Saskatchewan Marathon
Saskatoon, Canada
- Marathon, Half Marathon, 10K, 5K, 2.2K, Kids Run
- Road (Paved)
- Official race website
The Saskatchewan Marathon offers a fantastic lineup of events for runners of all levels. Set against the beautiful backdrop of the Meewasin Valley through the city of Saskatoon, this marathon is not only one of the most scenic running events in Canada but also a qualifier for the Boston Marathon. … MORE
Local Historical Weather (May 31):
| 2026 | 2025 | 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | |
| H (°C) | 25 | 28 | 18 | 31 | 19 |
| L (°C) | 19 | 5 | 8 | 13 | 1 |
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Nicer Race and Province than Expected
Now that I have finished the 50 states I am working on the Provinces. Saskatoon, Saskatchewan was definitely never on my travel bucket list but I ended up picking this … MORE
Now that I have finished the 50 states I am working on the Provinces. Saskatoon, Saskatchewan was definitely never on my travel bucket list but I ended up picking this race as it was on Memorial day weekend so I had an extra travel day. Of note it is not the easiest place to get to as there is pretty much one flight between the US and Saskatoon which is a flight to/from Minneapolis so I flew from Boston to Minneapolis to Saskatoon. However the flights to/from Minneapolis got moved to later in the day than when I initially booked them and my travel plans got a little screwy so I ended up spending quite a bit of time in Minneapolis though it all worked and I did find a race there Monday. I do think I may just fly out of Montreal for some of these smaller western Canadian cities in the future as even though there aren’t direct flights from Montreal there are more than 1 option per day. Anyways race had solid pre race communication and I arrived in Saskatoon late in the evening on Friday after spending most of the day at the Mall of America in MN due to an extended layover. I stayed at the Holiday Inn Downtown. It was nice as you could walk to a lot of museums and places in Saskatoon though you needed to drive to the expo and the race. Saturday I went to the expo. It was fine for a medium sized race. I liked that they had a station to make sure your bib worked. Packet also included a nice tech T-shirt and there were the typical booths along with some local booths. Next to the expo is the Western Development Museum. This was a cool museum that had a large replica of a frontier town from the 1800s you can explore. I would highly recommend checking out this museum along with the Remai Modern Art Museum downtown which had some really cool modern art by indigenous artists. While Saskatoon isn’t the most exciting place I have ever visited, as I said it my title it was nicer than expected and there were some cool things to see although I still wouldn’t put it at the top of your travel bucket list. Race morning went well. I read the earlier review about the parking difficulties so arrived super early. I ended up waking up at 4:45AM due to the 2 hour time difference and just left as soon as I woke up. The race starts at 7:00am and I got to the parking area between 5:15 and 5:30 and it was easy to get in at that time. As I wanted to get out quickly I parked closer to the exit that the start/finish area which was a smart idea. Race day had beautiful weather. It was partly sunny and warm but not too warm. It got a bit hot in some of the unshaded sections of the course but never too hot and it was nice to be a little warm after how cold New England has been this spring. The race start was pretty well organized. There are a few thousand runners. There was announcements and the anthem and we lined up by pacer. One minor negative is the slowest pacer was 2:30. I would have loved a 2:45 and/or 3:00 hour pacer. However the race is very back or the pack friendly for the half as the half has the same time limit as the full marathon and there is even a walker division. Race start on time. The first mile is through neighborhoods around the expo the race starts at and then you go down a hill to a few miles downtown which are the more interesting miles during the race then it is about 3 miles of an out and back along the river. Back downtown and then an uphill to the neighborhoods by the start/finish. As I said the downtown area is interesting. The neighborhoods and river area is a bit more boring but pleasant to run in. It is a nice sized race and encouraged back of the packers so I was always running with people. There was solid spectator support though it wasn’t lined with spectators the whole way. There were some entertainers along the course but I noticed they started later in the morning and were more there for the marathoners so the fast half marathoners may have missed them. Sometimes it’s good to be slow. Production was very good as course was well marked and on closed roads with plenty of volunteers and course marshals. There were Km markers and plenty of aid stations with water and electrolyte drink and one with Gu. My only production complaint besides not having slower pacers is it got a bit tight on the out and back along the river. It was just one lane closed off. I do run-walk intervals and it was a bit tight passing people on my run intervals or being passed on my walk intervals. I’m not sure it is possible as I don’t know what the city prefers but it may be helpful to utilize the pedestrian path along the river more for the out portion so the road is less jam packed. However it was never so crowded that it was a big issue. The course is pretty flat although not quite as flat as I pictured Saskatoon. None of the hills were bad but it is a bit difficult as the end is more uphill than the beginning. I had the same issue as I did in Fredericton as the end was really windy so I could not break 2:50 with the wind but still broke 3 hours. The finish area is nice and they call out your name and you get your medal. Medal is fine and the design is good for Saskatoon though it is not a huge medal. There was a really nice finish area with typical finisher food, a band and food trucks with food for purchase. There was a shawarma truck with falafel so I was able to get lunch there before my flight home. Overall much like the city of Saskatoon, this isn’t the most exciting race in the world but was nicer than I expected and I would definitely recommend this race if you are planning to do the 10 Provinces or if you are just looking for a back of the pack friendly race somewhere different to go.
Flat, cool and pretty
Great race. 5000 people total between the 5,10,21 and 42K. Nice shirt and medal. Volunteers along the course were competent, friendly and plentiful. Well run race, packet pickup was easy. … MORE
Great race. 5000 people total between the 5,10,21 and 42K. Nice shirt and medal. Volunteers along the course were competent, friendly and plentiful. Well run race, packet pickup was easy.
PARKING WAS A NIGHTMARE. TOOK ME AND HOUR TO GO THE LAST HALF MILE. I gave myself 90 minutes to go the 2 miles from the hotel and needed all of it. Only one way in. Once you get in. Tons of parking. Getting out was the same.
Tour of Saskatoon’s riverbanks
I’ve run this race a dozen times and I love it. The course is beautiful and the 500 or so marathon runners make it very relaxed and not crowded. They … MORE
I’ve run this race a dozen times and I love it. The course is beautiful and the 500 or so marathon runners make it very relaxed and not crowded. They always have great t-shirts with women’s sizing which I appreciate very much.
Beautiful course set in Saskatoon.
Expo was very bland, just went to pick up my race package. Swag was very minimal, Medal was awesome Course support wained by my 2nd loop. I very much enjoyed … MORE
Expo was very bland, just went to pick up my race package. Swag was very minimal, Medal was awesome
Course support wained by my 2nd loop.
I very much enjoyed the course
This is a smaller Marathon so it was really nice not having to dodge people on the course, made running the course very enjoyable.
The course support that did stay to cheer us later runners were awesome.
Vendors were packing up by the time I crossed the finish line, could have used a massage but they were already gone. That was hard as us that crossed around 12pm were very sore and our injuries aggravated.