PHOTOS: Pride and Remembrance Run 2018

Paddy Birch overall winner

Gabriela and Brittany

Fruits from Community One

Saturday morning one of the Pride and Remembrance Run announcers called over the speaker, “A little rain won’t stop our party.”

And it didn’t. The 2018 Pride and Remembrance Run drew huge crowds and big event participation for the 23rd year of the race. 

Happy Pride! #PrideRunTo pic.twitter.com/eXMknj153M

— Joseph Uranowski (@Uranowski) June 23, 2018

The event began at the start/finish at the intersection of Church and Wellesley in the heart of Downtown Toronto. Gabriela Stafford, a member of the 2016 Olympic team and former 1,500m National champion, addressed the crowd before the race to discuss her story and what the Pride and Remembrance Run means to her.  

Post-race Stafford said, “I had a lot of fun racing here today. It was great to see so many people enjoying themselves in the Toronto rain. I feel lucky to be part of such an accepting community. Events like the Pride Run are very important because they bring people together to celebrate how far the LGBTQ+ community has come, but also reflects upon what we still need to do to make our communities safer, more inclusive, and more loving for everybody.”

https://www.instagram.com/p/BkXueMaFdB9/?taken-by=priderunto

The “Fruits” (pictured in the gallery) are from the Community One Foundation which provide grants to marginalized communities helping to create independent, autonomous support networks. Their beautiful outfits have become a staple of the Pride and Remembrance Run start line.

The overall 5K winner was Paddy Birch in a time of 15:59.60. 

The Pride festivities continue this weekend in Toronto with a street fair on Church St. that runs until Sunday, along with the Pride parade Sunday afternoon. The parade is followed by a Yonge and Dundas Square party that begins at 5 p.m.