Between 400 to 500 participants took part in this year’s Inspirational Steps. The event was enjoyed very much by all those who participated as the venue Terry Fox Stadium in Chinguacousy Park was excellent and the weather was cool. Participants ranged in age from toddlers who took part in the 400m race, children/youth/seniors from who took part in the 1000m race and open category for the 5km and 10km races. All the charities and non-profit organizations had booths sharing information of the important work they do in the community and appealed to those interested to donate or volunteer to these causes. The high light were the runners and walkers who took part some ran competitive all the way, other did a mixture of running and walking and some just strolled around for the exercise and company of friends. The biggest group were the Toronto Pearson Airport Runners Club (TPARC) whose members showed how age is no barrier to being healthy and fit. In addition to the organizations that arranged the event, sponsors and local politicians congratulated the participants and some took part. In total $20,000 was donated to Indspire (charity for education for indigenous students), $10,000 by Enlight and another $10,000 by an anonymous donor. For those who missed the event excellent coverage was provided by PrimeAsiaTV and local Punjabi media in radios and newspapers.

Although very much enjoyed by most there were many shortfalls from the GGSCF volunteers as this was the first time so many organizations had come together for this type of event. The event started late due to this being the first time this event was held at this venue and not everyone was familiar with the setup and layout of the routes. The total number so participants were uncertain as registration continued to race time, there was a mix up of the bibs that were distributed, this meant the participant times were hard to manage especially those who wore the wrong bib, or hand written bibs, or those who changed their races, those who participated in races not for their age group, those who did not provide their ages or genders etc. For this reason sorting out the awards was very difficult, some were participants were visibly upset, some left due to the delays, mistakes were made in giving out out the awards. The laps were also hard to count especially when the participants were not wearing the right bib or had no indication what distance they were running/walking etc. Some confusion of signs meant some went off route and their laps were not counted. However we learned we need to do better and we apologize to those who were upset (participants and volunteers) as things did not go smoothly for everyone.