A group of runners run along Lake Shore Blvd. in Toronto on Saturday, May 1, 2021. A battle has broken out over the sidewalks in Canada's most populous city. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Yader Guzman

TORONTO - A battle has broken out over the sidewalks in Canada's most populous city.

Toronto has divided into factions. Torontonian against Torontonian, runner against walker — or so the comment sections of some online videos would have you believe.

A small cohort of Toronto residents have taken issue with some of the city's running clubs, who they claim treat the sidewalks like their personal treadmills, fellow pedestrians be damned.

"They'll turn a corner and it's just a large group running at you, and you honestly don't really know what to do," said Leah Madley, an east-end Toronto resident who's had several run-ins with large running groups.

"I mean, obviously you are the pedestrian, but it's more safe to just go off to the side. But if you have bags with you, they rub up against the bags."

Madley's worst encounter with one of the groups happened two months ago, and became the subject of a quasi-viral TikTok video. She said she was out with her then-four-month-old puppy Cher, and one of the groups appeared.

Madley was standing near a patch of grass, she said, and Cher was wearing a light on her collar for visibility.

Even so, she said, a passing runner kicked the dog, who only weighed a couple of kilograms at the time.

"I'm sure it was not intentional," she said. "However, it's the fact that they didn't move out of the way."

An online petition calling for the city to rein in its runners had garnered more than 500 signatures, including Madley's, by Friday.

"We need some safety regulations here," she said.

The petition, created by another TikToker, seeks to limit the size of running clubs in Toronto or designate specific lanes for them to use.

For its part, the City of Toronto said it gets involved when large running events require a street closure.

"However, the City does not issue permits for impromptu running events like these," a spokesperson said in an email. "The City encourages running groups with large memberships to be considerate and mindful of those they share public spaces with during their activity."

The spokesperson did not say whether thecity would entertain the petition.

But Michael Brennan, a founding member of the midtown Toronto Running Club, said a few inconsiderate runners are giving the community a bad name.

"I’m in three different uptown clubs and we’ve never had problems like the recent downtown drama," he said by email.

For the Toronto Running Club, safety and etiquette are top priority. They wear high-visibility gear, warn those running behind of upcoming vehicles, pedestrians and bikes, and always move out of the way for other sidewalk users, Brennan said.

In general, he said, issues like those being discussed online are not widespread.

"Probably 98 per cent of runners follow good safety and courtesy protocols but it’s the two per cent who cause problems like the recent fiasco downtown," he said. "It’s being blown way out of proportion."

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 6, 2024.

News from © The Canadian Press, 2024