Hamilton’s Around the Bay road race to change in 2024 amid downtown arena development

An iconic Hamilton road race will roll out changes next year amid the city’s large-scale downtown development at FirstOntario Centre.

Organizers of the Around the Bay Road Race say the 2023 version of the event will look a lot like the races of the past, finishing at the York Boulevard arena.

However, the start and finish for the 2024 edition will move to Tim Hortons Field, meaning some alterations and detours for the historic 30-kilometre event.

“We still want it to be around the bay, so it has to go around the water, but I think we can do that and we’ve looked at a number of routes,” director Anna Lewis said during a media event at Tim Hortons Field Tuesday morning.

For close to two decades the typical start has been at the corner of York and Bay with a finish inside the arena.

Lewis says it’s too early to say if next year’s change will be temporary or permanent.

“The FirstOntario Centre renovation schedule is a little bit unpredictable at the moment,” said Lewis. “So I think it’s to be determined whether the finish line stays here for one year, two years or more.”

The 2023 in-person race is March 26, with the virtual race – run using an entrant’s own personal route – set for a period between March 1 and March 31.

Those running the 30-kilometre version for the 129th edition of the on-site event will see the return of the ominous Heartbreak Hill – a 500-metre hill at the 26-kilometre mark of the route.

Registration for that stretch is 95 per cent sold out with the five-kilometre version at 70 per cent. The relays are sold out.

Close to 6,500 runners are expected to compete in person.

Sera Filice-Armenio, president and CEO of the St. Joseph’s Healthcare Foundation, says funds raised this year will support two projects at the hospital.

“When you sponsor a runner or make a donation,” said Filice-Armenio, “you’ll be ensuring that St. Joe’s has the funding it needs to acquire the very latest in breast cancer screening equipment for our breast diagnostic centre.”

Filice-Armenio adds that funds raised will also support upgrades to the birthing unit and renovations to the hospital’s special care nursery.

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