Friend of MyNextRace and Canada Running Series Race owner Alan Brookes clarifies the situation with regards the two Spring 2012 10K Races in downtown Toronto.
I’d like to take this opportunity to de-mystify, de-confuse the considerable confusion that seems to be out on the street regarding the Toronto Yonge Street 10K and the Sporting Life 10K. I’ve had a bunch of emails and Facebook messages from you about the issue, and it’s a subject that needs clarification. Simply put, there will be two runs in 2012.
The Toronto Yonge Street 10K on April 22nd is “the old race with the new name.” It’s the event you’ve run in the last many [26] years. It’s been owned and organized by the terrific Canada Running Series team to the highest national and international standards you’ve all come to love and enjoy every Spring.
Sporting Life has decided to end its title sponsorship of 14 years [before them it was Reebok, Coors Light, and Caledon Springs], to part company with CRS, and put on a run of their own on May 13th, on the same course, in support of Camp Oochigeas, and call it the Sporting Life 10k. We are enormously grateful for the 14 years of naming-rights fees and sponsorship support from Sporting Life and wish them well in their new go-it-alone venture.
Look forward to our usual high race organizing standards and big race excitement on Sunday, April 22nd at the Toronto Yonge Street 10K.
Alan Brookes
Race Director
Canada Running Series, Toronto Yonge St. 10K
peter donato
Why not run both!
Michael
I have been told that Sporting Life has split from CRS because they wanted a greater portion of the money to go to charity, and that CRS refused. Can you respond to the validity of this claim?
Peter Donato
Michael, Peter here, owner of MyNextRace.com, my pb at 10k will always be 33:20 from Slife so I love the race! We won’t get into all the details as obviously certain things are really only known by both parties (and me), but it sounds like the Charity wanted to continue raising more money (which is natural) and Sporting Life decided to gamble, start a new race and hope (soon) to raise more than the many millions already raised collectively by doing very little when you think about it.
I believe the City of Toronto is to blame here and the residents and businesses of Yonge Street will have a say in the matter when 3 races zoom thru their hood in a matter of 3 weeks. Imagine if you lived around the area and yet another street closing.
I do know that Camp Ooch was invited over 10 years ago to be part of this small race (2700 at the time) and from humble beginnings ($20k in the first year) they did alright getting over a million raised the last two years alone, each year. I was there, on the fledgling CRS staff of three (me, Clif and Alan Brooks), and actually suggested Camp Ooch be a replacement for Easter Seals. So to be fair….consider as many facts as possible before making an opinion. CRS is a professionally run organization and very much like the Boston and NY Marathons you need a professional company to handle all the logistics behind the scenes to even give a charity the opportunity to play in the game in the first place.
Alot of people think it’s easy to get a race up to 10-15 thousand runners, and you and I know it’s not, just look around at all the middling events that fold or stop growing at a few thousand, or less. Heck, I know many charities who lose money organizing races and leave the scene with their tails between their legs and get into golf or bingo instead…..
Peter Donato
aka Jefferson Mascot