Stampede Road Race
Calgary, Canada
- Half Marathon, 10K, 5K, Kids Run
- Road (Paved)
- Official race website
All races will finish on the Glenmore Track – stick around for the post-race festivities, including a traditional Stampede Breakfast!
Local Historical Weather (Jul 05):
| 2026 | 2025 | 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | |
| H (°C) | 17 | 19 | 24 | 24 | 21 |
| L (°C) | 11 | 13 | 10 | 8 | 9 |
Find Nearby Lodging (hotel, rental, etc.):
Yahoo I finished the Provinces!
I actually wasn't planning on finishing the Provinces this fast but it turns out they are pretty easy to check off if you live in New England and can drive … MORE
I actually wasn’t planning on finishing the Provinces this fast but it turns out they are pretty easy to check off if you live in New England and can drive to half of them and can figure out how to do most of the rest that you need to fly to on 3 day weekends. Since I had Friday off for July 4, I was looking for a race that would be too far away for a 2 day weekend but close enough to only need 3 days and was very excited to find a race in Alberta, my final province! This was a smaller race with a few hundred runners and is part of the Calgary Stampede Weekend. Along with a convenient date, I liked that it raised money for the Canadian Mental Health Association. There was good pre race communication and the RD was very responsive in answering a question I had about the early start for the race. My mom likes to travel to Canada so she joined me for this trip as well. For the race we flew in Friday and explored Calgary and picked up the packet at a local running store. There is race day packet pick-up but I wanted to get it early to avoid stress. Packet included bib, a nice tech short sleeved shirt and a cowboy hat to fit the stampede theme. Not related to the race but Saturday we took a day trip to Banff which was amazing! I think Alberta may be my favorite province so I saved the best for last. Race morning was easy. They gave instructions to park at a school about 1/2 Km from the start or in the local neighborhoods. I just parked at the school but you could find closer parking if you looked. I opted for the early start which was for expected finishers over 2:45. I thought I’d probably be over 2:45 as Calgary seemed hilly and was at a bit of altitude (not terribly high altitude but enough to feel it – similar to the altitude at Zion). I did wish they showed the race elevation profile though as I wasn’t sure what to expect. I did clarify it would be fine to be a bit under 2:45 and do the early start but you couldn’t be a ton faster like under 2:00 hours and do it without messing up the timing system. There were probably around 30ish participants doing the early start at 6:30. The regular start was 7:20. We lined up at the start and went off at 6:30. Early starts always make me a bit nervous things may not be set up or I might get lost but everything was really well marked and the aid stations were already out. The course was similar to Sherbrooke where much of it was on public bike paths and parks. The first few Km were fairly flat and I had a good pace. It is basically about 5km which splits to an out and back and then there is a different 2km back. Around the 5K mark is a big hill and it is hilly for a couple Km and then flattens out for the out and back. Total elevation about 500 feet so hilly but no terrible. The course is mostly quite scenic. There is pretty views of water and the city. A lot but not all was shaded. The weather though was beautiful and perfect running weather. The race was mostly well produced. It was well marked with Km markers and enough aid stations with water, electrolytes and Xact fruit bars. I had a solid pace most of the race but I think it was the altitude and the hills I just wasn’t feeling 100%. My only big production complaint is they needed porta potties on course. My GI tract has been a mess since Madagascar and I needed to detour to the woods. I thought I lost my chance at a sub 3 finish but I had an excellent mile after that detour and saw I was still on track. I struggled a lot but I made it so I just needed to finish each Km in 9 minutes and managed to pace myself pretty impressively given I wasn’t feeling great. I love that the race ended on a track as my final province finish paralleled my final state finish at Eugene though I don’t think the track at the Glenmore Athletic Park is as famous as Hayward Field. I was super happy to finish a few seconds under 3 hours. Normally I would want a faster time but I was very happy with how well I paced myself especially given I just wasn’t feeling great with the altitude. The race was also very back of the pack friendly with the early start and the start was early enough that by the time the faster runners caught up everyone was spread out. The medal is nice and the ribbon is specific to the half marathon. There is a pancake breakfast but the line was really long and it was pancakes or make it back to the hotel in time to shower before check out so I skipped it. I do wish there were some smaller snacks like granola bars or bananas immediately available at the finish for those unable to wait for the pancakes. There were at least water bottles available. Overall I thought this was a nice, smaller race. I’m sure the Calgary half or Banff half are more iconic but if this race fits better in your schedule, it was nice and very back of the pack friendly. Even if you are not doing the provinces I would definitely recommend a trip to Calgary and/or Banff for a race as this was one of my favorite places I’ve been in North America. I plan to come back and run more races here.