Running in Toronto

It's a good running city. I've felt that it's not as good as American cities for sub-elite running clubs. It's a good place to run.

Downtown is good because you can run along the lake, and there are tracks here and there, not that it does you much good in the winter. There are also lots of trails in midtown. You'll be fine with that respect.

Group-wise, I'm not a fan of Toronto. If you're very fast, you'll fit in, as well as if you're very slow.

Races are quite good. There are three big marathons in the Toronto area, as well as a nice mix of competitive races at other distances. I think it's getting quite expensive to run races there though (I don't live there anymore).

Thanks for your reply. I'm still pretty young and although not terribly good (definitely not sub-elite), but I did run in college and was moderately successful. I don't really know anyone in TO so I was hoping a running club might be a good way to meet people. Any advice on what are good clubs for meeting young-ish people?

I lived down town, just west of Queen's Park. There are some good places you can run on soft ground if you're willing to do many loops or there-and-backs in parks. Running along the lake is good. But going through the city can be a pain in the butt. My strategy was to find the quickest and most low-key traffic-wise route to where I wanted to run (a park, the lake, a track, etc.) and then spend as much of my run in that spot as possible. It worked well for me.

There's the University of Toronto Track Club, as well as the Longboat Roadrunners. After that, I'm not too sure.

bump. Thanks for the responses, guys!

You can get some good long runs in along the lake (especially if you attach a run along the lake with a jaunt out onto the Leslie Street Spit which is open to the public and does not allow cars on the weekends - look on a map, its the land extension out into the water on the east side of the city]. There are some nice long bike paths along the lake as well as running up the east and west sides of the city (following the Don River and the Humber River respectively). These paths all connect to each other at the lake. There is also a nice set of ravine trails (very wide trails) in midtown that make for a great shaded, smogless runs in the summer. Moore Park Ravine can make for good half mile repeats and hill work (as you have to go up a big hill to get out of the ravine or down it to get into it from the wealthy kneigborhood nown as Rosedale). Churchhill Park in midtwon also has a nice dirt path on the flat top of a hill on which you can do 800 meter repeats (U. Toronto track club uses it all the time).

Hope you enjoy the home brewed coffee porter at C'est What.

Cedarvale-Beltline-cemetery-Moore Ravine from downtown:

http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=4198301

Um, all good suggestions, but you won't be running most of those places for the next few winter months.

Toronto is my hometown and there are a lot of great things about Toronto but the running scene is not one of them. The city is so large that unless you're willing to drive (or base where you live on access to running routes) these suggestions could be meaningless.

To be honest, I lived in a bad part of town for running so maybe my opinion is skewed but almost wherever you live, you'll have to run along streets and deal with pedestrians, cars and traffic lights for a significant portion of your run. As someone else suggested, the only way to avoid this is to do a lot of loops or out and backs which I don't enjoy.

If you're serious about running, live close to the lake, high park or near trails.

I should add that these neighbourhoods are less than ideal because you're essentially giving up (walking) access to the subway which is the best and most reliable way to get around town.

Great places to run:

1) Along Lake Ontario (lakeshore, queens quay

2) Beltline

The exception is High Park -- it is incredible for running.

But the truth... wrote:

Um, all good suggestions, but you won't be running most of those places for the next few winter months.

On the contrary, much of the Cedarvale-Beltline-Moore Ravine loop is runnable most of the winter. Just takes a day or so after a snowfall for the pedestrian traffic to pack it down to a quite decent runnable surface.

Things can get dicey if there is a melt followed by a flash freeze, but another layer of snow on the ice will take care of that problem.

Various centrally located neighbourhoods like Rosedale and Forest Hill have roads on which you can do various loops without having excessive car issues, even at night.

Then there's High Park or the various cemeteries, the latter of which are well plowed and cleared of snow.

Thanks, these are all great suggestions. Keep 'em coming!