked strong in all photos, even the last one where all we can see if your head 

Excellent job, Lily.  That PR is surely still in reach, but I understand that you had to "make sure" in a sense.

Love that you ran Toronto on a whim, and will use NY as a tour of the city by foot.  Damned Poo Monster, to be sure.

Great pics, especially the one with the CN Tower in the background.  But a Hamilton shirt in T-dot?  You surely were not going to be easily outed as Quebecois in that .

Congrats!

Congratulations, Julie! It's always inspiring and fun to read your reports and great to see your positivity about this improptu race. Hope you have a great time in NY. Please write another wonderful race report afterwards.

congrats lily!

So you managed your second-best time with two stops and GI issues.  I'd say that's pretty damn good.  You have a lot of talent and determination; I'm pretty sure you could be AG-competitive and improve on your PR with fewer races, some actual, professional coaching and better pacing.  Or maybe just hire some pace bunnies who don't drop out at Mile 20 

Too bad we didn't get a chance to chat...  it's funny because I must have been right behind you at the start, close to the front of the second (yellow) corral.  I didn't plan on racing the half so that was deliberate.  I have likely passed you somewhere along the way, thinking "who's that cutie in red tartan shorts, eh" 

You always take great pictures and these are no exception.  Are they official photos?

Anyway, yes, Toronto course has a lot of streetcar tracks (we don't call them trams around here), so that's a bit of a hazard.  Half and full run together until about 20K mark (12.5 miles) where the half runners split off and head to the finish line.  I think the half course is great: slight uphill grade from the start to keep you in check, a mini-tour of the landmarks - Queen's Park, the Royal Ontario Museum, Honest Ed's, Fort York, Lake Shore parks.  It's not 100% flat but uphills are very minor and few and far between.  I have only counted three including Lake Shore Blvd hill (which I run weekly), Spadina highway ramp, and Bay St rail underpass.

I think the second half of the marathon course needs work; it's been re-routed again this year because of construction, and it's fairly dull, dusty and unscenic except for a short stint in the Beaches.

Organization-wise, this is as good as it gets in Toronto, which isn't much compared to some US races or the World Majors.  Post-race food is still pretty spartan (..but they added pita and yogurt this year!), finish area still a bit cramped.  Crowds have improved significantly, at least downtown, but are still less numerous than elsewhere, even Ottawa.  Volunteers and cheering stations are very enthusiastic.  Traffic control and water stations are good, although Gatorade tasted very thin to me.

Have a great recovery, and see you in NYC my friend!

Yes, it is.  And they have slowly progressed towards more professional organization in the past few years, as in standardized check-in bags, better corral management, more organized start/finish area and better course control.

I like bib tags too, though they need to change bib design from year to year, or at least include a prominent year number.  I have seen a documented case on Facebook when some jerk ran a full marathon this year with last year's half bib.

Thanks for the info, TO. I also believe the full is iaaf silver label.

And my glorious finish line pic! Surely as good as LRB's, no?  Try to find me. 

Behind the guy in the green shirt.  I may not be a great runner, but I can find the forum ladies. 

Fashion-sense, smashion-sense, I liked your outfit.  I might have to get one of those for Gail....

Tram tracks, bunched up sock, painful foot top....and you still got a BQ.  You rock, Lily!  Very detailed and great report.  Congrats on yet another marathon for you!

As for the GI issues, I get those on occasion too.   With my doctor's permission, I sometimes take an immodium about 2 hours before  a race and that seems to help.   Might work for you too.  If you decide to try it, experiment with it on a training run, be sure anytime you take immodium to  to drink lots of water with it.  And if you are on any type of meds, be sure to check with your doc for any drug interaction possibilities.

Great RR, as usual, Julie. Yeah, you did go out a bit too fast and couldn't hold it, but so what? We have all done that in a race. The most impressive thing to me is that you have BQ'd in EVERY one of your marathons. That is something most of us will never be able to say. That is just awesome.