Niagara Falls Women’s Half Marathon
Niagara Falls, Canada
- Half Marathon, 5K
- Road (Paved)
- Official race website
Run or Walk past The Falls TWICE! Grab your girlfriends for a weekend getaway to Niagara. Join us for an empowering celebration of health and fitness. Lots of unique touches. Port-a-potties with flowers and lavender scent. Wine and cosmetics in swag bag. Firefighters putting the finisher medal around your neck. … MORE
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Niagara Falls Spectacular!
This was a blast of a Runcation! Myself and seven other friends traveled to Canada from Minnesota. It did not disappoint. The Falls are gorgeous and the course has you … MORE
This was a blast of a Runcation! Myself and seven other friends traveled to Canada from Minnesota. It did not disappoint. The Falls are gorgeous and the course has you run by the falls twice for both the 5K and Half marathon. The course is pretty flat, there were some small hills and a bridge we crossed over twice. The scenery as you can imagine – amazing! The swag was awesome, including a bottle of wine! And meeting Katherine Switzer was a thrill, she is so charismatic, friendly and has fantastic stories to tell. She makes each participant feel special and appreciated. There are great early bird prices thru June 30th for next year! I urge all to try, men can race too, there are just not placements for men.
Incredible views
This race runs along the Niagara River, giving the runner a view of the falls twice. Kathrine Switzer high-fived all the runners during the race and greeted everyone at the … MORE
This race runs along the Niagara River, giving the runner a view of the falls twice. Kathrine Switzer high-fived all the runners during the race and greeted everyone at the finish line. The course is flat and fast.
The swag was amazing. Lots of cosmetic items and a large bottle of wine and a coupon for wine-tasting for two that never expires.
Ms. Switzer signed autographs at the expo and held a special dinner with proceeds going to charity, so her participation is the even was phenomenal.
This course was made for women of all running and walking levels. It was energizing to see the comraderie all along the way. Certainly a great ending to a girl’s weekend, if that is what you wanted to make of it.
The medal was pretty. Definitely, feminine in its purple color. Also, it featured Harriet Tubman, a woman hero who saved thousands of lives and changed families for generations to come. I really liked this aspect of it. However, gorgeous firemen did not pass out the medals as promised on the website. Since Ms. Switzer greeted us, I was forgiving of this otherwise huge faux pas.
I would definitely run this again.
Awesome swag and beautiful views
My friends and I drove up on Friday and back on Monday so it was nice to have a relaxing travel weekend. We picked up our bibs on Saturday. It … MORE
My friends and I drove up on Friday and back on Monday so it was nice to have a relaxing travel weekend. We picked up our bibs on Saturday. It was out the local outlets. It really wasn’t an expo. You pick up your bib and t-shirt and receive a bunch of make-up and female product samples as well as a bottle of wine. This year’s samples included a Riesling, a 3lb bag of mint green tea epsom salts, 3 different types of lip gloss, a full size bronzer, a sample of deep conditioning hair treatment, and pain relief gel. The shirts looked smaller than they actually ran (I found they looked small, but fit true to size). This year’s color was purple which was perfect as it’s my favorite color. Each year the race is dedicated to a certain woman from history and this year was dedicated to Harriet Tubman.
Katherine Switzer is on hand at packet pickup signing copies of her books and taking pictures with whomever wants. She actually took a picture with my friends and I. The night before the race, there’s an inspiration dinner (which is very worth going to) with very good food and Katherine Switzer speaks and again signs autographs and takes photos with people.
The race itself is nice. It’s very flat and the only true hill is a small bridge. You run past the falls twice in the first 3 miles and the rest of the course is out along water, so there’s nice scenery. There is a truck with complimentary coffee and hot cocoa at the race start (where Katherine Switzer is once again on hand). The porta potties are very clean and well stocked. Volunteers among the porta potties were distributing tampons and had extra toilet paper on hand. The porta potties themselves had lavender scented purel and flowers in the urinals. Katherine Switzer is on hand around mile 5 to high five all of the runners and at the finish to give a hug to whomever wants. The medals were also very nice.
This year’s weather wasn’t so fabulous. It was in the upper 50’s to low 60’s and on and off drizzle (luckily more off than on). I would definitely do it again, plus the entry fee is very affordable as it’s in Canadian currency and the early bird rate ends up around $55 USD.
My First International Half Marathon
This was my first international half marathon. I enjoyed this race. The expo was a decent size inside a mall. The swag was great and included a bottle of wine. … MORE
This was my first international half marathon. I enjoyed this race. The expo was a decent size inside a mall. The swag was great and included a bottle of wine. They had an exciting pre race entertainment at the startline to get everyone hyped up. They a band marching through the crowd, and a motocycle group road through the corrals. The course was out and back, pretty flat. The highlight of course was running along Niagara Falls. We were given boxed lunches at the finishline. There were also free massages. The medal is nice.