Every year I post what my feedback, so a little late, here it is for this year.
What I liked
Loved the pit stop on King Street on the 2nd day taking advantage of the great community spirit.
Loved making the Downsview street a bit more official with signage. Loved the spray tunnel!
Pickle Barrel lunch the first day was great can we get them for both days next year?
Sponsors I thought it was a good level of participation this year. We still walked past lots of Shoppers stores, but it didnt feel like we were going unnecessarily out of our way to do so.
I loved the Life brand spray sun-block, will be buying that for my family next summer.
My completion t-shirt fit this year yea!
I was injured and told my team to go ahead on Sunday, so I walked alone. I quite enjoyed it - definately talked to more people this way.
I think it's fun seeing some of the same folks year after year. I notice it most with the motorcycle safety, and some of the walkers that really go out of their way to dress fun.
What I didnt like
35 km on the first day. Really?
Being one of many who registered on line but didnt receive my credentials by mail, and then arriving early to pick them up, only to have to wait through a delayed start due to the magnitude of the issue. I used to really love the 7 oclock start and getting out early so as to cover good ground before it got to hot now that we have online check-in, perhaps we could go back to the Friday night pick up for the few that dont check in online.
Downsview start and end I get that this is probably economically more viable, and logistically easier to set up one location than two, so Im guessing going back to the Ex isnt up for discussion. Personally, I much preferred the walk when it covered more of the city, liked the grandeur of the Ex, etc.
Im torn about the walk from Downsview to Princess Margaret and back. It is great to walk past Princess Margaret, but I felt the route suffered as a result. We spent a lot less time on residential streets and had little if any visible support from the neighbourhoods that we walked through. Community interaction is one of the things that motivates me the most about the walk, and that really felt like it was missing on Saturday.
Finish line - The first day I honestly thought the finish line was empy... we were walking across that field and there didn't seem to be anyone there, until at last you turned left. I thought that was really odd.
In any case, all in all I loved it this year and will be back for a tenth walk next year. After that who knows... I'm getting older and it's not getting easier!
Julie
-- Edited by JulieK on Sunday 25th of September 2011 06:52:37 PM
What I liked: mostly everything including the route.
What I didn't like: I hated the lunch on day one. Can't stand onions or olives or chickpeas. (but that's my own problem). *62.8 kms? REALLY??? *could the finish line not be somewhere a little more visible? Like the area we left from?
I really loved the route this year, walking through so many parks was nice. Yeah, it really felt empty in some of the residential areas going down to the Princess Margaret. But those 2 streets on the way back on Sunday afternoon were incredible and yummy.
I don't know why it took us 10 hours on Saturday, and 8 hours on Sunday. I know I can do 20km in 4 hours. some of it is waiting for lights, but....
I agree something needs to happen to get us out there earlier , I was boiling hot by the time we started on the Saturday.
as usual all the volunteers were wonderful! here's to next year, my 8th year walking.
