Guelph Thanksgiving Day Races

What a fantastic course for a 5km! Challenging enough with a few hills and and great spot for friends and family to watch. The soup post - race was a fantastic surprise. Such a nice way to spend thanksgiving Monday!

This is my favourite race of the year. There are so many options for my family and I have someone race each distance. 100m kids, 1 mile, 1km for 5-8 year olds, 5km, and I do the 10km. (the 10km is not very well known but features some elite club runners and has some very fast times with the majority of the small field finishing under 40 min.) It is the best family race in Ontario. The loops around the park give you a chance to watch your family during the entire race and even with the small hills it is a very fast course. I have PB'ed there 2 years in a row, and I know many others who have as well. I credit the looped course and the support my family and friends can give me during the race as the reason I could do this. I encourage anyone to try it.

This is a great community event with lots of support from the spectators.

The Bad:

-the actual 5km course is several loops of the same block which surrounds a park and is a tad repetitive with some modest hills

-the parking is a fair distance away but was offset by great weather

-I had to sprint to the start line of the 5km race as it's location was not clearly marked

-the microphones are all static so hearing instructions is pretty much impossible

The Good:

- I get the feeling this race is a cake-walk for anyone who is a return runner and understands the courses and start locations

- the 3 race option is very unique and a decent deal

- people on the sidelines wanting to high five you as you come through each lap

This race gets 4 bananas even with the drawbacks. There is an overall positive vibe and it's great to add a race to the calendar on a Holiday Monday.

Had a great time at this event on Thanksgiving Day - the weather was incredible albeit a bit too hot for running. Lots of events - kids events, a 10K invitation event and also a 3 in 1 event where you could do the 1 Mile, 5K and 3K races. Tough course with a couple of hills.

Unfortunately due to timing difficulties there was no prize ceromony but that apart was a good event.