Top Canadian Marathons

Canada has various marathons that are known all over the world. Participation In these marathons is not restricted to persons of Canadian nationality; they welcome people of different nationalities. Some of the things that make the marathons stand out are the huge number of participants and also fans. Here are some of the famous Canadian marathons.

Toronto Marathon

One of the most famous marathons in Canada is the Toronto marathon. It is held in the month of May every year. The marathon starts at Mel Lastman Square in Toronto and ends at Ontario Place. The marathon was established in 1977 and has a rich history. The marathon event was previously known as the Canadian international Marathon until 2003 when it became the Toronto marathon. The participants are both men and women who have set some good records. The men’s record stands at 2:15:17 in 2000 and the women’s record time is 2:13:47 in 2004. The latest edition of 2019 had 1486 participants. The races include a 42km marathon, half marathon, 10km, and 5km races.

Vancouver Marathon

The Vancouver marathon is a Canadian event that is held in May each year. In Canada, it is ranked as the second largest marathon and it takes place on the first Sunday of the month. The road race marathon was established in 1972 and has a good number of participants. It involves the 42km race. The marathon has had tremendous growth in terms of participation. In 1972 there were 46 marathoners and 300 participants in 1977. One notable thing in the marathon is the death of a participant during the race. In 2001- 2005, Adidas was the title sponsor and was later taken by BMO Bank of Montreal who are currently the title sponsors.

Ottawa marathon

The final weekend of May is time to look forward to because of the Ottawa marathon. It is a road race which occurs annually and has the marathon, half marathon, 10km race, 2km race, 1.2km for children and a wheelchair race. The race was established in 1975 and had 9755 participants in the 2019 edition. It is an important event in Canada since it serves as a qualifier for the famous Boston Marathon. The record time for men marathon is at 2:06:54 and 2:22:17 for women. 10km race record time for men is 27:24 and 30:36 for women.

Marathon de Montreal

The Canadian road race event is rated as the largest race event in Canada. It was established in 1979 and it takes place to date. The first edition in 1979 had about 9000 participants, early popularity that has persisted until now. The marathon had a break between 1990 and 2003. It has involved wheelchair and bicycle races since its return in 2004.