Run, Karla, Run!

Finished! (Photo: Marathon-Photos.com)

The Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon on October 20, 2013 was my seventh marathon in as many years. Put on by Canada Running Series, the entire event was top-notch with a flat course around Canada’s largest city.

Hugging much of the city’s waterfront, the course is known as a fast, but sometimes windy, race.

But this year, runners couldn’t have asked for more ideal weather. The temperature at the start hovered around 40 degrees Fahrenheit, warming up to 55 later in the day. Clear skies brought plenty of sunshine, and wind was negligible. It was a perfect day to run a marathon.

More than 20,000 runners tackled races at the Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon: 3,655 runners finished the marathon, 10,094 finished the half-marathon, and 6,493 finished the 5K. Runners came from every Canadian province, more than 40 U.S. states, and 60 countries around the world. I heard runners speaking a myriad of languages, and heard even more end their sentences with, “Eh?” Only in Canada. Read the rest of this entry →

The Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon Course Map

Well, this is it folks. In a little over 60 hours I’ll be at the starting line of the Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon. You’d think that after running six marathons, wrapping my brain around that prospect would get easier. But somehow it never does.

It’s especially meaningful to me to be running in the Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon Media Challenge in memory of my cousin Laura and on behalf of the Sarcoma Cancer Foundation of Canada.

As always, it’s been a long and winding road to get to this point.

Running the Kaua’i Half Marathon (Photo: RunKarlaRun.com)

I started off marathon training season the wrong way: with a hip injury I sustained from falling off a horse. One month of physical therapy and two triathlons later, I was finally ready to focus on running long again.

I’ve logged 470 miles and 10 races, with three of them as specific training runs for this event: the Kaua’i Half Marathon, Direct Edge Newport Liberty Half Marathon, and 20 miles of the Yonkers Marathon. In the process, I’ve notched personal records at 3 miles, 5K, 4 miles, 5 miles, and 10K, the last three of which I nailed during a track workout. I’ve gotten a lot faster this year, especially over the middle distances. Read the rest of this entry →

The start of the Toronto Waterfront Marathon (Photo: Canada Running Series)

The countdown is on. In just four days, I’ll be at the starting line of the Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon.

But I’m not just running the race. I’m also taking part in the Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon Media Challenge, a race-within-a-race where reporters, editors, producers, photographers and assorted media folk face off against each other for charity. I’m running on behalf of the Sarcoma Cancer Foundation of Canada in memory of my cousin, Laura, who died last year from a sarcoma cancer.

The Hamza family won Best Dressed Costume in the 5K. (Photo: Canada Running Series)

It’s all part of the Scotiabank Charity Challenge, an initiative that raised $4.3 million for 181 charities in 2012.

The Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon hosts 25,000 runners from over 60 countries for the event’s three race distances: the marathon, half-marathon and 5K.

The marathon course is known as a flat and fast, but sometimes windy, run around Canada’s largest city, with 150,000 spectators cheering runners on.

Whatsmore, more than one-quarter of the race’s runners register to support one of the event’s 180 official charities partners.

Stephane Hetherington won Best DressedCostume in the marathon and a Guinness World Record for fastest marathon in a superhero costume. (Photo: Canada Running Series)

Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon Charity Challenge

The Scotiabank Charity Challenge has lots of competitions to encourage people to raise money.

Charities can earn bonus money for placing in the top three in each of these categories: most participants, most money raised, most money per participant raised. It’s an extra incentive Scotiabank gives charities to get as many runners as they can out on the course.

But that’s just the beginning of the challenge.

Costume Challenge

Perhaps the most fun is the Best Dressed Costume contest. Runners can win extra money for their charity of choice by taking home the best-dressed prize. Scotiabank donates $5,000 to the costume winners’ charity picks. Read the rest of this entry →

(Photo: Matogo97/Wikimedia Commons via Creative Commons license)

So much running news this week. It must be fall marathon season! Here’s a rundown on some of the big stories I’ve been following:

Pamela Anderson Running The New York City Marathon

Everyone has seen images of Pamela Anderson running on “Baywatch.” Now she’ll be running a marathon.

From the sounds of the New York Daily News article, she’s not doing a ton of training. But Anderson is running to raise $500,000 on Crowdrise for Sean Penn’s J/P Haitian Relief Organization.

“The charity wanted her to simply hug their elite runners crossing the Central Park finish line, but Anderson, who has visited Haiti twice since the devastating disaster, suggested taking it a step further,” the New York Daily News reports.

Read the New York Daily News article here.

Meb Keflezighi chases down Kenya’s Robert Cheruiyot at the 2009 ING New York City Marathon. (Photo: Randy Lemoine).

ING New York City Marathon Sets Professional Field

Pamela Anderson isn’t the only famous name running the ING New York City Marathon. A big list of professional runners are in it to win it.

Meb Keflezighi and Ryan Hall are still in. Kara Goucher is out. Geoffrey Mutai of Kenya and Ethiopia’s Firehiwot Dado are returning once again to defend their crowns from the 2011 ING New York City Marathon after the 2012 race was cancelled in the wake of Hurricane Sandy.

Altogether, the race will include 23 Olympians from 23 countries and will serve as the deciding showdown in the 2012-2013 World Marathon Majors series. Here’s a look at the professional field in both the women’s and men’s races. Read the rest of this entry →

RUN10 FEED10 2012 (Photo: Women’s Health Magazine)

Talk about a race with a mission. The RUN10 FEED10 10K run is a collaboration between Women’s Health Magazine and the Feed Foundation, a charity founded by Lauren Bush Lauren that aims to end hunger worldwide.

You might have seen one of the iconic FEED bags in a magazine or even being carried by someone on the street. FEED raises money by selling products that have a set donation built into the price. With RUN10 FEED10, they’re taking it to the streets in seven cities across America. You can even participate in a virtual 10K run anywhere in the world. Read the rest of this entry →

Runners pass a Mickey Mouse hot air balloon at the 2013 Walt Disney World Marathon in Florida. (Photo: Todd Anderson/runDisney)

Want to run the Walt Disney World Marathon 2014 presented by Cigna or even the Dopey Challenge? You still can. The races may be sold out, but a limited number of charity and tour group entries are still available for runDisney fans who want to toe the line in Walt Disney World in Florida from January 8-12.

I ran the Walt Disney World Marathon in 2013, courtesy of runDisney, and had the most fun I’ve ever had at a marathon. And I’ve run six of them including “bucket list” races like the ING New York City Marathon and Bank of America Chicago Marathon. My husband and I got in the runDisney spirit and ran the race in costume as Cinderella in Rags and Jacques the Mouse. It was like a 26.2-mile roving street party with Disney characters, music, and more. Read the rest of this entry →

Hope For The Warriors is one of the official charities of the ING New York City Marathon. (Photo: RunKarlaRun.com)

Want to run the ING New York City Marathon on November 3, 2013? You still can through one of the race’s official charity partners like the Brain Tumor Foundation.

Thanks to the cancellation of the 2012 ING New York City Marathon, charities are having a hard time filling their spots for the 2013 race. The Wall Street Journal examined the problem in an article on July 19. As of then, half of the normally sold-out 8,200 charity spots were still available.

Theories abound why the charity bibs are taking longer to sell-out this year. One reason may be that New York Road Runners—the organization that puts on the race and one that I freelance for as host of On The Run—offered 2012 charity runners the option of taking a guaranteed entry into this year’s race without raising money again. According to the Journal, 64 percent of the 2012 charity runners have done just that for 2013, with some electing to fund raise again.

Another theory posits that charities are suffering under the compressed timeline for the 2013 race. While NYRR worked to sort out the resolution from 2012, they weren’t promoting the 2013 race. As a result, the application process and lottery took place a full month later than usual, giving charities fewer months to recruit runners.

Others speculate that some runners may have lingering fears regarding security in the wake of the Boston Marathon bombings in April or don’t like how NYRR handled things after Hurricane Sandy.

My own personal theory? I think many runners wrote off the 2013 ING New York City Marathon as impossible to get into. They knew a large portion of the race’s spots would go to runners from the canceled 2012 race. So instead of waiting to enter a really tough lottery, they committed to other fall marathons instead. Read the rest of this entry →

If you follow the running media, you might have heard about Joseph Kai-Tsu Liu, the man who is barefoot running—most of the time—from Montreal to Tierra del Fuego at the tip of South America. From Canada to Argentina, Kai-Tsu is selecting an education charity to support in each country he runs.

His planned 12,000 mile journey has made headlines in Runner’s World, Canadian Running, CNN, The Daily Mail and more.

He departed Montreal in July and has made it to New York City. You can meet him there.

Kai-Tsu will be talking about his journey Thursday, August 8 at 11 a.m. at the Crocs store in SOHO. Everyone is welcome.

A Personal Connection

Kai-Tsu is actually staying at my apartment right now. I met Kai-Tsu at a wedding in October 2012. Read the rest of this entry →

Runners cross the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge at the start of the ING New York City marathon. (Photo: Fergal Carr, via Creative Commons)

Didn’t get into the 2013 ING New York City Marathon? You can still run the largest marathon in the world by running for one of its 260 official charity partners.

I’ve run the race three times—once for charity—and can honestly say it’s the most amazing race I’ve ever done. It’s a must add to any marathoner’s bucket list.

Largest Race, Smallest Lottery

The 2013 ING New York City Marathon is expected to be the largest in the event’s history with 48,000 runners.

This year’s lottery was much smaller than in years past thanks to the cancellation of the 2012 ING New York City Marathon in the wake of Hurricane Sandy. New York Road Runners, the organization that puts on the race and one that I freelance for as host of On The Run, offered runners registered for the 2012 race three options: take a refund, receive guaranteed entry into the 2013 NYC Half in March, or receive a guaranteed entry into the 2013, 2014 or 2015 marathon. NYRR said approximately half of the runners opted to take a refund.

The 2013 field of 48,000 will include 19,000 runners originally slated to run the 2012 race. More than 33,000 runners applied via the random draw lottery that was held Wednesday, May 29. Only 4,500 runners nabbed spots through the drawing, compared with 15,000 last year. Another 8,000 got bibs through NYRR’s 9+1 program for local runners (which is how I got into the race in 2008 and 2010), 2,000 runners met a time qualifying standard, and 8,200 spots are reserved for runners affiliated with charity partners. Read the rest of this entry →

Hollie Estupinian, 32, of Capitola, Calif., wins the Nike Women’s Marathon San Francisco in a time of 3:05:13 on Sunday, October 16, 2011. (Photo: Susan Goldman Photography/Nike)

Time is running out to enter the random draw lottery for the 2013 Nike Women’s Marathon San Francisco. Runners have until June 14 at 12 p.m. PDT to apply for one of the 30,000 spots in the marathon and half marathon. The event is celebrating its 10^th anniversary on Sunday, October 20.

The Nike Women’s Marathon San Francisco began in 2004 to commemorate the 20th anniversary of a major milestone in women’s running: the first Olympic women’s marathon in 1984, won by American Joan Benoit Samuelson.

The event has gone on to become the largest women’s running event in the world. More than 22,000 runners finished the Nike Women’s Marathon San Francisco in 2011, and another 25,000 ran in 2012. This year, 30,000 runners are expected to take part. Read the rest of this entry →

Create your own National Running Day badge at runningday.org.

National Running Day 2013 is Wednesday, June 5! Currently 279 group runs have been planned in more than 130 cities across the U.S., Canada and Mexico. It’s a nation wide running party to celebrate running as one of the simplest and most inexpensive ways to stay active and fit.

More than 50 million people run in the U.S. Of those, 28 million Americans say they run at least once a week, according to the Sporting Goods Manufacturers Association 2011 survey. It’s an increase of more than 7 percent over the last year and 48 percent over the last decade.

So why not get out there and celebrate that you’re one of them? To find a National Running Day 2013 event near you, visit RunningDay.org.

There are lots of other ways to celebrate National Running Day. Here are just a few: Read the rest of this entry →

Many runners wore Boston sports gear at the Run For the Parks race in Central Park. (Photo: RunKarlaRun.com)

Over 6,000 runners took to the roads of New York City’s Central Park on Sunday to run for Boston at the City Parks Foundation Run for the Parks 4-Miler.

The annual event was New York Road Runners’ first race after the bombings at the Boston Marathon on April 15, so the organization, which puts on the ING New York City Marathon, transformed the event into a run for Boston.

Thousands of the runners donned blue “I Run For Boston” shirts, which NYRR provided to participants who gave a $20 donation to The One Fund Boston for families most affected by the attack.

Others wore black ribbons, “I Run For Boston” bibs, Boston Marathon shirts and jackets, and an assortment of Boston fan gear including Red Sox baseball caps, Celtics jerseys and Bruins shirts.

My husband and I were among them, dressed in our “I Run For Boston” shirts, “I Run For Boston” bibs and black ribbons. Read the rest of this entry →

Runners have taken to the streets and to the internet to show their support for everyone affected by the Boston Marathon bombings.

So I wanted to share two ways to run for Boston that I’ll be taking part in—one live event in New York City and one virtual event that anyone, anywhere can join. Both runs will benefit The One Fund Boston, a coalition of corporations and individuals that aims to help the families most affected by the attack.

Run For Boston Anywhere In The World

On Monday, April 22, I’m joining NYCRUNS for Runners For Relief: A Virtual 5K Supporting Boston Marathon Bombing Victims. Read the rest of this entry →

The 2008 Boston Marathon finish line. (Photo: Dave Winer/Flickr: scriptingnews via Creative Commons)

My editor at The Washington Times Communities page asked me to write about yesterday’s bomb attack on the Boston Marathon from the perspective of a runner and reporter who has both run and covered events like it.

I wrote this:

The attack was meant to deafen our resolve, demoralize us, to terrorize us. For what purpose? We don’t know. Who knows why hate marauds the collective streets of the world perpetrating unspeakable evils.

That’s what the streets of Boston symbolized yesterday: the streets of the world. It’s what the streets of every major marathon come to mean on race day. The marathon is a globally unifying event, a universal symbol of perseverance in the face of adversity. It couldn’t be truer now.

You can read the entire column here. As I usually do, I tried to focus on the positive, even in the face of so much desolation.

It was hard to do. The attack on the Boston Marathon yesterday affected me in a profound way.

As news of the attack flooded in, I was instantly reminded of another dark day in America’s history. As a New Yorker, I was in the city on 9/11. Read the rest of this entry →

Cupid’s Undie Run in NYC (Photo: Daniel Pagel/dpstudios.org)

Calling all exhibitionists! Have you always wanted to run in your underwear for a good cause? Well, now’s your chance.

Cupid’s Undie Run is bringing “hilarity to charity” in 17 cities nationwide just in time for Valentine’s Day. The PG-13 underwear run is a national fundraiser for The Children’s Tumor Foundation. Run for fun or run to help raise $1 million to fight Neurofibromatosis.

All you have to do? Strip to your skivvies and run like a kid again—while they’re not looking, of course. Read the rest of this entry →