Signing up for Tannenbaum again this year was a no-brainer and made even more exciting given that the race was celebrating it's 10th anniversary. Since the Scotia Toronto Waterfront Half Marathon in October, I'd continued running, but running to maintain a base, not really training. I decided that my only goal for race day was to have fun.
Tannenbaum has become one of my favourite races. It is close to home for me, meaning I could still be in my PJs sipping tea at 7:00 am on race day. I know every inch of the course because I run it often. The race is both big enough and small enough. By that I mean that it has a really good following and rating by runners, while still having a small race vibe with a campfire to stay warm and the ease of checking your bag minutes before the race start. I like the fact that the race is in December, just before the major hustle and bustle of the holidays. The race kit is one of the best, offering lots of food goodies and in place of a shirt, runners received a bag in 2014 and a toque in 2015. Race photos are free. Plus, if you don't mind waiting around in the cold for a bit after the race, you are pretty much guaranteed to receive some sort of prize! As you can tell it's easy for me to talk-up this race, which I often did on social media leading up to race day. I guess I considering myself somewhat of a self-appointed-ambassador!
I arrived about 45 minutes before the race started. Wandering around, I had a chance to chat with Paul, give JP a hug before he headed off to play pace-elf and finally meet Melanie and April who ran from the west end to grab a #runchat photo of runners dressed up in Christmas outfits. There were several other runners there that I didn't get the opportunity to say hi to. It was one of those races that everyone seemed to be wearing black and it was hard to pick anyone out of the crowd. I found Michelle who was chatting with a girl she was coaching. We each did a double take and I realized it was Courtney who I knew on social media.
There are a handful of races I think I will always enjoy and always sign up for, Tannenbaum being one of them. Ten years, ten kilometers and definitely a 10 out of 10!