Join Vancouver’s only Marathon and the largest Marathon in Canada! Ranked one of the top destination marathons in the world, the BMO Vancouver Marathon is a scenic award-winning course that traditionally takes runners on a 42.2KM (26.2 miles) adventure past beaches, through natural parks, and along Vancouver’s Seawall – the world’s …
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Join Vancouver’s only Marathon and the largest Marathon in Canada! Ranked one of the top destination marathons in the world, the BMO Vancouver Marathon is a scenic award-winning course that traditionally takes runners on a 42.2KM (26.2 miles) adventure past beaches, through natural parks, and along Vancouver’s Seawall – the world’s longest uninterrupted waterfront path. Vancouver’s only Marathon offers shoreline views and stunning scenery. The race was first established in 1972 with 32 finishers and has now grown into Canada’s largest Marathon race! Join in!
With the whole city behind you, you’re bound to reach your goal! Discover one of the world’s ‘most livable cities’ by foot and witness the community support that has encapsulated the event since its inception in 1972.
Vancouver’s Best, the BMO Vancouver Half Marathon is a fast, downhill course. The BMO Vancouver Half Marathon takes place on a separate course than the Marathon, offering runners a unique cultural perspective of Vancouver. Step through different neighbourhoods on your journey to the Finish Line. From bustling Chinatown to glassy Yaletown to the beautiful West End, you’ll discover historic landmarks, breathtaking views, vibrant communities, and have thousands of spectators cheer you on towards the energized Finish Line!
The BMO Vancouver Marathon is Canada’s top destination race and the 8KM is a breeze through the park! A shorter challenge than a Half Marathon or 10KM, but equally as rewarding, this race is a great way to lace up and get your feet wet in the Vancouver running scene at Canada’s most scenic running event. You may run the 8KM and enjoy the tranquil shade from cedar and hemlock trees in Stanley Park before breezing through Coal Harbour to the bustling Downtown Finish Line, where you’ll celebrate with Half Marathon and Marathon runners amidst cheering spectators. As spots in the 8KM are extremely limited, this event is often quick to sell-out. Please also note the 8KM actually runs slightly longer for a total distance of approximately 8.125KM.
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Worth the Wait
I was originally going to run this race in 2020 but it of course got cancelled. Five years later I finally got the chance to do it and it was … MORE
I was originally going to run this race in 2020 but it of course got cancelled. Five years later I finally got the chance to do it and it was totally worth the wait. The course is beautiful and almost hard to believe it is a city race. It starts through neighborhoods before going past the University and then drops down along the water and several beaches. After crossing the Burrard Bridge, you have a brief stretch through downtown before the final stretch along the Sea Wall around Stanley Park. The water, the mountains, the trees—all just beautiful. I even saw two bald eagles along the Sea Wall. Crowd support was great all along the course (except the Sea Wall). To top it off, the weather was perfect—low 50’s (sorry I don’t know the Celsius conversion) with no humidity and a little breeze. It was sunny but there is plenty of shade on the course.
Everything was very well organized. The expo and packet pickup was smooth. It was slightly annoying to have to do gear check at the expo, but wearing throw away clothes to the start was not that big of a deal, I usually do that regardless. There were lots of aid stations along the course, probably more than most races that I never found myself wondering when I was going to reach the next one. Very important, there were plenty of porta potties at the start—I don’t think I ever had to wait more than 10 or 15 minutes in line.
The difficulty of the course I found to be overstated. There were a couple decent hills in the first half, but the back half is pretty much flat when you’re running along the water. I found Grandmas Marathon to be tougher.
The only complaints I have on the event was the limited amount of merch at the Expo—what they had was nice, just not much variety, especially for such a large event—and while they claimed to have beer at the finish, it was small samples that were slightly more than a shot. But these aren’t taking away from the overall greatness of the event.
Beautiful Scenic Run
This was a beautiful run, sometimes I completely forgot I was running through a city. The rolling hills in the first part of the course were tough, but the end … MORE
This was a beautiful run, sometimes I completely forgot I was running through a city. The rolling hills in the first part of the course were tough, but the end of the race was nice and flat. By the time I finished the course a lot of the food was gone so I only received a granola bar and a water.
The bag check is at the expo the day (or 2) prior to the race rather than on race morning so we had no way to bring extra clothing with us to wear in the freezing cold before the run. It was either bring clothes we were okay throwing away or carry them on the run. The medal this year had different landmarks specific to Vancouver, so we had fun trying to identify each one that we saw either on the course or during our time in Vancouver.
Rolling hills galore
This race has been a long time coming because I originally signed up to run it in 2020 (which of course was cancelled due to the pandemic), so instead runners … MORE
This race has been a long time coming because I originally signed up to run it in 2020 (which of course was cancelled due to the pandemic), so instead runners were offered a 75% credit towards a future race up through 2025. Decided to use the credit this year because who knows when the country will be in lockdown mode again.
Expo: Held at the convention center in downtown Vancouver next to the harbor Friday and Saturday before the race. I went Friday afternoon and parked at a nearby lot for $9 CAD (hourly rate); it would probably have been easier to use public transit instead as the expo was only a few blocks from a skytrain station. Gear check was only available at the expo meaning runners couldn’t check in their gear at race start which was a bit cumbersome. Luckily the temperature didn’t fluctuate much between race start and finish but if it did it’d have been a hassle to shed clothing (saw some runners carrying the gear check bags while racing).
Weather: Low 50s (Fahrenheit); sprinkled a little bit before the start of the race but quickly subsided. Perfect running weather (cloudy with little to no wind and not too hot).
Race Start: Signed up for the race shuttle at Patterson Station for about $7 CAD a few weeks before the race so I didn’t need to try to figure out the bus system early in the morning to get to Queen Elizabeth Park where the race began. Bus left at 7:15am sharp and got to the park around 7:30am (race started at 8:30am). Runners were given a Compass card for unlimited ride within 90 minutes to get to the race start, however since I signed up for the shuttle I used the Compass card after race finish instead to get back to my Airbnb.
Course: Not sure where I got the impression that this was supposed to be relatively flat, but boy was I wrong. My Garmin showed a total elevation gain of 2,258 ft which was even more than Big Sur and that was completely insane. However the course was scenic and provided a great snapshot of the city from a tourist perspective, passing by UBC, Stanley Park along the notorious Seawall, and finishing in downtown Vancouver.
Aid Stations: Water at every station although for the first 10 miles or so I didn’t see much electrolytes offered (Nuun; or maybe they ran out? No clue). Gummy gels were offered at Miles 8 (13km), 13 (21km), and 19 (31km).
Crowd Support: Spectators were consistent throughout the race (crowd cheering on your name printed on the bib). Great vibe.
Post-Race Refreshment: Bottled water, energy bars, a banana, two small bags of chips, and a turkey sandwich.
Swag: Short sleeve tech shirt, a pair of gloves featuring the race sponsor (BMO), and a reusable gear check tote bag. The medal design was pretty random with a tiger looking animal on the back. Not sure if it represented Vancouver’s mascot of some sort?
Final Thoughts: Ran nonstop up ’til around Mile 23 when the pain around my lower back and thighs became excruciating. Pacing groups included a run/walk option which was rare. Overall this was a good race (advertised to be the biggest marathon in Canada) but it was much hillier than expected at a total elevation gain of 2k+ ft.
Still got it
The race was delayed for over an hour due to a bomb scare. Waiting that long on concrete was a challenge. Once the race got going it was great to … MORE
The race was delayed for over an hour due to a bomb scare. Waiting that long on concrete was a challenge. Once the race got going it was great to see all the people out there cheering. The volunteers were also great. Most runners would say that the course distance was at least 400M long. Otherwise the weather was perfect I still managed to run a sub 2 despite the delay.
Good excuse to visit an awesome city
A nice tour of a great city featuring many of the must go to destinations. Hilly in and around UBC. Marathon wise save legs for last 10K to enjoy tour … MORE
A nice tour of a great city featuring many of the must go to destinations. Hilly in and around UBC. Marathon wise save legs for last 10K to enjoy tour around Stanley Park–not like I did. (Don’t forget to visit the Museum of Anthropology (MOA)) at UBC when in Vancouver to see its amazing collection of Pacific NW First Nation art).
Fantastic course; terrible personal race
Vancouver is beautiful, well-organized, and the weather was fantastic. Great energy, swag, aid stations. It should have been perfect. Instead, I chased the pacer (a 10:1 pacer from the Running … MORE
Vancouver is beautiful, well-organized, and the weather was fantastic. Great energy, swag, aid stations. It should have been perfect. Instead, I chased the pacer (a 10:1 pacer from the Running Room) for 16km and blew up spectacularly.
Vancouver at its best!
Vancouver Marathon is really a very beautiful race. Even on a rainy day I really enjoyed the race. The first 5k downhill into downtown followed by a few smooth uphill … MORE
Vancouver Marathon is really a very beautiful race. Even on a rainy day I really enjoyed the race. The first 5k downhill into downtown followed by a few smooth uphill parts. The race is of course perfectly organized!
Great race for cool weather.
It’s was a fun race! My sister in law want to do it for her 40th and we ended walking most of it do to her foot having issues. It … MORE
It’s was a fun race! My sister in law want to do it for her 40th and we ended walking most of it do to her foot having issues. It was perfect weather for running.
First Time Trials
This was my first full marathon, 8 months postpartum no less, which means it was difficult for me. It's hilly, but not terrible. The fans and volunteers are amazing, and … MORE
This was my first full marathon, 8 months postpartum no less, which means it was difficult for me. It’s hilly, but not terrible. The fans and volunteers are amazing, and everything is well organized. It makes a good destination race, Vancouver is a beautiful city.