The post race meal menu reads like a feast from a gourmet restaurant: Asian Noodle Salad, Roasted Butternut Squash Couscous Salad. BBQ Lemon Ginger Chicken… Fitting when you consider the entire Run For The Toad is a feast for every ultra-runner.
The crown jewel of trail racing in Ontario, The Toad is a 50K or 25K ultra on Oct. 3 through the Pinehurst Lake Conservation Area in Paris, about 120K west of Toronto. More than 1,200 runners will race, including a relay and kids race.
“This is our hobby, our passion,” says George Sarson, a TV producer, who founded the event with his wife Peggy 14 years ago. “If there is anything that kept me focused on my work, my relationships, it was running.”
Cleve Thorson, 34, of Guelph, has been on the 50K podium three times in the past three years, including a victory in 2012.
“There’s a festival feeling for this race with the huge tent city they set up,” says Thorson. “It’s a little more personal compared to other races where it’s just show up and run, even though the field is large. George and Peggy take the time to stop and talk with you.”
