Toronto Waterfront Marathon 2024: Record-Breaking Turnout and Two Days of Races

The TCS Toronto Waterfront Marathon will have thousands of runners from across the country on the city’s streets this weekend, and with them, a series of road closures.

Though the annual event starts Saturday, road closures will start to go into effect on Friday and last until Sunday, when the races end.

This year, the waterfront marathon will have 30,000 runners and more than an anticipated 100,000 spectators.

“As a global event with a local heart, this year’s TCS Toronto Waterfront Marathon is the 35th edition of the event, bringing decades of historic moments, memorable Olympic qualifiers, and local charity impacts,” a release from TCS Toronto states. “A pillar of Toronto’s annual event roster, the internationally-renowned race is a World Athletics Elite Label event that prides itself on its impacts ‘beyond the run.’”

According to the release, the event has raised over $35 million for over 150 charity partners since 2003.

There are three races over the weekend: a 5K, half marathon and marathon. In previous years, the 5K has been on Sunday, however this year it will take place on Saturday allowing for “shorter road closures than in previous years.”

For Virginia Lee, the TCS Toronto Waterfront Marathon on Oct. 20, is more than just another race—it’s a journey that has spanned a quarter-century. The 51-year-old Toronto native is a legacy runner at the Toronto Waterfront Marathon, having finished every edition since the marathon distance was introduced in 2000. This year, she’s gearing up for her 25th consecutive Waterfront Marathon, with a deeper purpose: fundraising for the Princess Margaret Cancer Foundation through the TCS Charity Challenge in memory of her late father.

Lee and her father were incredibly close, and she credits her love for fitness to him as it was something he loved to do. Lee says she was a mathlete in her younger years and her passion for fitness began in her 20s. After a while, she got tired of the 45-minute commute to her local gym. Lee decided to skip the gym and hit the local track instead—where she fell in love with running. A colleague at Browns Shoes, Manny, eventually helped her gain enough confidence to register for her first race. “He was a big mentor for me,” Lee says. “I remember being in awe of all the marathons he’s done, and now I’ve done more—he can’t believe how far I’ve come.”

She first ran the Toronto Waterfront Marathon in 2000, and it quickly became an annual tradition. “I started doing the Toronto Waterfront Marathon every year because it was something I enjoyed,” Lee says. Her dedication to the race became even more apparent in 2013 when she faced a tough decision—run the Chicago Marathon, which she had qualified for, or maintain her streak in Toronto. Toronto organizers reached out, reminding her of her unbroken streak. She ended up doing both. “I had to be super conservative in Chicago because I wanted to run well in Toronto,” Lee recalls.

Looking back at TCS Toronto Waterfront Marathon’s incredible growth

Over 24 years, Lee has seen the sport evolve, especially women’s participation. “There weren’t too many women at my first marathon in 2000, but last year there were nearly 1,500 female finishers,” she says. The growing community of older female runners in Canada has been an inspiration, along with U.S. masters running legend Jeannie Rice, who at 76, holds several masters marathoning world records. “She is such an idol for me,” says Lee. “Although I’ll never be as fast as her, her consistency and resilience are everything.”

One of Lee’s biggest motivations remains her desire to maintain her streak. “A lot of people did not believe I could do this,” she says, reflecting on the dedication that has driven her through two decades of training. Her commitment is impressive considering her career at the University Health Network (UHN) in Toronto, where she’s worked for the last 15 years.

Her training build for this year’s race has been the hardest yet, dealing with her father’s passing, plus a bad case of shingles. “I wasn’t well. I caught shingles and felt exhausted for the first two months,” she shares. “The loss of my father has given me a renewed purpose.”

At the TCS Toronto Waterfront Marathon expo on Friday, Lee will share her story to the start line and guide eager runners through what they can expect on the 2024 course. Despite 24 years of experience, Lee admits she still gets nervous. “I feel like I have imposter syndrome every year. But I’m grateful to be a part of it.”

Marathon Coverage: How to Watch the TCS Toronto Waterfront Marathon

Ethiopia’s Roza Dereje, who finished fourth in the Olympic marathon in Sapporo, is among the athletes racing the TCS Toronto Waterfront Marathon, a World Athletics Elite Label event, which will be streamed live for free on World Athletics Inside Track on Sunday (20).

It will be Dereje’s first marathon since that Olympic appearance three years ago, following the birth of her son, Yobsan.

As well as finishing fourth in Sapporo, the 27-year-old has achieved second and third-place finishes in the Chicago and London marathons, respectively, and has a PB of 2:18:30.

“Even though it is my first time to race since I gave birth, running is not new to me,” she said. “So, I am not nervous about it. I am preparing well for the race to make my comeback fruitful.”

She will be joined in Toronto by her compatriot Waganesh Mekasha, who won the Osaka Marathon in February and was a close second in Toronto last year, plus Afera Godfay, who was third last year. Natasha Wodak leads the Canadian entries.

The men’s field features last year’s winner Elvis Cheboi of Kenya, Ethiopia’s Mulugeta Uma, who won this year’s Paris Marathon, and Dubai Marathon fourth-place finisher Abdi Fufa, also of Ethiopia.

The 2024 TCS Toronto Waterfront Marathon will be streamed live for free on World Athletics Inside Track.

The stream will start at 7:00am EDT / 11:00am GMT on Sunday 20 October.

Running the Race: What to Expect This Weekend

While you panic buy some last-minute Halloween costumes and debate if it’s time to break out that winter coat, warmer weather is predicted to hit the GTA and a marathon run will cause major road closures throughout the city.

Here’s what to expect from Toronto this weekend.

After a frost advisory issued for Thursday morning by Environment Canada, temperatures are expected to rise again on the weekend.

Sunny weather will arrive Friday with a daytime high of 18 C, eventually dropping to 5 C overnight.

It is expected that Saturday and Sunday temperatures will reach a high of 20 C during the day as runners participate in the Toronto Waterfront Marathon. No rain is expected this weekend except for a 10 per cent chance of precipitation on Sunday.

Prepare for driving in the city to get even more complicated this weekend as several roads are closed because of the Toronto Waterfront Marathon.

Bay Street will be closed from Dundas to Queen Street West from 7 a.m. Saturday until 9 p.m. Sunday night.

Multiple major roads will be impacted on Sunday. Bathurst Street from Bloor Street West to Lake Shore Boulevard W as well as Bloor Street West from Bathurst Street to Bay Street will be closed from 8 a.m. to 10:45 a.m.

The following roads will also be fully closed from early Sunday morning to the afternoon, University Avenue from Dundas to Front Street West, Bay Street from Queen Street West to Lake Shore Boulevard West, King Street West from York to Yonge Street as well as Queen Street West, Richmond Street West and Adelaide Street West will all closed from Simcoe to Yonge Street.

Eastbound along Front Street West from Bay to Jarvis Street will also be closed due to the marathon.

A full list of the road closures this weekend due to the marathon can be found on the Canada Running Series Website.

Marathon in a New Light: A Record-Breaking Year

When race director Alan Brookes helped start the Toronto Waterfront Marathon in 1990, a decade before the event even featured a full marathon, he says there were barely enough organizers to put it on, let alone runners.

“It was me and one other full-time person, and then a bunch of folks from different running clubs,” he said. Organizers sifted through mailed-in registration then and did their best to figure out how to hold a race, Brookes told CBC News on Thursday.

“You knew every year something would go sideways.”

But the race slowly grew through word of mouth, Brookes said, and the 42-kilometre full marathon was added in 2000 with about 600 runners making the finish line.

This year, the Toronto Waterfront Marathon is celebrating its 35th year with a record-breaking turnout and, for the first time ever, two days of races.

This weekend's event features over 30,000 runners from 70 countries, Brookes said, with 18 full-time staff and 3,000 volunteers making sure everything goes off without a hitch. Brookes says this year's turnout sets an attendance record, as well as a record for the most nationalities registered.

“We could have definitely taken more,” Brookes said, adding that registration sold out in August. “It’s become a professional race.”

Changes for 2024: New Races and Categories

The Toronto Waterfront Marathon has some changes this year.

In addition to the men's and women's categories, a non-binary category has been introduced with its own prize money. Races will take place over two days instead of just Sunday, with the 5-kilometre race happening on Saturday.

Runners have raised over $3 million for over 150 local charities this year, Brookes said Thursday, and expected Saturday to be a celebration of the money collected for good causes.

For runners like Arthur Qiu, who started running as a hobby during the pandemic, the charitable side of the event is the main driver behind signing up. To support cancer patients like his father, he says he's raising money for the Princess Margaret Cancer Foundation, and matching each donation himself.

“I was never really much of an athletic guy in high school,” he told CBC News. “So getting out there to support these charities has been hugely beneficial for me, for my father, for my family, and of course for these charities.”

Sunday morning will put the focus back on the long-distance runners, Brookes said, with the half- and full marathons taking place around 8 a.m.

The marathon run will start on University Avenue near city hall. Runners will head north past Queen’s Park up to Bloor Street, then head east for a few blocks before heading south on Bathurst Street. Runners will take Lakeshore Boulevard west past High Park, before looping back east until they reach the Beaches. The race will then head back downtown and finish next to City Hall.

Runners to Watch: From Olympians to First-Timers

There will be some professional-level runners out this weekend, including two-time Olympian and Canadian record-holder Natasha Wodak.

But there will also be plenty of amateur runners out just to see what they can do, including 40-year-old Emily Casey, who’s running her first half-marathon Sunday.

“I had always thought that was a distance I would never be able to do,” said Casey, who has multiple sclerosis.

But she says she saw people in her running group do just fine in last year’s event, and she took that as inspiration to challenge herself. She says she started training well in advance and knows the 21-kilometre run is doable for her, but she’s excited to celebrate with friends after.

“I just want it to be done and be able to say that I’ve done it,” she said.

For anyone in Toronto who isn’t running, organizers have set up cheer stations along the route for people to set up and support this year’s participants.

CBC Sports is streaming this year’s Toronto Waterfront Marathon live online, starting at 8 a.m. Sunday.