The steep hills at the end made this a very tough marathon. The people and past feed were great. While this marathon is in a gorgeous location, you'll have a hard time seeing that from the highway which most of it is run on. They should also let you know this is NOT a closed course, get ready for honking horns passing you the entire route.

I celebrated my 40th birthday only ten days earlier, so this was a huge victory for me. I was in with a group of friends who trained together and none of us realized that there weren't going to be spectators, closed off roads or more people. In spite of some of these challenges, the organization of the event was very good. I will always cherish my first run. I have decided that if I could run this one with all those hills, I can run any! I plan on running one a year. If you are truly a marathon runner looking for a challenge, then run this one, as it is uphill!

A spectacularly scenic and fun marathon.

If you want to get away from it all, eat great food, meet the friendliest people and run a super marathon, then I highly recommend this race. The race was extremely organized and the towns did everything to ensure race participants, volunteers, and spectators all had a great time. I traveled from New York City to run along the Pacific Ocean in the Northwest wilderness and was not disappointed. Visits to nearby Victoria and Seattle made the entire trip a great adventure.

I have run ten marathons, from big races like Rock & Roll and Boston, to scenic races like Avenue of Giants. I have run the Edge to Edge every year since its inception in 2000. There are many reasons I keep coming back--there's the great organization, the beautiful course, and the great volunteers, but in the end it comes down to way a race makes you feel. The Edge to Edge makes every athlete feel special.

An example will illustrate my point. The first year was very wet (subsequent years have had good weather). The finishing aid station had been set up outside, but as runners finished they tended to congregate out of the rain inside the high school gym. Soon I heard a young volunteer (a child of maybe 8 years old) asking if I wanted cookies or fruit. I looked down to see a platter of snacks being taken around the gym to each runner. I was hooked. In subsequent years, I have combined the race with vacationing. I recommend staying in a B&B and enjoying the local fishing villages.

Last year I took advantage of the world-class sea kayaking for a 4-day trip. It was amazing. I recommend this race to anyone with a sense of adventure. If you are coming from the states, I recommend staying in Victoria two nights before the race in order to get to the west coast for the pre-race check-in and pasta feed and salmon bake the night before the race.

This was my 3rd Marathon, and definitely a challenging one. But I have always loved a good challenge. The people were very friendly, and the location was absolutely beautiful. The dinner before the race was awesome, and overall, the race was very well organized. I enjoyed running in a place I had never been before, surrounded by some of the friendliest people I have ever met. There were some tremendously large hills towards the end of the race that seemed to 'just keep coming', but of course, the race would be quite boring without them. The entire trip was a great adventure, as my family and I barely made it in time for check-in after traveling up from Washington State. I travelled a total of about 13 hours for this race, and every minute of travel was worth it. I am so glad to have run this race and conquered another challenging course. The trip an was adventure as always.

This is a beautiful, rolling-hills course along the Pacific Rim National Forest. You can hear the ocean through the middle of the course, but look quickly to see it. We started in Tofino, (sunny and warm the whole way), and the last 10k have some serious hills. Aid stations are frequent and energizing. Everyone gets cheered on the whole way. My only caution is to time your drive up there. If coming from the states, it is tough to make the packet pick-up cut-off time. Everyone in both towns is very friendly and helpful. My only regret is that we didn't have time to stay another night and enjoy some of the nearby attractions.

Run alternately between Ucluelet & Tofino on Vancouver Island.
Small field - 107 finishers in 02.
Great scenery through coastal rain forest with occasional ocean views.
Some hills.
I had a great race!

This was my 6th marathon and the most memorable and unusual of the bunch. The rolling course, which takes you from the tiny town of Ucluelet along a wooded road to the equally tiny town of Tofino (reversing directions each year), offers glimpses of gorgeous Long Beach and the ocean along the way. Not many spectators in between, but the cars that pass uniformly honk and give runners the thumbs-up. It rained for most of the weekend but nobody cared, including a good number of people who were rained on the year before and couldn't stay away. The volunteers were fantastic and spirited, and the race was so personalized that toward the end they looked up racers' numbers to cheer them on by name. A great race to do on vacation--the whole town gets into the act.
Stephanie

I ran the 1st leg of the Marathon Relay last year. The location is great. It didn't stop raining the 3 days we were there but I loved it. Well organized buses to shuttle you to and from your check point. My husband and I brought our son who was 13 months at the time. The race provided childminding and it was wonderful. Could have done with at least one sunny break but we are looking forward to the relay again this year (2001). Oh, the pre-race dinner was great too. Pasta and salmon. Yummy!