Victoria Marathon

I have run this marathon and half marathon many times as I live close by. It is a beautiful course but a runner has to do a lot of hill training to enjoy it. My friend from Australia ran the full this year and did not do the hill training and it found it very tough. I ran the half this year but knew what to expect. This race is not what it used to be in the way of shirts and after race food. It used to give out excellent quality garments but now they are thin and cheap and the half marathon is the same shirt year in and year out only a different colour. The food is not worth mentioning just some fruit and overly sweet cookies. There was no chocolate milk or yogurt as in previous years. When I came in there was only water and electrolyte fluid to drink. I presume they lost their sponsor for the milk and yogurt. I realize the cost of putting on these races go up every year. The little expo is good and we really enjoyed the speaker series on the Saturday. Did not go to the pasta dinner as it is too expensive. All in all it is a good race but in future we will bring our own food and put in checked bag. Nice medal. Even though it was raining there were a fair amount of spectators and musicians which made it enjoyable.

Ran the marathon for the third time in 2016. The course was one I was quite familiar with, the weather was nice. The pace group started out a lot faster than I was prepared for, so I let them go. I have two complaints about the course this year. The first was the fire truck just at the bottom of the gold course hill, not sure why it was there or why it had to turn around at that particular point. The second is the finish line experience. I finished pretty close to the cut off time. After 5-1/2 hours on my feet, I get to the finish to find all the sustenance is gone, with the exception of half a box of cookies sitting on the ground. Fortunately I passed someone trying to get rid of a small carton of chocolate milk. Other than that, it's a nice race, small enough to be enjoyable, good bling. Definitely a nice event.

This was my 28th marathon on 23 different courses. This one makes the top 10. It's a gently rolling course, but you should do some hill training. Quite a scenic course in a very charming & friendly city. We stayed 4 nights at the Royal Scot - right at the start line and very close to the finish. Did a shakeout run with the crew of a local running store in the pouring rain the day before - nice folks! If you travel to this one, be sure to take some time to check out Butchart Gardens - magnificent!