My wife and I have run >150 marathons and ultras, and this instantly jumped to the top tier of our favorite races. The highlight is the beautiful course, a nice … MORE
My wife and I have run >150 marathons and ultras, and this instantly jumped to the top tier of our favorite races. The highlight is the beautiful course, a nice wide hard-packed trail with almost no turns, through the really beautiful north woods and by streams and hills, with fall colors, all of this going gently downhill to the finish. Most of the drop is in the first half, but still, the course is among the easier ones I have run on in order to BQ. In addition to the route and beauty of the course, the organization does a really nice job, and everything is run very smoothly and with no hickups. We already signed up for next year!
A note to runners and to the organizers: the cups used on the course have really small pours, so on a warmer day there may be insufficient fluid unless you remember to drink a couple of cups at each aid station. Perhaps they could use larger cups in future races? The only other odd bit is that at the end we had to wait in quite a line to retrieve the bags of food for refueling — these were being prepared in real time for each runner, which really slowed things down. It would be easier, perhaps, to simply have them all ready.
Overall, this is a great race, and I am so grateful to the organizers for putting this together and for treating us so well. We look forward to next year!
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Gorgeous course and a superbly run event
My wife and I have run >150 marathons and ultras, and this instantly jumped to the top tier of our favorite races. The highlight is the beautiful course, a nice … MORE
My wife and I have run >150 marathons and ultras, and this instantly jumped to the top tier of our favorite races. The highlight is the beautiful course, a nice wide hard-packed trail with almost no turns, through the really beautiful north woods and by streams and hills, with fall colors, all of this going gently downhill to the finish. Most of the drop is in the first half, but still, the course is among the easier ones I have run on in order to BQ. In addition to the route and beauty of the course, the organization does a really nice job, and everything is run very smoothly and with no hickups. We already signed up for next year!
A note to runners and to the organizers: the cups used on the course have really small pours, so on a warmer day there may be insufficient fluid unless you remember to drink a couple of cups at each aid station. Perhaps they could use larger cups in future races? The only other odd bit is that at the end we had to wait in quite a line to retrieve the bags of food for refueling — these were being prepared in real time for each runner, which really slowed things down. It would be easier, perhaps, to simply have them all ready.
Overall, this is a great race, and I am so grateful to the organizers for putting this together and for treating us so well. We look forward to next year!
A Must do Canadian Marathon
I am on a mission to complete 1 Marathon in each 10 Canadian Provinces before I reach 50 years old in 4 years. This Marathon in Val David, Quebec is … MORE
I am on a mission to complete 1 Marathon in each 10 Canadian Provinces before I reach 50 years old in 4 years.
This Marathon in Val David, Quebec is a MUST DO!
It is a linear course which starts in Val David and you run on an old railroad trail now used for outdoor activities. It is also a Boston Qualifying course.
It is only in its 3rd Season and sells out very quickly for the Full and Half Marathon Race.
There was ample communication including leading up to the Marathon itself.
You get a detailed email at least 2 weeks before the race with all the pertinent info that you will need. i would suggest signing up for the bus to take you to the start line. That was very well organized. They gave you three places to park your vehicle all within distance of the finish line. I would suggest getting to the train station early to park, less walking to do after the run.
The start line was interesting. They did have a tent where people could wait and keep warm, lots of Port o Potties available. There were also little coffee shops around and people found other places to stay to keep warm. I just kept warming up as it was easier to climatized to the temperature and wait for the sun to rise and warm up the air.
Race package pick up was simple. The bag and tech t shirt were nice but the brochures put in the bag were just for advertising purposes.
The RUN ITSELF! because they cannot have too many people running at the same time, thus crowding the trail, the start is staggered according to what time you put to finish the Marathon and they really do “police this” which I thought was AWESOME! The course itself was beautiful! It really started going downhill right from the beginning but I really noticed it at km6 until km22 which is the half way point. From there, you start going somewhat flatter and start hearing the road noise.
Course support along the way was great! Lots of water stations, gatorade and also a JubeJube station. I was absolutely thrilled that they had not run out of water considering that the Half Marathoners and Most of the Marathoners had already passed through!
The finish line was great. They were there to greet you with your medal, there was even a guy standing at the 41.5km point to remind you show your bib as you cross the finish line.
They had the massage tent ready with lots of support so that you were not waiting long to see someone. And the goody table! Oh, it felt like getting hallowe’en candy! The assembly line was awesome and the volunteers were great.
All in all, this was a point to point Marathon and well worth doing
Beautiful scenery - and net downhill!
My husband was driving so we stayed in a motel in Val David (start line) and then he drove to meet me at the finish in Saint Gerome. This meant … MORE
My husband was driving so we stayed in a motel in Val David (start line) and then he drove to meet me at the finish in Saint Gerome. This meant that I could avoid the shuttle bus to the start line. There was in door (warm) space at the start line which was good because it was a cold morning.
This is a well organized race on a truly beautiful course. The trail is in great shape – fine gravel on a smooth, well packed surface. It passes though a few towns but mostly just nature. It is a point to point downhill course, but gentle enough that it wasn’t problematic for the legs.
We were started in 10 corrals, each 5 minutes apart so there runners were well spaced out over the course. It is probably not the ideal race for runners who feed on the energy of other runners and spectators. You do look forward to the great volunteers at each water station though! I appreciated people yelling out encouragement in English as well as French.
Overall, this was a great race. I ran a PB – and enjoyed doing it! There was lots of energy at the finish at the post-race food was great.
The only negatives are that the race shirt is made from completely unbreathable fabric which means I won’t ever wear it. Also, I would love to have had a photographer somewhere on the course. There was no shortage of scenic locations! They did post pictures at the finish line – although of the 3 pictures posted for me, I am not even in 2 of them and am way in the background of the 3rd picture. (Automatic camera I assume)
I would absolutely recommend this race. Register early though – it sells out fast.
Beautiful wooded path/trail Marathon
This was the inaugural year for this race. Run on a well known 200+ bike path in the Laurentians, north of Montreal. Once a railway path through the woods serving … MORE
This was the inaugural year for this race. Run on a well known 200+ bike path in the Laurentians, north of Montreal. Once a railway path through the woods serving the north, now gravel packed; point to point race, with a total downhill. Beautiful scenery, narrow path, amazing feel to this race. It sold out quickly because of the limited numbers given the lack of space on the course.
Most beautiful race I have ever run. Organizers did an amazing job. my only recommendations to the race officials is more porta pottys along the way, ( saw men and women emerging from the woods on the sides of the trail ). Also, would be nice if the medals were different for the half and full.