Are Toronto runners embracing virtual races?
Her fitness goals for 2020 were set: Around the Bay, the Mississauga Marathon, Mont Tremblant Ironman 70.3, Barrelman 70.3 Triathlon and Ironman Cozumel. Then the pandemic hit, forcing race organizers around the world to cancel or postpone their events. Having raced dozens of events since 2007, Jean Maarouf had a training plan, but nowhere to go. The Woodbridge resident participated in five virtual events during the pandemic, far fewer than the up to 15 she usually does in a year, saving thousands of dollars. When the first provincial lockdown happened in 2020, the Toronto Marathon was the first of the major races to cancel, just six weeks away from the May event. Organizers offered deferral to 2021 or a virtual option, which 250 entrants chose. Virtual races, which many organizers have turned to since in-person events became impossible over the course of the pandemic, have participants paying a fee and completing a run of a pre-selected distance on a date and at a location of their choosing. The finishing time is registered online, and a souvenir shirt and a medal are mailed to the participant. These events grew as people became familiar with the format. This year, the Toronto Marathon had 700 virtual participants. Obviously, everyone would prefer to participate in a live event, but a virtual event allowed us to offer an option and keep the engagement, said Toronto Marathon race director Jay Glassman. In a regular year, theres a race happening almost every weekend in the GTA, said Cory Jennermann, managing partner at RunGuides, which helps people find races across North America. Thats roughly 60 large events in the City of Toronto each year and an additional 60 in the GTA, the loss of which has had a huge negative impact on the finances of race organizations, Jennermann said. (He did not include small community events in this count.) Torontos Mike Lin, whose race resum includes 19 marathons and two ultramarathons, participated in more than half a dozen virtual races over the course of the pandemic. I think some (runners) are registering in lieu of a in-real-life race, to provide a training goal and framework, said Lin, leader of downtown-based running club The Running Rats. Others recognize they need to support the race organizations if they want in-person races to return.  Newmarket runner Florianne Uwera completed three virtual events in the last year, which helped to keep her training goals on track, but is looking forward to returning to the start line for the atmosphere, the energy (and) the feeling that you are part of a community, she said. There is definitely demand for virtual events, but the trends that were seeing, and our site data, suggests that the majority of runners are looking for in-person races, added Jennermann. Longtime Kleinburg runner Tom Sapiano is waiting for in-person races to resume. The main draw is the people  the shared nervousness of thousands at the start, friends and family along the way, fellowship with the armies of run crews in this great city and feeding off the energy of cheering crowds in the final miles where youre fighting to stay in it, he said. As great as virtual events can be, they cant replicate any of those things. Still, they have their purposes. Virtual events are probably just as good as live ones at giving structure to a season of training, said Sapiano. Motivation can be a fickle thing, so having that big shiny goal on the horizon can do a good job of keeping you at it.  Its offered a way for the new runners who took up the sport during the pandemic to measure their progress, with the flexibility of scheduling and pace, said Glassman. To preserve the feel of the live event, some participants even choose to run elements of the course, he said. Virtual events also open up the opportunity to far-flung participants: for example, this years Toronto Marathon had runners from over 20 countries. Theres also fundraising opportunities associated with races, which provide a much-welcomed infusion of funds for many charities, said Glassman. Despite the pool of eager participants, Glassman said all races have taken a huge hit and are doing what they can to stay afloat and be able to offer the running community events in the future.  In addition to losing revenue from registrations, many sponsors  who are less likely to support a virtual event in a similar way as they would a live event, said Glassman  are waiting for the return of the in-person event. I have read that some races have been forced to end operations, said Glassman. The pandemic has had a devastating impact on the running community.  Sapiano is hopeful that new races will pop up to take their place. Theres a huge amount of pent-up demand in the runners that I know, so when the rules relax enough to let us get back to it, I think people will come back in droves, he said. Despite saving an estimated $3,000 in race expenses in 2021, hes looking forward to a time when he can open up his wallet again. Those dollars are well spent and Id happily give them up in exchange for the experiences that they would have provided, he said. Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Pending clearance from health authorities, Jennermann said we should start to see some version of in-person racing returning this fall, but that a full roster of events will take time. Given that planning the logistics around an in-person race usually needs to happen months in advance, I expect that 2022 is when well see a full calendar of in-person racing, said Jennermann. I do remain optimistic that the running events industry in Canada is going to see a strong recovery. Were already seeing our U.S. regions on RunGuides begin to approach 2019 pre-pandemic traffic levels, and most races still havent announced their 2022 dates. Should be a very interesting race season next year.  In any case, virtual events are here to stay. I expect that many races will continue to have a virtual option alongside their in-person races going forward, Jennermann said. Virtual is still very new, and there is a tremendous amount of opportunity in that space.