Valley Harvest Marathon - Race Reviews

I've run the Valley Harvest Marathon many times and it gets better every year. The organizers do a fantastic job and really know how to please the runners. The shirt and medal were very nice this year and if you were fortunate enough to place in an age group, the prizes were the best. The course is quite scenic with farmland and Minas Basin views. There are a few short up hills, but there are some nice gradual downhill sections as well. There are plenty of aid stations and the course is very well marshalled. There are not a lot of spectators on the course, partly due to good traffic control to minimize cars on the route. The crowd support is fantastic when you finish on the track at the Acadia University Stadium. A grandstand full of spectators and a professional announcer make for a memorable finishing experience. The weather for the 2012 race was perfect. This was a great marathon experience for me and I hope that others will give it a try.

This is a well organized small-town race. The course was hilly but beautiful. However, with less than 100 full marathoners, it was very lonely and for that reason I would not recommend it to first timers or anyone that likes to run with crowds. The volunteers and few spectators were awesome, but I ran for sometimes 15 minutes without seeing a soul. Because it was unusually hot for a fall day, the hills just seemed that much steeper. I think I'll try the half next year.

Good course but was very cold/windy in 2010...not too much the organizers can do about that though. It is a hilly course and my main problem (ran half marathon) was that on the way back after turnaround we ran into a LOT of 10km people finishing race at around 4-5 km left. At one point with a couple of kms left it became dangerous trying to pass people with traffic coming right at you and people not moving out of the way. BTW This course has changed the route back in 2008 as the old course in Wolfville used to be flatter. I ran the old full marathon course twice.

This is hands down the most beautiful course I've ever run. Wolfville was a fantastic setting, with wonderfully friendly people, easy access to the route/parking/packet pick-up, and other fun things to do (wineries, farmers markets, Acadia University, etc.). Organization was superb, and I really enjoyed the cheerful and enthusiastic email updates from the race director. The hills are substantial, but I'm not sure they would have been so bad if it hadn't been so tremendously windy. Peanut butter and jelly, fruit/veggie trays, and chocolate milk at the finish (and access to showers) were greatly appreciated! I knew it would be a small race with little crowd support and was prepared for and fine with that. All the volunteers were great. Very minor suggestions for next time: Donuts were all out by the time I finished - sad for a race sponsored by Tim Horton's! I'd really like a cotton shirt option, as the tech shirts given out at races are never as high-quality as the ones I'd rather purchase/wear. Ask the restaurants in town to stay open all day on Saturday rather than close in between lunch and dinner! More expo-type things for sale/local running shops/etc. would be great. My race number ripped in half really early on - it was made of an odd material, and it was annoying to have it flapping around after I tried unsuccessfully to pin it somewhere else.

I did not find that the course had too many challenging hills, and traffic is a non-issue for me. This event is always well organized and lots of fun.

Great course, and the weather was great. The course had some hills, but they were rolling and not too steep. My only negative comment would have to be that, after experiencing severe cramping in my calves at around 30-35K, and arriving at the next aid station asking for water, the response was, "We are all out." It was absolutely demoralizing. To be at this point in the run and have an aid station be out is unacceptable. I spoke with a friend of mine who finished ahead of me by 30 minutes, and he said that when he came through, the young kids at that aid station had been lining up the water cups and kicking them over! If any organizers are wondering what aid station I am talking about, it was the one on the return leg just before the bridge leading back across the flat area. Still, this was the only negative; I will definitely be running the marathon again next year.

I went to the valley to run my first marathon, and I was told it's a great run for your first as it is quite flat. Imagine my surprise when we ran this; it was very hilly and many runners commented that it was one of the tougher course they had run.

I ran the full marathon course in '05; with the course almost completely flat, I was able to maintain a consistent pace. The air was cool but drizzly, and there were plenty of water stops. It was well organized overall, and the best part is I had a lot of fun and ran a PB at 3:18:27. I will be running it again this year. It's held at an excellent time of year for a marathon, although training has been tough - the heat has been killing me all summer! :| See you there. : )

I love this course; it is always well organized. This will be my 7th consecutive Valley Harvest race.

Relatively flat course, but slanted. Traffic an issue. I felt that organizers actually DIScouraged runner support from family and friends, by clearly threatening to disqualify runners if their support vehicle(s) interfered with the flow of traffic. Great scenery, but overall experience was not enough to bring me back.

I ran my first half marathon in the Valley Harvest in 2005. The course is quite flat, which I liked as a first-timer, but with very few spectators and miles of unchanging countryside, you really have to draw inspiration from within. It is also run on a slanted road, which many find stressful on the joints. I was told that many who run the full marathon here end up injuring themselves as a result of this slant. I would run it again, though, as the drive through the valley at Thanksgiving is beautiful, and the event has a friendly, small-town feel that I like.

This was my first running event, and I opted for the half marathon. The course was very similar to the kind on which I train routinely. It would have been nice to not have to worry about traffic as I had to pass on the shoulder at times. Organization was great, there was lots of recovery food and drinks, and I love the shirt and zipper pull. It would have been helpful to have provided a measurements guide when ordering shirts as mine is too big! Oh well! This run gave me great confidence to attend another event and I will be back next year, hopefully not in the rain.

I absolutely loved running this marathon, and actually qualified for the Boston Marathon with it. It's a beautiful and relaxing run and I find that I'm missing the breathtaking scenery of the fall season out on the East Coast.

First marathon. :) The course was great, beautiful scenery, and the people of Kentville were wonderful. It seemed every other house had a driveway full of people cheering you on. Very tame course with few hills - fewer than my most modest training route. The only down side was the traffic. The route was not closed to cars, and the edge of the road was not well paved and on a bad slant at spots. Any attempt to run closer to the (more even) middle of the road was met with hostility by the local drivers. They were not afraid to buzz very close at highway speeds to try push you back to the side... My second marathon will definitely be one that is closed to traffic.

First marathon experience, doesn't have the electrifying atmosphere of a larger event but is well organized and well run with a friendly atmosphere. Small but supportive crowds. I felt the only significant shortcoming in this run was that there were way too few mile markers. No medal. Thanks for a good first marathon experience.

Course is out and back and traffic courteous except for a 4X4 that won a game of chicken with me (you want to run near the center as in places the road is severely slanted). Organization fine but no medal!! This is enough for me not to run it again. And why do organizers still give out cotton shirts. The shirts are advertisement loaded but make them wicking so they are actually wearable when running and the advertisements get seen. Spectators are friendly though sparse in rural areas.

I enjoyed the feeling of a small marathon; however, there wasn't much swag for entering and the community after seemed to disperse quite quickly. The course was good with little to no traffic, but there wasn't much scenery for the runners especially considering the area. A beautiful day though!

I really enjoyed this marathon (it was my first marathon). The fresh country air and the warm Annapolis Valley was incredibly beautiful and inspiring. Despite not having awards or long drawn out banquets, I still think it was a great race, and the pumpkin people of Kentville were FANTASTIC!

When I read the bad reviews above, I was a little shocked. All the runners that I have talked to loved it, can't wait to do it again. There are not a lot of cars, and the ones that are there are mostly support cars for the runners. More water stops would have been nice but, are there ever enough??? It's a great first-time marathon, it's a great 'personal best' type marathon. It really is a marathon for everyone to enjoy.

It was not very well attended by the town of Kentville. The road was very uneven and was not closed to traffic. There were no finisher's medals or certificates. There was very little in the way of food. I was disappointed in this race as some folks had said it was a well organized run. I do not think I will run this race again. The villagers could have cared less.

This potentially great course (autumn leaves and gentle grades) was/is spoiled by two features - the course is not closed to traffic forcing you to run on a steeply-sloped shoulder that will cause big problems to anyone prone to IT band or other slope-aggravated problems, and despite sponsorship by Tim Horton and a relatively large field, they give no finisher's medal. Instead they substitute an uninspiring zipper tab (no distinctive design) that probably cost about a dime each.

Training for a full, it seemed only logical to give a try on a half. I did this with a few of my training friends and we had a good time. An out and back course which is mostly on country highway which wreaked havoc on my right hip due to the slope of the road. However there aren't many hills, all the runners are extremely friendly (including the leaders on the way back who cheered us on!), and some people even came out of their houses to cheer us on. I even passed an impromptu water station set up by some kids. The finish was a little confusing but everyone was very encouraging. Hopefully I'll get a chance to do it again next year.

This was my first marathon. It is a beautiful course through rural fall setting just when the leaves are turning. The course is a fairly flat rural highway which passes farms and orchards in Nova Scotia's Annapolis Valley. Excellent support and organization, friendly and supportive spectators and enough participants to let you know you're in something but not enough to overwhelm.