Toronto Pride and Remembrance Run set for Saturday

Pride 5K 23

Canada’s oldest and largest pride run will celebrate it’s 20th running Saturday towards the end of the Toronto’s Pride Festival, which began Monday morning with the raising of the pride flag in front of City Hall.

The race begins at the corner of Church Street and Wellesley, the main intersection of an LGBT neighborhood in Toronto and runs west to Queen’s Park, looping twice around the provincial legislature before running back to the start. The course is 5K though runners can also walk a 3K course. Attendance is about 1,500 runners. The race begins at 10 a.m.

The Pride and Remembrance Run was founded in 1996 by three gay triathletes and last year passed the $1 million mark in fundraising. The team is hoping to raise $125,000 this year.

The run is regularly attended by Ontario Premiere Kathleen Wynne, who is the first openly gay head of government in Canada and an avid runner.

Pride runs are increasingly common around Canada. Earlier in June the first Winnipeg Frontrunner Pride Run was hosted in the city. Vancouver also hosts a pride run during July.

In 2014 the World Pride Festival was hosted in Toronto to some controversy. Former mayor Rob Ford, during his four-year tenure, refused to attend Pride Festival events. This year, Mayor John Tory has pledged to attend and hopes to see all 44 councillors out.

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