Runners lace up for Toronto's 1st major marathon of the year
Series of road closures from Willowdale to the Lake Shore on Sunday expected to end by mid-afternoon
The city's distance runners are taking over Yonge Street and parts of the western waterfront Sunday morning for the Toronto Marathon.
Sunday's event features a half marathon (21.1 km) and full marathon (42.2 km) race, which gets underway at 7 a.m. Some 13,000 runners are set to take part, according to the races website. There are also 5 km and 10 km runs, which are happening in the Exhibition Place area.
A number of roads will be closed for the race, which starts at 7 a.m., and goes from Willowdale south to Exhibition Place, with the marathon runners looping out to Humber Bay Shores.
Most of the midtown roads are set to reopen by 10 a.m. The closures on the Lake Shore will be in place until early afternoon.
Also as a heads up, the race uses the western part of the Martin Goodman Trail, so it might be busier than normal during your regular Sunday stroll or bike ride.
The current course records for the marathon are 2 hours, 15 minutes and 17 seconds for the male category and 2 hours, thirty-one minutes and 47 seconds for the females.
And if you're inspired to take on a marathon after seeing the runners today, there's a second major race, the Toronto Waterfront Marathon, in mid-October.