The 30-kilometre Hamilton Round the Bay Race, which Ralph wins in the movie, is an actual event; in fact, it is the oldest structured road race in North America, predating the Boston Marathon (started in 1897) by three years. The film's director, Michael McGowan, won the Round the Bay Race in 1995 with a time of 1:36:09.
The name of the imaginary author of Ralph's manual on long-distance running, Simon Longboat, was borrowed from the great Canadian runner Tom Longboat, who won the Round the Bay Race in 1906 and the Boston Marathon in 1907.
The nurse who refuses to let Ralph see his mother when he visits on Christmas Eve is wearing a nursing pin from the prestigious St. Mary's School of Nursing in Montreal.
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