Ottawa Marathon Reviews

  

By LL about 2017

  

By Harry V H about 2016

Review

Very Hot (record temp) and drink lots on the course.

Race Tips

Pace yourself.

  

By Shanley about 2016

Review

Starting line was easy to get to. Bag drop off was well organized. The course profile was great, mostly flat with a few risers. Nuun hydration along the course is so much better than Gatorade. It's not overly crowded, just enough so once you get farther into the race there is always runners around. It was nice having pacers available. Although, my pacer had to drop at around mile 8 due to an injury. Thankfully there was a group of about 4 of us that stuck together for the majority of the race. Not a ton of crowd support during some areas, but overall there is a good amount of people out and watching. A spectator handed me a huge chunk of ice just before the Alexandria Bridge which I was so thankful for!

The BIGGEST con was the fact they started the 1/2 marathon earlier than was planned due to hot temperatures. This meant that for my last ~5k I was running among a large crowd of 1/2 marathon runners that were at a much slower pace than I was. So it was like a crowded start where you have to weave through slower runners to get by. Except you don't have the energy to do it. At a couple points I even hopped up on the grass. Not ideal, but like I said they started the 1/2 earlier that year.

  

By Anonymous about 2016

  Beautiful and flat

By Anonymous about 2015

  

By ET about 2014

Review

Fantastic organization. Every runner counts. Thousands of volunteers. Interesting and lovely course. Smooth registration, start. Huge community involvement. There is a half marathon, 10k, 5k, kids 2k all the same weekend - really a running festival.

Race Tips

Marathon sells out by January, half-marathon in November, so register as early as you can.