For Virginia Lee, the TCS Toronto Waterfront Marathon on Oct. 20, is extra than simply one other race—it’s a journey that has spanned a quarter-century. The 51-year-old Toronto native is a legacy runner on the Toronto Waterfront Marathon, having completed each version for the reason that marathon distance was launched in 2000. This yr, she’s gearing up for her twenty fifth consecutive Waterfront Marathon, with a deeper objective: fundraising for the Princess Margaret Most cancers Basis by way of the TCS Charity Problem in reminiscence of her late father.
Lee and her father had been extremely shut, and she or he credit her love for health to him because it was one thing he liked to do. Lee says she was a mathlete in her youthful years and her ardour for health started in her 20s. After some time, she received uninterested in the 45-minute commute to her native fitness center. Lee determined to skip the fitness center and hit the native monitor as an alternative—the place she fell in love with working. A colleague at Browns Footwear, Manny, finally helped her achieve sufficient confidence to register for her first race. “He was a giant mentor for me,” Lee says. “I bear in mind being in awe of all of the marathons he’s performed, and now I’ve performed extra—he can’t consider how far I’ve come.”
She first ran the Toronto Waterfront Marathon in 2000, and it shortly turned an annual custom. “I began doing the Toronto Waterfront Marathon yearly as a result of it was one thing I loved,” Lee says. Her dedication to the race turned much more obvious in 2013 when she confronted a troublesome choice—run the Chicago Marathon, which she had certified for, or preserve her streak in Toronto. Toronto organizers reached out, reminding her of her unbroken streak. She ended up doing each. “I needed to be tremendous conservative in Chicago as a result of I needed to run effectively in Toronto,” Lee remembers.
Wanting again at TCS Toronto Waterfront Marathon’s unimaginable progress
Over 24 years, Lee has seen the game evolve, particularly ladies’s participation. “There weren’t too many ladies at my first marathon in 2000, however final yr there have been practically 1,500 feminine finishers,” she says. The rising neighborhood of older feminine runners in Canada has been an inspiration, together with U.S. masters working legend Jeannie Rice, who at 76, holds a number of masters marathoning world data. “She is such an idol for me,” says Lee. “Though I’ll by no means be as quick as her, her consistency and resilience are every thing.”
One in all Lee’s largest motivations stays her want to take care of her streak. “Lots of people didn’t consider I may do that,” she says, reflecting on the dedication that has pushed her by way of 20 years of coaching. Her dedication is spectacular contemplating her profession on the College Well being Community (UHN) in Toronto, the place she’s labored for the final 15 years.
Her coaching construct for this yr’s race has been the toughest but, coping with her father’s passing, plus a foul case of shingles. “I wasn’t effectively. I caught shingles and felt exhausted for the primary two months,” she shares. “The lack of my father has given me a renewed objective.”
On the TCS Toronto Waterfront Marathon expo on Friday, Lee will share her story to the beginning line and information keen runners by way of what they’ll anticipate on the 2024 course. Regardless of 24 years of expertise, Lee admits she nonetheless will get nervous. “I really feel like I’ve imposter syndrome yearly. However I’m grateful to be part of it.”