I recently participated in my third Vancouver half marathon and, I gotta say, of all three, this one was the least well-run. Not only were there issues at the finish line with poor signage and many of us not being corralled into the proper area but, what's even worse in my eyes, nobody seemed to care. I wrote the race organizers a letter about our experience and nobody responded to me. For a supposedly world-class marathon that charges a high entrance fee, this lack of customer support is inexcusable, really. Here is an edited version of the letter I sent to the race organizer, explaining what happened: My daughter and I recently participated in the BMO Vancouver Half Marathon...We've participated in a lot of races before, between 40-50. (I say this so you know upfront that we are aware that, while each race has its own idiosyncrasies, there are certain basic fundamental features of EVERY race to ensure safety and organization and efficiency, as well as overall participant enjoyment). This was our third Vancouver half marathon. It's always been a top-notch experience. And it was this year, too - until the very end. Something really unfortunate happened at the finish line this year at the BMO Vancouver marathon, and it really put a pallor on our whole experience. And I feel compelled to tell you about it so, hopefully you'll plan the course differently at the finish line so this type of thing never ever recurs, to anybody else. Once we exited Stanley Park and followed the course through Coal Harbor toward the finish line, four women were ahead of us, and there were three women right behind us. For a while, going up Denman and then turning on Georgia Street, we were co-mingling with the public (non-race people who were just out downtown. Some were there to cheer on family and friends. Bystanders). A few marathon race runners ran beside us. Audrey and I thought it odd, to be co-mingling with the public on the sidewalk in the last stretch of a famous world marathon. Then a runner stopped us, frantically asking if he and we were "in the right place". I said yes! We were all following each other and there were so many yellow-vested race volunteers and officers along the route, right beside us, watching us all advance along the course. (We all were CLEARLY race participants, with our race bibs clearly displayed on our fronts). I soon realized that we were walking BESIDE the blue fence and we weren't in the fenced corral leading up to the finish line. I have no idea how we all missed going into this blue-fenced corral on Georgia/Pender, leading to the finish line. I stopped to talk to a yellow-vested race volunteer standing at the fence, saying hey, we all need to be INSIDE the corral, how do we get inside? (The other ladies and the guy stopped with me). The volunteer/officer said to continue onwards and "just slip in to the corral at the finish line". So we all continued beside the fence, going the 2-3 city blocks until we couldn't go any further as the fence prevented us from entering the corral or crossing the finish line. We were unable to "slip in". There were two police officers on the other side of the fence here so I asked how do we all get in to cross the finish line? One said we all had to backtrack to Jervis Street and enter the corral there and then advance to cross the finish. OMG. So all of us turned around and backtracked the long 2-3 blocks, entered the corral, and advanced the 2-3 blocks again to cross the line appropriately. I was in pain and in tears (the last km of the race was challenging as I have a bad back and bad knees). My kid (who is an athletic teenager) was in disbelief. The other ladies who were in our group appeared shell-shocked; they were clearly upset and talking among themselves in Japanese. In all races I've taken part in, big and small, nothing like this has ever happened. And I wouldn't have ever expected this type of thing to happen at a world-class marathon. Never. Perhaps at a small town, minor race, perhaps then there'd be a gap in signage or officer coverage and where race participants would veer off-course. But even then, no, it's a real rarity. This was the worst endings to any race event we'd ever been in. Until this finish, the race had been picture-perfect in every way. But this ending forever coloured our experience of the event and the day. It added between 15-18 minutes onto our race times (thank goodness I don't care about our race time. If I did, I'd have been SO SO incredibly upset), I can barely look at the race photos you emailed me (we are so upset at the finish line and we look sad and mad, and I'm in such distress), and forevermore, we'll always remember this race's ending and how it ruined our day. read more

The only thing worse than the DJ at this event was the mouth breather MC that started sound checks at 7:20 am on a Sunday in a residential area. Vancouver's noise bylaws clearly state that any loud noises are prohibited until after 10:00 am on Sundays. I am aware that they probably received an exemption from the city, but my question is why? Why do they have the finish line with the loud speaker set up in a largely residential area of downtown (Pender and Bute, Coal Harbour)? The second largest city park in the world is 4 blocks away with no tax paying residents living in it... That seems like an obvious place to have the finish line to me. I am aware that many people love the marathon and I'm not saying it should be cancelled. Maybe just a little common sense could be applied when planning the event? Needless to say I am closing my BMO account and switching banks. Also, to the MC and DJ of the event, don't quit your day jobs. read more

I've always liked Vancouver as a city, so when the opportunity came to sign up for the BMO Vancouver marathon, I made plans for it in 2015. What better place to run in Canada? The BMO Vancouver marathon is my 78th completed marathon / ultra distance event and 1st Canadian province. I suppose it's only right to conquer the marathons in Canada after knocking off the 50 states of America. And so, here I was trying to make the most of my one of many Canadian vacations, starting with British Columbia. They say that the Vancouver marathon course is very scenic and highlights the best of the city. There were some sections of the course that were somewhat questionable, mainly at the 9km mark where it marked a challenging hill and at around the 30km mark, where we had to be on the Burrand Street bridge, heading into Stanley Park and the venerable sea wall. A lot of the course was scenic and quiet, although a few parts of it was on roads which had a few traffic snarls to let the marathoners pass by. The neat thing about the BMO Vancouver marathon is that they have kilometer markers. 42.2 kilometers for a standard marathon. It was nice to have markers more often. The overall race experience was a mixed bag. The weather that morning was cool in the morning, but had gotten considerably warm. The day started about 15 degrees Celsius, but gradually warmed into 27 degrees Celsius. The 2015 BMO Vancouver marathon packet (package) pick up and expo was held at the Vancouver convention centre, in the heart of downtown Vancouver at Canada Place. It was held in the west building in 2015, but was held in the east building in previous years. It wasn't as big as I thought it would be, considering the size of the event. I later learned that it was the half marathon that was the larger turnout versus the full marathon. They had pretty much a full service expo there, with many running related vendors to sell their stuff to race participants and their family / friends. We were also given a free train ticket, good from downtown Vancouver to the start. $2.75 saved is always fun for me. The price for entry for the BMO Vancouver marathon was around $80 CAD, I believe, whereas the entry for the half www around $50 CAD. Entry is usually made online and through major credit cards to seal the deal. Why not run in one of the most beautiful cities in the world? The BMO Vancouver marathon started in Queen Elizabeth Park and snaked around the southern parts of the city before turning northbound. 42.2 km is a long way to travel on foot, so it was way to see the sights and sounds. The course time limit was 7 hours, so there was a vehicle and bike Marshall escorts to keep everyone moving at a brisk pace. The finish line was on West Pender Street near the Vancouver convention center. There was an issue with stopping runners on a few intersections for traffic issues. Like literally stopping runners while the city cops directed traffic. That's kind of inexcusable. You stop traffic for runners to pass, not the other way around. I myself got stopped twice, and while it didn't amount to more than 3 minutes, it was a delay in my finish time. The volunteers were very much friendly and awesome as the kilometers ticked on by. They were helpful in getting us motivated and hydrated to push on forward, especially in the early going. Even at 10km, there was more to go. The race starts at 8:30am and they do times corrals, so there's no bunching up, like how they do it best in Walt Disney World marathon. If you enjoy running / walking 42.2 km in the beautiful city of Vancouver, this race may be for you. Coming from America, it's one of those marathons I thought that can be improved, but overall, the race organization was good and the finisher medal was great. I would do this one again, if given the opportunity to return again. But then again, I have the rest of Canada to run. :) Run more! Support local! B read more

See all

So I ran the BMO marathon today. It was my first time running a marathon. It is definitely NOT as fun as the brochure leads you to believe. Sure, the weather was perfect. You get to run a truly spectacular route, whilst admiring the stunning mountains and getting cheered on by fantastic volunteers. (I generally refuse to run unless the weather is perfect & there's people cheering me on.) My primary complaint is the distance. Running 42kms in one day is just a terrible idea. Runners are so weird. EDIT: Added one more star for the all-you-can-eat bananas at the end. That was definitely a highlight. read more

It's Forbes top 10 must travel to marathon for a reason. So it's been almost 2 weeks since I've finished the BMO full marathon and also fully recovered. At the time I probably was hating every minute of the 26.2 miles but today I can say that I loved it and happy I did it. It was a hot day in Vancouver lucky there was a water station at every mile. Also had Gatorade, power gels and gummies along the route. The marathon was capped at 5000 ppl but was not sold out this year. The route is amazing you start at Queen Elizabeth park to Cambie st. down to 49st all the way to SW Marine Drive to UBC. After running around UBC you enter the beach side of Vancouver from Spanish Banks--Jericho--Kits. After crossing Burrard bridge you finish the last 7 mies in beautiful Stanley park and finish in downtown Vancouver on W Georgia. (That description doesn't do it justice or explain the soreness I felt for days) One of the changes from last years marathon was the finish line location was straight ahead on W Georgia, last year you couldn't see the finish line until about 75 meters away. I was very happy with this change. Before the race there is a free health and life expo 3 days before the race where you can pick up your gear. The goodie bag included a blue long sleeve saucony shirt, bmo gloves which we didnt need that day, a yellow ribbon to remember the Boston marathon runners and those who were affected. And you bib number. After you cross the finish line you get a beautiful medal the best one in my collection. Women had a female runner on there medal. Water and juice as you walk along, photographer to take your picture with your medal. A bag lunch from Whole foods included chips, granola bar, bananas, and so on. The volunteers were amazing and the entertainment along the route was great. I don't know if Ill ever do another full marathon but the BMO Vancouver marathon is awesome and would recommended to any marathon runner. read more

Today I completed my 3rd year of volunteering with Vancouver Marathon. I am part of Cycle Escort Team which keeps the course route open for participants. The New Marathon route takes runners and walkers through some fantastic streets and dramatic landscapes that create Vancouver's International reputation as a modern urban city surrounded by dramatic natural beauty. Being a volunteer on the Marathon provides me the opportunity of taking part in the energy that the race creates while being part of the community that makes the race possible. read more

See all

For an event with about 15,000 participants, the BMO Marathon is incredibly well organized and well executed. I ran my first half-marathon this year and it was a great experience that I would encourage anyone to try. To start off, the weather was absolutely perfect, and this made the 7am start time a little more bearable. I got down to the BMO Expo at around 6:30am to check my gear, and I was impressed with the amount of volunteers working. They had my gear checked within 5 minutes of arriving, and this service was included in the registration fee (unlike the Sun Run). The course itself was beautiful, starting near BC Place, going through East Van, Gastown, Coal Harbour, Stanley Park, then back through Yaletown. There were plenty of water stops, bathroom stops, and a couple of stations giving out energy "Gu"s. There were lots of spectators cheering us on, and I was impressed with the energy-level of the volunteers cheering us on throughout the route. An especially nice touch is that your first name gets printed on your bib, so people will shout out "keep going, Sarah!" or "looking strong, Sarah!" which kept my motivation high. I especially enjoyed the folks shouting out "release your inner Kenyan!" at the 20km mark -they definitely gave me a boost at the end! At the finish, all finishers are given a medal, and the runners-only food area was well-stocked with fruit, bagels, chips, pudding, granola bars and hard-boiled eggs. Everything a runner could want! There were about 10 different food corrals, making the process quick and efficient. I was in and out of the queue, free food in hand, in less than five minutes. Also worth mentioning is the quality of the participants' t-shirts. Made by Saucony, they're actually VERY nice and worth wearing again. The sports Expo was also fun to walk through and see the exhibitors. My only complaint is there was no bank machine to take money out. Ah well, I just made two trips instead! Nice work, BMO. I'll be back next year! read more

BMO Vancouver Marathon - From their website - Local Flavor Near Me - Vancouver, British Columbia

I ran the BMO Vancouver Full Marathon for the second time in 2015 and third time in 2017. The BMO Full Marathon is probably one my favourite running events in Vancouver. The crowd support has been the best I've experienced for a BC running event and it's always satisfying to cross the finish line. It always feels very safe, and it's nice that they provided a transit ticket to return home. Sadly, there wasn't an improvement between 2015 Marathon and this year. There were few entertainers on the running route compared to my first BMO Full Marathon in 2013. There were no portable washrooms in the finish lines at all. The sandwiches at the finish line were terrible because they were super dry, bland and the sandwiches had no sauces whatsoever. It was just a challenge to swallow it down. I haven't seen so many sad faces eating sandwiches in my life. I did enjoy the Old Dutch potato chips in a variety of flavours, especially Sour Cream & Onion. Although most of the volunteers did an amazing job, some of the volunteers were on the slow side to hand out water/Ultima Replenisher drinks. For a marathon running event, I shouldn't expect to wait 12 or more seconds for a cup of water. The location of the t-shirt pick up at the Marathon Expo wasn't in the same area as the bib pickup, but it was located in the other side of the massive room -- the side exit area, which would require the runners walk through the entire Expo to get their t-shirt. That would force runners to browse through the entire Expo in order to pick up their t-shirts and I don't agree with that. Sorry, I thought the medal was also disappointing, but the purpose of completing a marathon isn't about just the medal, but the medal for this year was like a design from a pre-schooler. However, the t-shirt used for 2017 was a big improvement from the t-shirt from 2015 which had a rough and scratchy feel to it. If you haven't tried running a full marathon and I still recommend the BMO Vancouver Marathon because of the beautiful route, wonderful crowd support and its reasonable registration price. read more

This is my 14th marathon and 1st time running this event. Overall a great experience and a race I'd suggest to others. Beautiful course and great weather made for a favorable day for the 50th anniversary. A few things to improve include nutrition on the course. Didn't offer nuun at all aid stations and there weren't enough volunteers. Also no bananas or gels. I was glad I read other reviews and brought my own. Also signage to the start from the transit station would help. At the expo would be great to get KT tape to have a booth so they could do some taping. read more

What an amazingly beautiful course! This was very well-organized race, the route is wonderful and the medals were awesome. It was a gorgeous sunny day when I ran it in 2013 but man was it hot!! The only thing I would warn is the finish was a little tough as it is a very long uphill straight and it feels like you are running toward it forever before it's within reach. Once I can devote the time and effort to training for another marathon, I will be back! I would love to try the half as well as that course benefited from the beauty of the full but without the hills in the beginning! One of the most scenic runs I have been able to do. I would recommend it! read more

Beautiful course in a beautiful city. My experience was perhaps less than ideal, but it was really no fault of the course. I first got to the start a little late and ended up running the first half about 5 minutes too slow (which can be good or bad depending) and felt pretty good for the second half until about 5k when I started noticing my whole left arm was going numb and I starting getting the aura for a migraine. Needless to say I was tempted to drop out but I struggled through. The course itself is beautiful. You run along the seawall for a bit at the half way point and views from there are quite nice. It also does a good job of going through some diverse areas of town. I'd recommend taking a few days before/after to really enjoy the city if you're thinking of a destination marathon. read more

The only reason I can't give it a 5 - it was so hot. Not the race directors fault at all. But the water stations couldn't keep up, they were swarmed. I was hoping for a much better finish and was ahead of the 3:40 pace bunny. Then the 3:50. Then ended up finishing at 4:02. That is no ones fault but the elements were tough on you. The community effort and the support systems were fantastic. The water stations were plentiful. I wished there were more kids out there with hoses on for us :-) But I got a few good hose downs. It was really well organized. Really well put together and I loved the course; running along that Seawall was something amazing. But unfortunately for most participants the heat got to them and this is where it came crashing down. It was like a war scene, crying, and vomiting, and quitting.....BUT, BMO had bicyclists supporting with water and medic aid. They were not alone. Maybe this should have been a good place for water hoses.... I didn't hear one band except for the cow bell guy, whom I loved out there all by himself in his half shirt, saw him a couple times. It was the support of the community, their crazy signs, their cheers, that always kept me running. I met Bart Yasso, my running hero at the race expo; super huge moment in my life. Thank you Canada for being my first race out of the US. You did well. read more

This is more of an "event" than a race. It's beautiful, but that only gets you so far if you want to actually race. They stopped runners for traffic, and the marathon relay volunteers were power-tripping. There are tons of beautiful marathons and I would not recommend this one. read more

Great race and overall things went pretty fantastic. I ran the half with some friends and our other friend ran the full. Beautiful course! Friendly volunteers and lots of people cheering you on. Now for the bad... It was hot and SEVERAL stations ran out of cups, water, or both. I wear a hydration belt so I was ok for the most part but considering how much the entry fee was, that's not really excusable. The other negative was the timing. The full started an hour after the half so they were finishing in the heat of the day. Our friend was over an hour off her expected time. We began to get worried so we started to talk to volunteers about how to find her if she was in a medic tent. No one really had answer, a walkie-talkie, and they all kind of just blew us off. Anyways...she finished and we all celebrated once we found each other. She had been throwing up and running for the last two hours. With a few minor tweaks this race will be amazing. I would most likely run the half here again but after this experience I would not run the full. read more

First time running the half-marathon. VERY well organized. Beautiful, fast course. Of course the perfect weather helped, but what a great city to run in. Excellent finish line/recovery area. I really appreciated the sack lunch food given at the end. It helped move people through quickly, and I didn't have to wander around looking for the bagels. Crowd support was only so-so for the half, but they looked to be getting pretty pumped for the full marathon runners. I'm definitely putting this race on my calendar again next year. read more

If you knew how BMO took advantage of their volunteers, you would not participate in this run. It was poorly managed and because of their lack of good planning, the volunteers had to compensate by working 16 hour days prior to the event. I was furious when I found out 50 - 65 year olds were asked to work so long when they let go of their volunteers in their 20s earlier in the day. They were asked to show up at 3am (which later they corrected to 6am), but still, these volunteers are unpaid! What are they thinking? BMO really did not know how to properly manage this event from a staffing perspective. read more

I have done the Vancouver marathon nine times (2003-7,2009-11,2014). I would have given this marathon four stars between 2003 and 2011. It was a good, uniterruped course that was fast and scenic. In 2012 they changed the course so it would go through wealthy residential neighbourhoods only, the West End being the only exception to that. Last week was my first time running the new course. It was a shocker that the new course not only crosses the six-lane Oak and Granville Streets, but that they stop marathoners, even those running seven minute miles, to let drivers cross the marathon course in their motor vehicles. This is simply unacceptable for any marathon, and especially for one that charges unusually high registration fees. The new course is much hillier than the old one, and unnecessarily so. Being a point-to point course one has to take public transit which will drop you off about a six block walk from the start area. It also makes it more difficult for spectators to see the event at more than one or two spots. The expo was nothing special. I miss the 2004-2011 course. It was a fun, homey event, on wider, faster roads. I do not plan to enter this or any other road-racing event that stops racers mid-race for any reason other than an unforeseen emergency. read more