This very well may be my second favorite half marathon, with the first being Vegas - cuz really, how can you beat running up and down The Strip?
I basically loved this event from start to finish (no pun intended).
First up, there's the fact that it benefits the troops - how can you go wrong there? The atmosphere is all military all the time. And seeing the disabled troops running either the 5K or the half marathon - just heart-wrenching and inspiring.
The medals - dog tags. The race shirt - a long sleeved black shirt with camo sleeves (easily the coolest race shirt I ever got). The starter's pistol - a canon (of course). They even had tanks at the expo area.
And then the course. If you were going to design a tour of Ottawa, this would be the path. You run from downtown out to the Museum of War, over to Gatineau (which was an industrial area, not the best part), back across the bridge for an amazing view of Ottawa, out past the Prime Minister's house, and finishing with a run along the canal. I don't think I've run another half marathon where such a large percentage of the course was this scenic.
The only part that I didn't care for was the corral management. There wasn't much in the way of a staggered start, and finding room to run was tricky at times - not overly crowded, but certainly a tad congested in spots.
If you're a runner you owe it to yourself to check out this event. If you're looking for a destination race, this is a great one as it'll give you an amazing tour of the city.
As for my time - it was a (at the time) a PB of 1:48. :-) read more