Participating in the Ugly Sweater Run 2013 in Toronto!
November 17, 2013 11:33 pm
Participating in the Ugly Sweater Run 2013 in Toronto!
Yesterday, I participated in The Ugly Sweater Run in Toronto. This was my second 5K event and I was ready to run and have some fun! The family-friendly event was held at Downsview Park in the northwest end of Toronto. The event benefits The Children’s Wish Foundation of Canada and is a great way to kick off the holiday spirit with an ugly sweater showdown. Not only that, but everyone who is of age gets the chance to guzzle down free beer after the run is over too (unlimited hot chocolate during the course as well)! How many runs can you think of that are so festive? 🙂
Everybody wearing the same toques!
Baby in the stroller dressed up with mini antlers! So cute!
The moment I parked my car and walked out towards the field where the registration tables were at 10:30 a.m. on a very sunny Saturday, I could already see lots and lots of people wearing some outrageous and creative sweaters, holiday accessories, and the Ugly Sweater toques. I was very excited to join in the fun and received my own gear after signing in. There were a lot more people than I thought there would be. Many fun homemade sweaters decorated with Santas and sleigh bells and ribbons all in Christmas colours were walking around. There were also matching outfits across couples or groups of friends and even babies in strollers were donned in holiday gear.
After I met up with my team, we were ready to start on the course at 11 a.m. My friend Cynthia was so creative and named our team the RUNdeers! What a fun name. That makes me wish after the fact that we worn reindeer antlers too! As we lined up at the starting line to head off, everyone was so excited and there was fun holiday music playing in the background. Once the guy on the loud speakers announced it was time, we began!
Our team, the RUNdeers!
I didn’t do any training to prepare myself for this 5K, but having just recently completed one last month and being active with lots of Zumba and other fitness sessions lately, I was confident of my ability to finish it. It was the most perfect day for jogging that morning. It was 11 a.m., the sun was out and bright in the clear sky, there was just enough wind to not feel toasty while running in a sweater, and everyone was moving along in great spirits. A lot of people opted to walk since it was an untimed race and it was more about having fun than competing. I wanted to challenge myself and ran the majority of the path. The only times I stopped were to partake in some hot chocolate and snap some pictures when I got to the top of the big hill! It felt so good to cross the finish line. 🙂
The perfect autumn morning to run in a sweater!
Giant reindeer
The girl who took this shot for me totally cut out the entire reindeer!
View of Downsview Park
Coming down from the big hill… although you can’t tell that this was taken from the top of a hill at all
Yay! My second 5K finish 🙂
Giant Santa!
We took some more pictures when we had all crossed the finish line and lined up for some free beer. Everybody who is of age gets two free beers. It was funny how as soon as everybody was completed the race, the warm and toasty sunshine that we had during the course was gone; the sun knew we were done and hid away behind the clouds. It grew more and more chilly as the remaining Ugly Sweater participants finished their beers and partook in some free giveaways.
Two free winter lagers to celebrate all the ugly sweaters!
It was such a fun event and apparently this was the first year that they have done this in Canada! The event organizers came all the way up from Denver in the states where they have hosted this for the past 12 years. I’m happy that I joined the RUNdeers for some holiday fun! Maybe next year I will participate again and wear an uglier sweater. 🙂
Sitting by the fireplace
Posted by stenoodie
Categories: Fitness, New Experiences, Philanthropy
Tags: 5K running blogs Toronto, @UglySweaterRun, charity, Downsview Park, drinking beers after a 5k run, festive, fun 5K runs in Toronto, how long does it take to run 5K, participating in a 5K run race, RUNdeers, The Children's Wish Foundation of Canada, Toronto, Ugly Sweater Run, Ugly Sweater Run 2013, ugly sweater run finish with beers, Ugly Sweater Run in Toronto, ugly sweaters, wearing ugly sweaters and running
Mobile Site | Full Site
Get a free blog at WordPress.com Theme: WordPress Mobile Edition by Alex King.
That seems like so much fun haha! Love the sweater 🙂
By katyhancock on November 18, 2013 at 8:49 am
Haha, thank you! I’m not a big sweater person so it was fun to dig this out and have a good use for it. 😀
By stenoodie on November 18, 2013 at 10:01 am
[…] Zumba classes weekly ever since it captured my heart in May. I did my first 5k run and then another one. I did a series of fitness classes with my friends at Flirty Girl Fitness, completed my first […]
By 2013: Year in Reflection | stenoodie on December 31, 2013 at 11:58 pm
[…] When my friend Holly pitched the idea of doing a 10K to me and Joyce, I was quite hesitant. Actually, she pitched the idea to me after I ran my first 5K and second 5K’s. Both 5K races were really more fun than competition than full out running. The first 5K was similar to the Color Me Rad 5K where you get colorbombed as you run through stations staffed with people ready to powder you but it was called Colors of Hope instead since its proceeds benefited the Canadian Cancer Society (view blog here). For my second 5K, I half walked and half ran it. It was a really fun one — the Ugly Christmas Sweater 5K! We ran through huge inflated Christmas ornaments in the middle of November and celebrated with free beer at the end. I felt more accomplished at this one since I ran most of it (view blog here). […]
By My first 10K Run!! (Sporting Life 10K) | stenoodie on May 21, 2014 at 11:57 pm
[…] Yay! A fun run! I haven’t done one since 2013 (Colours of Hope and Ugly Christmas Sweater)! […]
By The Color Run in Toronto 2017 | stenoodie on August 20, 2017 at 11:58 pm