Demi-Marathon de Sherbrooke (Sherbrooke Half Marathon)
Sherbrooke, Canada
- Half Marathon, 10K, 5K, 2K, Kids Run
- Road (Paved)
- Official race website
The Demi-Marathon de Sherbrooke is one of the most popular events in Quebec! Known for its quality, the RBC Sherbrooke Half Marathon is a race of choice for enthusiasts as well as beginners with distances of 1, 5, 10 and 21 km. Starting from the Jacques-Cartier bridge, this unique event … MORE
Local Historical Weather (Jun 28):
| 2026 | 2025 | 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | |
| H (°C) | 25 | 19 | 20 | 24 | 22 |
| L (°C) | 13 | 13 | 6 | 16 | 13 |
Find Nearby Lodging (hotel, rental, etc.):
Remember they use Kilometers in Canada
I've already finish a half marathon in Quebec but I was looking for relatively local races this weekend and this was one of my closest options and I love Canada. … MORE
I’ve already finish a half marathon in Quebec but I was looking for relatively local races this weekend and this was one of my closest options and I love Canada. Pre race communication was good but the race guide is all in French. I did a handful of Duolingo lessons in French before my Madagascar trip and while my pronunciation is terrible I did figure out how to read it pretty well. Sherbrooke is located fairly close to the Vermont border so this is a very easy race to get to from Vermont or New Hampshire. We drove up after the race in Newport, NH grabbing lunch on the way up. However do remember they switch to Km once you cross the border or funny story you will get a speeding ticket for going 80 km/hr in a 50 km/hr zone if you forget this and just read the speed limit sign that says 50 and drive 50 miles/hr (this definitely did not happen to me lol). After a brief stop by a cop, we drove to packet pick-up on Saturday at a local running store. However there is race day packet pick-up on Sunday if you drive slower than me and don’t make it Saturday. The running store was really nice and packet pick-up was easy. Most people speak French but know English in Sherbrooke. Packet included the bib and a nice tech race shirt. One of the nicer shirts I got from Canada. We stayed at the OTL Gouverneur Sherbrooke which was a really nice hotel for the price. Race day morning wasn’t too bad. I wish there was a better description of the parking options but I found parking pretty easy. The race starts on a bridge next to a park. The race has kind of an odd time limit. You have to reach a checkpoint at 9 km by 1h20m which is a bit over a 14 minute/mile pace which works out that you can basically be a bit over 3 hours. This was about as tight a time limit for me that I could do without stress. But as a result there were not too many people slower than me because if I were any slower than me that time limit would have stressed me out. We lined up on the bridge to start. There were pacers but they were all way too fast. It was also quite hot. Not unsafe hot but way to hot to try to break 2:45 and there wasn’t even a pacer that slow. The race also started at 8am and I think an earlier start time would be better for the summer. The first ~3km are around a pond in the park. This section is pretty and it is flat which helped me bank time for the cutoff. You then run mostly though the park for most of the race with a few offshoots into neighborhoods. There are definitely some hills once you leave the race. Sherbrooke is close to Vermont, remember. Total elevation gain was about 500 feet. It was hilly but it could have been a lot worse but between the heat and the hills I wasn’t going to try to hard to break 3 hours and was just going to make sure I beat the time cutoff. I think I actually went a little fast the first 9km to ensure I made it as I had about 10 minutes to spare but afterwards I was overheated and had to slow down a lot. The scenery in the course is mixed. It is mostly the park and neighborhoods. Some parts of the park are really pretty. There was one section in the first half that was behind some industrial buildings and not pretty. The neighborhoods were fine but very hilly. Production was for the most part pretty good. It was mostly well marked but there was one part that was a little confusing but I figured it out. There were Km markers but no mile markers. This was a smaller race and not really a PR race so just Km markers seemed fine. There were adequate aid stations with water and electrolytes and I believe two had Xact fruit bars. I remembered the French word for water this time which made the aid stations easier. This wasn’t the most exciting race in the world but at this point I was going to give it a solid four sneakers. However at the end you pass the bridge and run around the lake again. The lake was the prettiest and flattest part so twice was fine and while my pace wasn’t great I could break 3 hours with a fast finish. However the finish was a disaster. The 5K started at 10:30 and when I reached the bridge the 5Kers were starting to line up. Some were ignoring us and taking pre-race selfies and completely in our way (totally cool to take pre race selfies and a race shouldn’t be set up that you need to watch for half marathoners while you line up). The half either needed to start at 7:30 or the 5K at 11:00 so everyone was through or there needed to be a separate lane for the half marathoners and 5Kers. Finally after this mess I get back around the lake and suddenly there is a stampede of very fast 5Kers. The road around the lake was a bit narrow to support this so I was pushed off very much to the side and was worried I might accidentally get hit by a fast 5Ker. They actually slower me down as I had to watch out and had better balance walking and was worried about falling since I was pushed so much to the side. I was quite annoy and about to drop the race’s rating down to 3 sneakers. I really think they need to reconsider the timing for the half. 7:30 would have been perfect as it would have been cooler and we would all be finished before the first 5Ker caught up to us but I digress. I lost any kick I needed to be under 3 hours but at least I’d finish. I was hoping to at least have a fast ending but my GI issues from Madagascar that I thought resolved came back right at mile 12.9 and I needed a bathroom so bad and the porta potties weren’t that close to the finish line. The finish area however was amazing. I crossed the finish line. I believe they called out my name and said nice things in French and got my medal which is nice but not distance specific. And then I was so happy to see right after the finish line in the medical area an emergency porta potty for this situation. I was even happier when I went to the post food tent and saw a there was a veggie option and opened it up to find my favorite sandwich a tofu banh mi. I was inbetween 3 and 4 sneakers but good vegetarian options means I round up. Overall there were things I liked about this race including convenient location, good swag, and great post race food but I do feel like the timing with the 5K needs to be adjusted and while I didn’t have any major issues being in the back of the pack such as running out of food or medals, it would have been a better experience if you finished under 2:30 before the 5Kers finished and I do think they should reconsider the start times of the race. Of the two races I did in Quebec, personally I liked Montreal a bit more and it was a bit more iconic but this was definitely a more logistically easier race to travel to and a smaller, more laid back race environment so may be a better choice if you’d prefer a smaller race in a smaller city. It is also super convenient if you are driving from VT or NH so I’d also recommend it to New Englanders looking for new options even if you aren’t doing the provinces. I’d consider running it again regardless since it is close and I love Canada but I’d be much more likely to run it again if the change the start times a bit.