Hamilton Marathon Road2Hope

This was my 45th official marathon race so I have a lot of points of comparison. I signed up for this pretty close to the race because I'd been planning to run a different race the following weekend, but it was full when I went to sign up. I pivoted to the Hamilton Marathon and I'm really glad I did. It's a well organized race with a fast, flat course, friendly volunteers, and a small but not too-small field. Logistics didn't get in the way of running a great race, and everybody, from the race organizers to the other runners to the volunteers and the spectators seemed friendly, supportive, and glad to have us there running.

This does seem to be a pretty fast race: I ran seven minutes faster than the Boston Qualifying time for my M50-54 division, and approximately 15% of the field finished in front of me. This may not be a great race for people who expect to run a marathon slower than 5:00, as it seems like the numbers dropped off significantly after that, and one of the aid stations was already out of electrolyte when I passed through it on the second loop. The fact that pacers densely covered 3:15-4:30 but nothing outside that indicates that the race doesn't expect a lot of runners outside that range.

This is a small double-loop race that starts with the half marathon, which runs the first loop together with the marathon and then finishes as the marathon goes on for a second loop. I've run a few races like this and it can be hard, especially when the half is a much larger event, because just as the marathon is getting difficult, all the energy disappears and you find yourself running alone. At this race, at my pace, I didn't find this to be such an issue: the half isn't much bigger than the full, and there were still plenty of people around me when the half finished. The crowd support was light the whole time, but it didn't become a lot lighter after the half finished. It's a small race; crowd support isn't a strength for any small race, and this was no exception, but the people who were there cheering were enthusiastic, and they stuck around for the whole race.

The course itself is really flat, and fairly straight, with relatively few turns. I prefer rolling courses because they change up what muscles you're using, but at this race the flat course wasn't bad at all. About half the race is directly on the lake, so wind could be a factor, but on the morning of the race the lake was calm. The course is accurately marked, with kilometre signs at every kilometre, and at the right place. The course is basically closed to traffic, though there are a couple places where a little bit of local traffic was on some quieter parts of the course, mostly staying out of the way of runners, and the extensive part of the course that was on a local recreational lake trail did have a little bit of non-race foot and bicycle traffic. Nothing that got in the way of the race, though.

Aid stations were plentiful and well organized by small race standards. This isn't a big city marathon, and the aid stations were a place that was evident: water and electrolyte weren't predictably in the same place from station to station, and the cups weren't consistent, although at least they were all paper cups. Volunteers were helpful and friendly, and I never had trouble getting water at an aid station. On-course fuel was available at a couple places, but it was a solid bar-type fuel from Xact that I hadn't trained with, so I didn't take it during the race, sticking instead to the Huma packets I was carrying.

The race provided pacers every five minutes between 3:15 and 4:30, but none faster or slower than those times. I finished the race a few minutes ahead of the first pacer, but all evidence is that he was just about right on time.

I ran a fast time on this course for my current training, running my fastest marathon in ten years. This is a fast course, and the race logistics enable a performance to meet the course conditions.

The race identifies the Four Points by Sheraton as the official race hotel, and I'm really glad I stayed there. Race parking was backing up traffic past the hotel, and some of the official race parking was as far from the start as the hotel was. On race morning I jogged the 1.2 km from the hotel to the start as a warm-up run.

I timed my warm-up jog to get me to the start line twenty minutes before the race, and I hung out inside the heated tent to warm up and wait for the start. The race does provide a place for drop bags but with the setup they have I didn't need to use one.

At the larger race-weekend level, it was easy to fly in and out of Toronto, and to rent a car for the ~45 minute drive from YYZ to Hamilton. There's a ton of Italian restaurants in Hamilton, and I took advantage of three of them in the two days of carb loading after I got to Hamilton.

Low key, low cost, easy to get around, no damn lottery or qualifying. Hotel prices were cheap, entry fee was relatively cheap. Best of all though, you didn't lose anything with the stress of a major. Thinking back to my one Major, Chicago, getting up in the middle of the night, clearing security, sitting in my coral for 90 mins, fighting for toilets. None of that. Parked 20 meters from start/finish line. Plenty of toilettes, walked casually into my coral 10 mins before start. That all helped me remain calm and smash a 13 min PR. Temps were cool, sun was shining. True, it's not some famous T-shirt to walk around in but if you live int he region and are serious about PR/BQ this is the spot

First and only 2 lap marathon ever and it turned out great. First, as a 2 lap race there were plenty of aid stations and you never felt far away from the race infrastructure. Some smaller races you get out around 25-30km and it's some dreadful out and back desolate of any people or aid. All the HM infrastructure helps. Not a ton of pacing groups, not like the every 5 mins of a major but enough to get the job done. I thought the 2nd lap would destroy me mentally but it prepared me for the 2nd half when the real race begins. I knew exactly what the last few km would be like, when it kick, when to sit back. Pancake flat but oddly enough about 15ft elevation climb in the last 300m and you had to do that 2x. wasn't an issue like the bridge in Chicago but have to warn. The rest of it is at lake level. Parts of it are through trees which break the wind or shield from sun.

Stayed about 1 mile away, I was hoping to walk but there is a highway blocking the park from the rest of the city. Free parking. They warned me to arrive 90 mins before start to make sure I got a good spot and wasn't stuck in traffic. I was there way too early, almost first in the lot. I hung out in my car stayed warm.

I love the Hamilton marathon. The course is beautiful and the weather in early Nov has been perfect. This is my first choice for a fall marathon in Ontario.

The downhill portion can save you time but you really have to watch that you are landing properly and don't go too fast to burn out your quads!

We parked near the start line and then my family drove down to the finish line. The drive from the start to finish is easy and not that far.

Point to point race with 900 marathon athletes. Pre-race start was nicely organized. Easy parking at the race finish and buses ready to take us to the start. There was a gym arena at the start where runners could congregate, stay warm (with bathrooms) and prep for the race. First 10 miles are a series of country roads zigzagging back and forth. There are rollers through most of the country roads. Then about 2-3 miles of flat straight road that goes into residential area. This transitions into a big, downhill expressway that is closed off for the runners. It's kind of cool, but a little odd because there's not many runners on a 3-4 lane highway that is completely empty. Then there's trails that take you over to the lake front path and you do an out and back on this to finish the race. The finish is a little odd. You run past the finish area tents and then do a sharp turn to go back about 100 meters to the finish line. Nice runners tent at the end with food and recovery. Only runners allowed in this tent. Overall, a good race course and well run, but not the fastest course I've run. My second fastest marathon race and beat my BQ time by 4 minutes.

The rollers in the country are a little more challenging than they appear. You can gain time on the downhill section, but can't go too fast else you'll trash your quads. Remember to run the tangents on the expressway, the road is pretty wide and could easily add a lot of mileage. The last 8 miles is flat out and back along Lake Ontario, seems to go forever, just have to stay focused on the finish and not give up. Good water station crews, but not a lot of spectators.

I flew into Toronto Pearson Int'l airport on a Friday, race was on Sunday. Got a rental car for only $55 USD (entire stay). Stayed at AirBnB in Hamilton for $50/night, only a few miles from the Expo/Race Finish tents. Plenty of restaurants in the area.

Not to crowded, Cool morning with no up hills to speak of. You may want to bring some throw aways as the the morning on the top of the escarpment will be quite chilly. The best part, my fastest marathon and a BQ to boot!!