The Toronto Waterfront Marathon

(Courtesy of the Toronto Waterfront Marathon)

The starting (and finishing) line

Runners competing in the marathon and half-marathon events will set out on Sept. 30 at 7 a.m. ET from Wellington Street, just north of the CBC's Toronto Broadcasting Centre. Back-of-the-packers will line up just behind the elite field.

(Courtesy of Toronto Waterfront Marathon)

Seeing the sights

It's early in the race and you're not too tired: you can still enjoy views of some of Toronto's most recognizable sites. Here, around the five-kilometre mark, you'll likely be well behind the leaders. If you're aiming to complete your marathon in under four hours, you'll reach this spot a little less than 29 minutes after you start the race. The lead men will pass this point about 15 minutes and 30 seconds after the gun went off. The lead women will be a little over two minutes behind the men.

(Courtesy of Toronto Waterfront Marathon)

Early lead

The elite men will need to be somewhere around 40 minutes into the race as they head east on Lake Shore Boulevard past the entrance to a public swimming pool, if the course record is to be broken. This point is about 13 kilometres into the race — or about a quarter of the way through. If you're lucky, you might be able to see them as you head west on the north side of Lake Shore. The elite women will pass here about 45 minutes into the race, if the women's record is to be broken. On a four-hour pace, you will pass here a half-hour behind the elite women.

(Courtesy of Toronto Waterfront Marathon)

By the lake

Still early, still by the lake, where the wind sometimes is a factor. You will pass this point twice — with the Canadian National Exhibition grounds to the north of you and Ontario Place to your south — at around seven kilometres going west and 15 kilometres heading east, to the meat of the course.

(Courtesy of Toronto Waterfront Marathon)

The only hill

This is the only hill worth mentioning on the Waterfront course and it comes at a relatively early 14 kilometres into the race. With a gentle rise of about 10 metres over a distance of less than 200 metres, it's no heartbreaker.

(Courtesy of Toronto Waterfront Marathon)

Halfway there

OK, you've just passed the foot of Yonge Street, the longest street in the world and you're halfway through the race. You've been on your feet for two hours — right on pace for your four-hour goal. You try not to think that if the men's record for a marathon run on Canadian soil is going to be broken, it will happen in less than 10 minutes. The women's record would fall in slightly more than 25 minutes.

In order to have a shot at breaking those records, the lead men would have to hit this point in under an hour and five minutes. The 2006 lead pack made it to the halfway mark in one hour four minutes 33 seconds. The first woman hit here at one hour, 14 minutes 27 seconds. Michal (The Joggler) Kapral crossed the halfway mark at 1:26:53 in 2006. He would have to slice a couple of minutes off that time to have a shot at breaking the world record for juggling three balls while running a marathon. That mark is two hours 52 minutes 15 seconds — or a pace of about four minutes and five seconds per kilometre.

(Courtesy of Toronto Waterfront Marathon)

Entertaining the runners

Marathons in Canada do not get the fan support that some of the larger U.S. races receive. There are some pretty lonely stretches on the Waterfront course. Among them is a long, straight 2.5 kilometres on Commissioners Street in the city's old port area. However, strategically placed entertainment stations like this one at around the 24-kilometre mark may help boost your energy. There are 10 entertainment areas along the 42.2-kilometre course.

(Peter Hadzipetros/CBC)

Good spot to watch

The corner of Leslie and Commissioners streets is a pretty good place to watch the leaders — or your friends and relatives — going by. You will see them three times here. Your best vantage point is right about where the coffee truck is waiting for the light to turn green.

At just before the 25-kilometre mark runners turn right onto Leslie Street. About five kilometres later, they'll be heading north on Leslie Street on their way to the easternmost section of the course. The third time you'll see them is just before the 36-kilometre mark as they turn back onto Commissioners Street and make their way back downtown. If runners are still looking pretty strong here, they'll likely wind up with a finishing time they'll be proud of.

If you're a 45-year-old man trying to qualify for Boston, you should pass this point for the second time at around two hours and five minutes into the race — when the elites are five minutes from the finish. By the time you make your third pass, the elites have had their massages, showers and maybe even a post-race meal.

(Courtesy of Toronto Waterfront Marathon)

The lonely Spit

The Leslie Street Spit is perhaps the quietest five-kilometre stretch of the course. The only spectators are race volunteers, other runners and the lake gulls that call this little finger of land that juts out into Lake Ontario home. If you're a middle- or back-of-the-packer, you won't see any of the lead pack leaving the spit as you enter.

(Peter Hadzipetros/CBC)

Something in the air

You're heading out to the easternmost part of the course here — a point where you don't want to hit the wall. On a warm humid day, those with tender tummies will have to beware. Your mettle will be tested by the odour of algae in Lake Ontario's nearby Ashbridge's Bay, a water treatment plant to the south and mountains of Canada goose droppings. And brace yourself, because you will pass this spot again within two kilometres as you head back to the downtown core.

(Peter Hadzipetros/CBC)

Dig deep for inspiration

Well, you're almost home. Just a little more than two kilometres to go. You better have gas left in your tank because if you're needing inspiration, running on a road underneath an expressway might not do the trick. Still, you won't have any traffic to contend with. Roads are closed to all non-race vehicles for up to six hours on race day.

Closing in

Less than one kilometre to go and you're making your way up Bay Street, through the heart of Toronto's financial district. As you approach the final turn onto Wellington Street and the last few hundred metres of the course, the crowd of spectators begins to thicken. That adrenaline rush might be enough to dull the throbbing pain in your calves and quad muscles.

Turn-around #1

This is as far west as the course goes on Lake Shore Boulevard at just under 12 kilometres into the race. You start the long eastward haul here.

Turn-around #2

The course takes you out about 2.5 kilometres onto the Leslie Street Spit — also called Tommy Thompson Park. At that point, you turn around again and head back out to Leslie Street.

Turn-around #3

This is as far east as the course takes you — into the city's Beaches neighbourhood, where Lake Shore Boulevard runs into Woodbine Avenue. You turn around once again and start making your way back to the downtown core and the final few kilometres of the course.