Runs

DESTINATION RACE: Road2Hope Marathon

December 22, 2009
By Dave Chaundy-Smart

Road2Hope Marathon

Hamilton, Ontario, October 2010

Races: Marathon, half-marathon, 5K and 10K

It’s hard to ignore a moniker like “Canada’s Number One Boston Qualifier.” But the website marathonguide.com claims that this course is exactly that - it has the highest percentage of qualifiers in Canada, and a higher percentage even than the Steamtown Marathon in Scranton, Pennsylvania. Anyone looking for a speedy downhill course for a PB should consider this one, which has 180 metres of overall downhill.

A rolling but generally downhill start traverses country roads with most of the crowd support coming from livestock, until at about 15K, when you plunge down the Red Hill Creek Expressway to a final, more-or-less flat section along Lake Ontario to the finish.

Point-to-point courses challenge race directors, but Road2Hope organizers have risen to the challenge of transporting everyone from the finish to the start on school buses and then hauling the baggage back to the start. The finisher’s food is great, with the usual bananas and bagels supplemented with soup, pizza and hot dogs.

Throughout the course, there are aid stations every three kilometres, but be warned that there are no aid stations on the long Red Hill highway section, so stock up on fluid before you hit it.

Despite attracting about 1,000 runners in the marathon and running celebrities like Reid Coolsaet and Simon Whitfield, the race maintains something of the casual, easygoing atmosphere of a small event, with many of the runners hailing from local clubs. The crowd support was enthusiastic but spread thinly along the course. Hopefully, as the word gets out that this may be your best chance in Canada to qualify for Boston, and the race inevitably grows, this pleasant atmosphere will persist.

There is also a half-marathon on the same day as the marathon, and 5K and 10K races the day before. Other attractions in the area include wineries, fall hiking on the Bruce Trail, perhaps to one of the numerous waterfalls, and the Hamilton Art Gallery. Restaurant and hotel options are plentiful.