Fredericton Marathon - Race Reviews

Consistently well-organized and well-run. The area was affected by floods the previous week, but the organizers had an alternate certified course and were able to quickly make a change and still hold the race. Beautiful flat course, half paved, half crushed gravel, great volunteers, water, gels, port-a-potties... can't ask for a better event

Great, flat & fast course on a trail that is half paved, half crushed gravel. Last year I posted a comment about a problematic section (see below) but it has since been paved. Great organization, good water stops, enough port-a-potties, enthusiastic volunteers, could not ask for a better race. As far as bling goes, the medal is nice and the t-shirt was OK, but there are no added frills. Would highly recommend this race.

Most would not consider Fredericton to be a destination marathon, but that is exactly what I made it as I made the trip up from Massachusetts. I knew the course was flat and scenic, with optimal average temperatures. It did not disappoint: I hadn't run a Boston Qualifier since January 2013, and I managed to not only do that but also finish under 3 hours. You may not get huge spectator support, but those in attendance are very enthusiastic! Thank you to everyone who gave their time to this great event. I highly recommend.

Nice course, mostly an out and back that full marathoners must do twice, but because it's mostly on a lovely crushed gravel trail, it did not bother me. In one small section, the rocks were a bit big so you had to watch your step, but the rest of it was great. Very flat, lovely scenery. Trail could become congested if there were more runners, but it was not a problem. Plenty, well stocked water stations, enough porta potties, enthusiastic volunteers... can't ask for much more. The medal was nice and the race 'package' constituted of an OK t-shirt, but the race was reasonably priced accordingly. Would highly recommend.

I flew from Montreal to run this marathon, hoping to get a PR based on the claim that the course is flat and fast. I wasn't disappointed. It was all that and more. The beautiful scenery kept me interested and the volunteers and aid stations couldn't have been better. A top notch organisation for such a small race. By far, the type of marathon that I prefer... The city of Fredericton is lovely. The people are friendly. The weather was great for long distance running, 6*c at the start, 11* at the finish, very light rain that didn't last. The course is part pavement, part gravel. Easy all the way. The Expo was small and held at the Crowne Plaza, which is a short walk to the start/finish line. I highly recommend this hotel, it was wonderful. We ate at Isaac's Way, which had a special on Saturday for the Sunday race. It was so good that we went back for our post-race lunch. Again, I highly recommend it. In conclusion, a must do marathon if you enjoy smaller races. And yes, I did get my PR! A big thank you to all the volunteers that day, you were fantastic and I owe you all!

The Fredericton Marathon is on a flat and interesting course, run on the trails made from former rail lines. I found the course safe and well organized. I am not sure if I am the only one, but I find that despite the flatness of rails-to-trails, the surface is somewhat slower than pavement and requires more effort. I was 10 minutes slower than expected, although I didn't feel like I ran well in the second half. I was disappointed with several things. You may think them to be not worth mentioning, but they did take away from this being the best experience it could have been. 1) At race packet pickup, there weren't any maps left for the marathon course; it would have been nice to have one. 2) There was supposed to be a gel station at mile 18 and I didn't see one. I really could have used an extra one at this point. 3) There was supposed to be a pacer for 3:30, but he/she didn't show up. 4) When I finished, the volunteer forgot to give me a medal. An honest mistake, but I had to go ask for one. This is a decent race overall, with good water stations and enough people to run with. It has a way to go before it is top-notch in all respects, though.

It's known for being a flat course, it that certainly ended up being true. Also, much of it was on well groomed trails. While there were not a ton of fans throughout the course, they were encouraging, and all of the water stations were staffed with helpful volunteers.

What a great race! If you are looking for a flat course with virtually no hills, beautiful scenery, and great organization, this is it. We had about 180 marathoners and many more half marathoners at the start in downtown Fredericton. No congestion whatsoever. The course probably has 20-21 miles of crushed gravel trail along the St. John River. My sole purpose for running this race was to BQ, which I did, and I broke my PR by 39 minutes! Spectator support was good, organization was awesome, and the course was fantastic. Fredericton has tons of older homes to gawk at, and plenty to do that is near to the start/finish line. I will be back if I can recover soon enough from Boston in 2011. I HIGHLY recommend this one.

I really enjoyed running in Fredericton. I traveled with a small group from Dartmouth, NS, including two people running their debut marathon. All of us had great results, mainly due to the flat and fast course. With two "out and backs" on the former rail line, you always knew where your friends and competitors were, and you were able to cheer each other on. The course was changed back to a course from prior years due to flooding. I have heard that the new course is even better, so I'll have to return in 2009 to check it out.

This was my first marathon, and I enjoyed every minute of it. The flat course, mostly trail, is great for a PR. It is a small-town marathon so the crowds are small, but very supportive. I can't wait to run it in '08.

It was my first 10K run. I enjoyed it very much - very well organized! The only thing is that we had to keep count of how many turns we did - there was no counter! A lot a people got confused; some did more turns than they should have and some did fewer! Otherwise I enjoyed it and plan to attend next year!

Excellent new 1/2 marathon course route - nice way to enjoy the beautiful St. John river valley, and it was mentally much improved as the turnaround point was actually 2/3 distance of the half marathon.

I've run many marathons but this is my first small town marathon. Great flat course but it becomes very tedious after runnning the same route four times. There were no mileage markers and the turnout was bigger than expected resulting in no cups nor water at some of the aid stations. Overall, this was a friendly and fast course.

I ran the half here and thoroughly enjoyed the course, which is run through the quiet countryside, mostly on trail. Since the course is sheltered, there is some shade and very little wind to contend with. The surface is a little rough near the turn-around point and the trail narrows so that running single-file is necessary, but that is only a small part of the course. This is a well-planned small-town event.

Rainy, windy and cool. Temp was only 5C this year, though I understand it was over 25 last time. I enjoyed the surface and the double out-and-back. Lots of sports drink/water stops (bring your own gel). Very nice medal.

I ran the half-marathon this day. While the flat, trail course was easy on the legs and knees, the number of runners doing both the half and full marathons on the out-and-back course made it very difficult to claim your own bit of space or pass without the risk of interfering with a runner coming the other way.

The course is an out and back AND out and back, for marathoners. The first time out and back was nice as it is quite scenic. The second wasn't so good and it got quite congested (as it is on a trail). The spectators had nowhere to really stand except at the start/finish and the organization wasn't good.

Since there are not too many other comments, I thought I'd put mine in even though I only ran the HALF. The race was well organized, with a good number of volunteers and good water/Gatorade stops. The course is a beautiful flat trail but it is an out-and-back which you have to do twice. (I only did the half: one loop). The half marathon starts 2:30 hours after the full, so if you are a slower runner, things can get very crowded when the half-marathon starts. I don't think this particular course could accommodate to many more participants in this format. Because it is on a trail, there were not a lot of spectators, but one benefit of the out-and-back, two-loop course is that the faster runners coming back are cheered by the slower ones going out. I would check out the course next year and run it if they had a single-loop course. Otherwise, will stick with the half.

This was my first time running this marathon and the third course they have had in as many years. This year's potential flooding of the Saint John River forced a last minute change to the course. However, they were able to accommodate it on the Trans Canada trial which is very flat and forgiving underfoot (small gravel). It is a two-loop course, which is not my favorite, but there are absolutely no hills. Unfortunately, the day it was run found temperatures in the low 20's (Celsius) with no clouds in the sky. It is a course without shade. These conditions resulted in slower times for everyone on what could definitely be considered a PB course. They need a few more marshalls along the course and better post-race food (there were subs this year - not my cup of tea after running 26 miles!). The race is a fundraiser for the local high school prom and the kids, although not overly numerous, made up for the numbers with their noise. There were lots of water/Gatorade stops and mileage (in miles) was very well marked. A very good effort for a small marathon. In addition, they were able to provide chip timing this year which is another step into the 'big leagues'. I would run this again, and hope for cooler temperatures next time.