(Hey everybody. I’m on a long flight right now. So I’m doing my best to catch up on some races. I know not everything is in order, and I’m sorry about that. I’m just cranking out what I can while I’m in the air.)
After doing a full marathon the week before this in San Diego, I was still a little beat, and wasn’t 100% sure if I wanted to go for the full, or if I’d just drop down to the 5k again (as I have in my other Divas races).
But obviously I need the mileage. 882 miles is a lot, and I gotta keep working toward getting there!
Also, I did go all the way to Tornoto, after all. And my friend Ryan is getting up oh so early to drive me there. Like, I should probably make it feel more worth it to everybody by doing 13.1 instead of 3.1.
I was slightly afraid yet again of the time limit and making sure I out-ran (or at least out-walked) the shuttle. But I’m going for it. Here we go.
Ryan was so great. He’s a friend I know aaaall the way back from the 1st game show I was ever on (1 vs 100). He picked me up from the airport. (He even came inside! What am I? A big time celebrity or something? Dang.)
Then I got to stay in his guest room. And he drove me to race morning! He was so cool and funny and excited. He was taking pictures and seemed to really enjoy it! I loved hanging out with someone who seemed to view it all as an adventure instead of a chore ??
The race was so very hot. That was one of the main takeaways about this one – the sun.
But the actual real *main* takeaway is the niceness of the people. People are not kidding when they make all those jokes about super nice Canadians.
Even the shuttle people, I was so afraid when they caught up and started following me somewhere around mile 10. (Dum dum duuuuuuum [scary chords]) But they were soooo nice! I kept looking behind me like a murderer was coming up behind me.
And they were just like, “You’re doing great! You got this!”
And I was the last person to pass the tiara station, and they seemed *just* as excited to dress me in a tiara and boa as they probably were for anybody hours earlier.
Aaaaand! At the very end, there was a woman selling divas hanging bars for your medals. And she gave me a free one, ’cause she wanted to give one to the last place person to finish. My goodness gracious!
And, even after so many hours (like 4), Ryan was waiting for me at the finish and cheering so much! It was great!
Just every person was exceptionally nice. I loved it in Toronto!
And after the race, Ryan took me to Fresh – a declisouly amazing vegan restaurant. AND THEY HAD VEGAN POUTINE.
Poutine was never a staple of my diet (and obviously shouldn’t be, as it’s totally unhealthy). But I loooved it when I tried it in New Orleans and was a bit bummed that it was something I wouldn’t be able to have as a vegetarian hoping to maybe someday be a vegan. But I CAN have it in Toronto. What’s up, world?
Oh and one last thing about Toronto – when I looked sad about not getting a passport stamp since it’s just Canada, they were just like, “we got you.” And gave me one!
…And when I got back to NY, there was a dude being suuuuper rude and impatient in the aisle and he bullied his way in front of this other guy just to get like 5 feet further than before (as there was still a big line to get off the plane). And that behavior was especially jarring since I’d just come from potentially the nicest place on earth. And when I saw the stereotype incarnate of the [heavy accent] “hey I’m walkin’ here!” New York caricature, alas, I knew I was home. [Deep sigh]
Anyway, let’s not end on a sour note though. Canadian, niceness, poutine, eh? ??