Loved the 2007 race. Enjoyed the trip to Hull/Gatineau, including the hills. Due to the cold weather I had to run fast to stay warm. It worked - a PB!

However, merging with half marathoners did slow us down and finishing photos have them under marathon times. The split finish of some years ago worked better for all, I think.

As well, there was a delay at the finish - the 2K race perhaps? We were cold and wet and the holdup did not allow us to pass through the food station or outside. Small glitches that can be corrected.

Thanks for a great weekend!

Did this race last year and just registered today to do it again this year. And I can hardly wait. That's how much fun this race is.

I gave the course a 3.5 rating because although Ottawa is a pretty town and running through the old city and along the canals is quite nice, there are some less attractive and somewhat hilly sections in the short Hull, PQ, sections. Realistically, not every mile in a marathon can be stunningly scenic. I'm considering a "5" course a pretty high bar, such as Napa, or London, etc. A "4" rating a major city like NY or Chicago and a "3" your average city race. So "3.5" is better than average, but not a destination for scenery alone.

What really blows us away about this race is how well organized it is, how there are multiple events to take part in and how all the details have been thought through. Definitely a 5 plus. This is one of the few Canadian races with "really big" corporate sponsors and it shows. That they manage to hold onto these sponsors year after year is a testament to the quality of the event, I think. The expo is big, the shirt is very nice and there is no shortage of volunteers or supplies at the water stops. Having the 10K the night before the marathon is great, too. My fiance runs it so I can watch in the evening and is free to watch me the next morning. It's also very cool that they planned the family fun race for the same time as the 2-4 hour half and full marathon runners are finishing, as it gets the crowds out to the finish area and everyone is energized and engaged.

I gave spectators 5 stars because races in Canada don't typically get many spectators and Ottawa really comes out to support this race. Last year it poured rain and there were tons of happy, cheering people - far more than one will see in Toronto (I'm a Toronto resident and our citizens are renowned for their apathy toward anything but hockey....) A really, really, tremendous experience. Definitely one of Canada's best - if not THE best.

My only grudge would be the online registration interface. This year it has been outsourced to the Running Room and it is a pain in the #$% to use. Far too much marketing-related data collection on the part of that vendor.

I second the comments about the merging of the half-marathoners and marathoners in the last 3 - 4 KM. The previous version of the race was great, with the half starting at 10 a.m. Otherwise, it is a first-rate marathoning experience!

Ottawa Marathon is a great experience but the MERGE in 2007 was a hugely frustrating and disappointing experience. I was slowed considerably.

I had an absolutely fantastic time at this race, finishing my second marathon a remarkable 39+ minutes faster than my first. The course was fantastic, and as an American I was truly pleased to see the wonderful support that the people of Canada provided to this race (and to foreigners like me running it).

Two things to improve for next year would be ensuring that you have enough of the appropriate sized t-shirts for entrants (when I got to the expo they only had smalls left), and rerouting the marathon and half-marathon courses so they don't merge the way they did. On the t-shirts, I was told to e-mail the race director and he'd ensure I'd get a t-shirt that fit; well, I e-mailed him but never heard back. On the course, in the last 5K of the race, pushing an amazing time and running negative splits, I was forced to slow down significantly to try to navigate around what seemed like thousands of suddenly appearing, much slower runners. Definitely a serious problem when you're attempting to run a PR... I wonder how much faster I would have finished if I hadn't had to dart around people and constantly waste energy asking slower people in front to excuse me.

All in all, though, a truly great, scenic, flat, fast, and fun race. I look forward to running it again (since I'm sure these problems will be fixed).

My second time running Ottawa, and I loved it more. The course was better - more in Quebec, less switching around in Vincent Massey Park. I could still do without the turnaround in the arboretum. Finishing with the half marathoners (they started earlier this year) made the finish line more fun if you like having lots of people around (I did), but better traffic control in chip removal and the recovery area would help a lot. Maybe because the 1/2 was finishing at the same time, there seemed to be a lot more spectators. The rain was a nice change from the brutal heat of last year.

I'm really disappointed with the new half-marathon course. The first 10 KM, run mostly in Hull, Quebec were boring and downright ugly. With so many beautiful routes in Ottawa I can't imagine why they thought this was an improvement. I love Ottawa, and the organization is great, but it's not worth running again unless they bring back the old route... please!

This was my first marathon, but I have run the Ottawa half 3 times, and the old half and marathon courses used to be the same since the marathon used to be 2 loops of the half course. So the opportunity to run the new single-loop marathon course was great.

The new route is lovely and the rolling hills in the early part of the course make for nicely varied running. While the route isn't lined beginning to end with spectators, pockets of spectators create wonderful pick-me-ups along the route. Some neighborhoods have adopted the race, turning it into a breakfast block party cheering the runners as we passed by. One of the biggest highlights this year was getting to high-five former Prime Minister Jean Chretien who was cheering the runners as we passed his house. (How cool is that?)

Weather for the marathon this year was cool and overcast with rain towards the end of the race (or second half for us slower runners). The volunteers were awesome, particularly since most of them were terribly cold in the wet conditions. Aid stations were well placed and port-a-johns at the aid stations were very nice to have.

I loved this race and smiled from beginning to end. The medal is heavy and very nice. I finished just under the 5-hour mark and the finish line was still firmly in place and well staffed. (The marathon now has an 8-hour time limit.)

Small areas that could be improved: congestion on the course when the half and full marathoners merge, lack of an XL shirt, and the lack of space blankets when I finished.

This was my 1st marathon, and I found this a fulfilling experience. Ottawa is a beautiful place and the route is gorgeous. The 1/2 marathon merge onto the full course was a bit discouraging for a back-of-the-packer like me, as fresh runners zipped by me. The spectators were amazing - how often do you get a personal handshake and well wish from a former Prime Minister (Jean Chretien). My only big complaint was the lack of resources at the end of the race. It rained for the last half and upon finishing there were no "space" blankets yet because volunteers were using them to cover their bags and coats, so there were a lot of shivering people. Also, the post-race food left a lot to be desired - brown apple slices and yogurt. Don't know if I'd run it again, but that's more about wanting to run many different races.

I very much enjoyed this year's race, but in my opinion they should scrap all the changes for '07 and go back to the way it used to be.

The new course is still mostly scenic and fairly fast, but I felt that the extended section in Hull didn't add anything and was pretty dull. Not awful, but why change something from great to average?

I think the marathon and half marathon start times made it so that too many people finished concurrently and the finish area was way too crowded. I would prefer to have everyone start together than finish together. My tired legs couldn't handle the congestion.

It's still a quality race and I plan to return because of the great buzz in the city that weekend, the nice course, the ample course support, and the supportive crowd. Just needs a bit more (or less) tweaking.