This Canadian Running x New Balance six-part series is following five runners to the Toronto Waterfront Marathon. These women and men aren’t professional runners, they’re just passionate about the sport. Their stories are your stories: Each runner has come to the marathon with different reasons for running, different training methods, different running communities, and different goals. And each exemplifies the idea that Run Your Way can mean something different to everyone.
Like many of us who came to running later in life, Jacqueline Tong wasn’t an athletic kid. “While my classmates skipped math, I tried to dodge gym class by faking illness,” she laughs. The Toronto-based runner tried running in 2019, but the habit didn’t stick when the pandemic lockdown happened. But that all changed in 2023, when Tong discovered the weekly parkrun events in Downsview Park and fell in love with the people and the run.
“I would say the thing that I love most about running is the community,” she says. “I’ve met a lot of very generous people in the community, especially through the parkrun–there are these people that put in their time to provide everyone a good experience. And I think that’s very inspirational.”
“The weekly runs keeps me motivated, and my pace has improved significantly,” she says. She went from being a non-runner to participating in some 5K and 10K races, and is now getting ready for her first half-marathon, at the TCS Toronto Marathon on Oct. 20.
But the racing takes a backseat to her true love: encouraging others. “I now volunteer at Downsview parkrun and I hope to encourage more people to try out this wonderful sport!” Tong says.
Volunteering to help at the Saturday 9 a.m. 5Ks with parkrun could have presented a challenge to her training, but instead, Tong saw it as an opportunity. “For the longest time, I struggled to find time to actually do a weekly long run, because I just don’t really have the motivation,” she says. “But I’ve discovered a trick, because I’m a volunteer at the Downsview parkrun, so every Saturday, they run at 9 a.m. I started making my long run on Saturdays, from my home to Downsview—which is 16 km. Because I’ve signed up to volunteer, I cannot not show up. So that motivates me to get out of bed and run that 16 km!”
“Every week when I’m there, I see people transform from a walker to a runner, and that’s very inspirational,” she says. “I see guys who’ve been walking every single week, and all of a sudden I see them running down the hill. And I’m like, wow, we have inspired another runner. That’s awesome.
“To me, Run Your Way means getting to your goal, no matter the obstacle,” she says. “So you try and try again until you reach your destination. My goal for the half-marathon is two hours and 30 minutes. If I can complete it, I will be very happy.”
Jacqueline will be running the half marathon in the New Balance Supercomp Elite V4, and has been training in the New Balance Rebel V4s.
Stay tuned to hear from four other runners heading to the TCS Toronto Waterfront Marathon!
