If you happen to’re an everyday public transit rider within the metropolis of Toronto, you’re all too acquainted with the painful expertise that’s the Toronto Transit Fee (TTC) system–particularly for those who go to Spadina station, infamous for its very lengthy walkway between the Line 1 and Line 2 platforms, in your commute. Native comic Jacob Balshin captured this hilariously relatable actuality in a satirical video concerning the station’s prolonged tunnel, titled, “The primary annual Spadina Tunnel Marathon was as we speak.”
Within the clip, Balshin playfully recruits city-goers to hitch him in creating the station tunnel’s first-ever marathon. “Tons of of Torontonians gathered to run from one finish of the tunnel to the opposite,” the video’s subtitles learn. “The tunnel is 42K lengthy–some runners didn’t make it. It took 8.5 hours to complete the marathon.” The winner of the subway station marathon was awarded a Pizza Pizza Pepperoni Stromboli.
The content material creator’s submit was a success amongst his 63,300 followers on Instagram.
Balshin’s video is full with all the weather of a real marathon, together with the pre-race stretching and warmup, bib numbers and water stations–however falls quick in distance by 41,850 metres. Whereas the Spadina tunnel feels prefer it by no means ends, it’s truly solely 150 metres lengthy. You’d need to journey the size of the tunnel 280 occasions to cowl the complete 42.2-km marathon distance–however for those who’re a every day commuter, you’ve in all probability already accomplished an precise Spadina station tunnel marathon with out even realizing it.
Why is the tunnel so lengthy?
The northbound/southbound (Line 1) and eastbound/westbound (Line 2) trains initially had separate stations, however they had been later related by the tunnel. A shifting walkway, which was in place till 2004, used to cowl a major size of the trail, which is why a bit of the tunnel’s tiling doesn’t match the remainder. Though a shifting sidewalk may make the tunnel marathon faster, any tools upkeep would considerably impede pedestrian site visitors. With 11,000 folks traversing the tunnel every day, excessive put on left the shifting walkway shut down most of the time, and it was finally eliminated. Now, the station sees greater than 15,000 passengers trudging down the hallway every day.
Need to skip Spadina Tunnel Marathon?
Commuters transferring between strains have two decisions for stations to alter over: St. George and Spadina station. The skilled subway customers have realized that due to Spadina’s hefty walkway, altering at St. George is quicker and simpler.