BMO Vancouver Marathon
Toronto has Guinness and Ottawa the Gold Label, but neither
marathon could match the bmo Vancouver Marat hon’s latest
tally of 4,317 participants in a single race (May 2019). Race
spectators number close to 100,000 and the number of
volunteers seems to rival that of the participants. So what is
it about Vancouver that continuously woos such a big crowd?
According to 2:13 marathoner and Mile2Marathon head
coach Rob Watson, the secret is in the course, which follows
the Pacific shoreline for 70 per cent of its length. “It is by no
means fast,” Watson says, “ but it showcases the city bril-
liantly and hits many different neighbourhoods. Then youget to suffer those last 10 kilometres on the world-famous
seawall (the world ’s longest uninterrupted waterfront path).”
Ranked one of the top destination marathons in the
world by travel agencies and magazines, the marathon
attracts notable names in any given year. When Watson
raced in 2018, despite his impressive marathon pedigree,
he had a slim chance of winning. 2018 Boston marathon
champion Yuki Kawauchi made it a stop on his extensive
world racing schedule. “ The crowd support was excellent
and it was just an all-around great event.” Hey, if it’s good
enough for Yuki...MOST
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56 Canadian Running September & October 2019, Volume 12, Issue 6
Ben^ Owens