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Apr 30, 2024

Marathon Details - Banff Marathon

North America Marathons > Canada > AB > Banff > Banff Marathon

Banff Marathon & Half Marathon, 10K

Banff, AB Canada

June 16, 2024

http://www.banffmarathon.com

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Address:	770 Sayward Road Victoria, BC V8Y 1R2 Canada
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Reviews

Course 2.5

Organization 2.8

Spectators 2.3

Number of comments: 6

S. B. from Calgary, Canada (6/19/2017) "Great course, somethings could be better." (about: 2017) 11-50 previous marathons \| 1 Banff Marathon COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 3 Ran the 2017 Banff Marathon and was lucky enough to be able to run the planned course up the Bow Valley Parkway which was beautiful. When registering for this event you do so knowing that you could end up running the alternate course due to bear activity so I don't understand those that complain. I personally witnessed on the marathon course Parks Canada tracking tagged bears to make sure they didn't get close to the course..thanks Parks Canada! It a tough run, you're pretty much running up hill for the first 19km but the return leg is obviously a bit easier. As mentioned by other reviewers, disappointed with the t-shirt & the medal, no year on the t-shirt and the medals are bulk made with one medal that represents all the events only to be singled out by the colour of the neck ribbon. Spectator support for this run is limited for obvious reasons, you don't really see anyone until you're back in the Banff township with 4km to the finish. Liked the way the organizers try to separate every bit of garbage for recycling. There were even volunteers biking the course picking up garbage.
L. K. from Portland, OR (7/2/2015) "Beautiful course, great volunteers" (about: 2015) 50+ previous marathons \| 1 Banff Marathon COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 1 The course was beautiful, albeit a bit hilly (you expected flat in the canadian rockies?). The volunteers were awesome and there was electrolyte goos at every water stop. No crowd support outside of the wildlife due to the race being run in a national park. It is a great destination marathon as the canadian rockies are spectacular. We were fortunate this year as the previous year the course was run along side the interstate due to wildlife concerns. I understand it to be hit or miss each year and a last minute decision whether the preferred course can be run. In terms of improvements, I thought the cost was too high for what they were giving you. The only swag was a short sleeve shirt covered with advertising and a finishers medal. The expo had no vendors and was just a packet pickup and the post race food was limited to stale bagels and water.
Alfred Keep from Medicine Hat, Alberta (12/19/2014) "ugly course." (about: 2014) 11-50 previous marathons \| 1 Banff Marathon COURSE: 1 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 3 I happened to be looking for a June marathon. The price almost turned me off. I found that the price far out weighed the value I received from running the marathon. Overall the course was incredibly ugly. I am sure with a little more planning, you could have chosen a more scenic alternate route. Overall the food was average, no coffee at the finish line. One of the volunteers got me a coffee that was reserved for volunteers only? Plus I had to pay for a daily park pass, when I had a season park pass. The medal and t-shirt was average,no year marked on them. I think part of the problem is I spend so much time in the mountains anyway. I find the scenic impact is no big deal. The website comes across as more of a tourist advertisement then running related. I am looking at running the Marathon again next year, only because I have to be in Calgary on the 22th of June. If I register I will pay the early bird fee. Even though it is not worth the value.
P. R. from Calgary, Alberta (9/24/2014) "Don't Bother" (about: 2014) 11-50 previous marathons \| 1 Banff Marathon COURSE: 1 ORGANIZATION: 2 FANS: 1 Knowing how much work goes into organizing a marathon I am reluctant to post negative comments, but after running the inaugural Banff Marathon, feel that an honest assessment is called for. This race is advertised as a chance to run a peaceful, scenic course in Banff National Park. The problem is that the route, as advertised, has little chance of actually being used, and the 'alternate' route, which is the one that will most likely be used, is, in a word, awful. The officially advertised route calls for runners to travel through Banff townsite, past the lovely Vermilion Lakes, then out and back on the 1A Hwy, which would be closed to vehicles. By any standards this would be a spectacular course. However, if you read the fine print, if there are any concerns with wildlife along the route, Parks Canada and race organizers reserve the right to close the course and switch to an alternate route on short notice. Race organizers claim that this would be an 'unlikely event', but as a lifetime area resident I feel that this is unrealistic, if not outright disingenuous. In the spring the Vermilion Lakes and 1A Highway are prime feeding grounds for bears (both black and grizzly), usually including mothers with cubs, young bears checking out newfound freedom, and mature males looking for love. Add to the mix numerous elk and moose with young feeding in the ditches and meadows along the route, bighorn sheep, denning coyotes and the occasional wolf or cougar, and there is little chance that this route would NOT be shut down many/most years. And, of course, this is exactly what happened. The afternoon before the race the route was closed because of a mother bear with cubs along the route; totally predictable and no surprise to anyone who has lived in the area for any period of time. And that brings us to the 'alternate' route, which in most years will most likely end up being the one actually used. With the exception of the first and final few kms through Banff townsite, the rest of the route is the worst I have ever had the misfortune to run. Imagine running a marathon within a few steps of the Trans Canada Highway; four lanes of continuous weekend traffic on one of Canada's busiest highways; mile after mile of noise, heat and exhaust screaming past only a few feet away from a pathway alongside the highway. In other places, on the opposite side of the running path, is the mainline of the CPR Railway, with a steady stream of massive trains and diesel locomotives rumbling along. Add to it a late morning start (another Parks Canada requirement) on the first day of summer, with little to no shade along most of the route, and the experience turns into an experience to be endured rather than enjoyed. While there were some nice views of mountains in the background, the overall experience was like running a marathon along the freeways of Los Angeles at the height of summer. I found the level of noise almost painful; at the end of the race all I wanted to do was find a quiet spot somewhere as far from traffic as possible to try to calm down after several hours of hot, noisy, stressful and thoroughly unenjoyable running. As a proud Albertan I felt sorry for all the international runners who had travelled to Banff for a 'once in a lifetime experience' and got this instead. Banff is expensive enough as it is; to have paid for travel, hotels and meals only to have the race changed at the last minute must have been a major disappointment for many visitors. In future, I'd say unless you are a local and can wait until the last minute before registering to make sure that the official route isn't going to be shut down, don't waste your time and money travelling to Banff for this race unless you are prepared to run the miserable alternate route. While the poor route was low point of the day, a few other things were also problematic. - For what it cost to enter this race, as well as the added price of Parks Canada passes, hotels, etc, both the finishing medals and T-shirt were mediocre at best. For a pricy event billing itself as a unique experience, it is curious that they chose to cheap out here. - Not sure what happened with the gear check, but at the finish line runner's bags were left piled up along a fence beside the sidewalk with a sign saying something to effect that 'we take no responsibility for personal effects'; there did not appear to be anyone keeping an eye on the area; anyone walking past could have helped themselves to anything they wanted. On a positive note, water stations along the route were well supplied and well organized despite the last minute change in route, volunteers were generally helpful and cheerful, the few spectators (all near the start/finish area) were supportive. Sorry to have little good to say about this event, but I feel that as it is currently organized, it has little to offer to runners looking for an unique or enjoyable race experience; save your money and time and look elsewhere.
R. M. from Saskatoon (7/14/2014) "Average experience." (about: 2014) 11-50 previous marathons COURSE: 2 ORGANIZATION: 2 FANS: 3 After cancellation of last year's marathon, it was great to be able to experience this course in the mountains. I have run 18 marathons, although this was only a Half for me, I was not terribly impressed with the trail that was chosen. There was traffic on one side along with roaring train engine on the other at one point. Even in a large City, I have not encountered this. Also there seemed to be insufficient aid stations at one point where the course was wide open and running in the heat made it difficult. The t-shirt leaves little to be desired, not of good materiel, design, no year indicated. The start time definitely should be earlier than 10:00 and 10:30...most races of this nature are earlier. The meeting which was a 'must' to attend, really didn't add anything further to what we needed to know, so hanging around all day was really unnecessary. The Awards Ceremony was very well done.
A. R. from Saskatchewan (6/23/2014) "Not a great race" (about: 2014) 11-50 previous marathons \| 1 Banff Marathon COURSE: 1 ORGANIZATION: 2 FANS: 3 After the inaugural race was cancelled last year due to flooding, finally we were able to run this year! The original race course had to be changed at the last minute due to grizzly bear activity: Fine, that's out of the control of the organizers. However, the new course truly was awful: an out and back running alongside the very busy trans Canada highway. Nice mountains all around, but the relentless traffic was a downer. Pluses: excellent volunteers, with one exception Minuses: t-shirt has no year on it; nobody at the expo wanted to answer any of our questions (primary was where we could shower afterthe answer is at the Sally Borden Rec Centre or in Canmore at the Elevation Centre, but nobody wanted to commit a response); the aid stations ran out of cups, on a warm day moreover; recovery area had bananas, bagels, water, and gatorade. That's it. Very poor; the only bad volunteer I encountered was a guy who was supposed to direct traffic at a road crossing: I made eye contact with him, expected him to move out to stop an oncoming car: he turned away instead to chat with a friend and I nearly got run over. Very very bad. It would have been better to have no traffic control than that. Everyone else was great, however; they have a mandatory race briefing they want you to attend at the expo (one briefing only). Why not put up information instead? No revised route map or other info was available, and as I noted above no one seemed capable of telling me anything when I asked. The bottom line is that there is nothing special about this race, even though Banff is scenic and nice to visit. It's not worth a special trip. I wish I had run the 50 km Rundle's Revenge in Canmore that day instead.

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