The Vancouver Marathon is back this weekend, bigger than ever.
The Sunday, May 4, event has more than 25,000 participants across the marathon, half marathon, 8 km run, and kids' run. That's a record for the Vancouver Marathon; last year it sold out with 23,000 people, so this year capacity was increased.
And it sold out again.
Runners from 60 different countries are registered to run the different races, which take routes across Vancouver.
Both the marathon and half marathon start at Queen Elizabeth Park, go through Stanley Park, and end at West Pender Street near Bute and Thurlow, but they take different routes to get to Vancouver's iconic park.
Vancouver Marathon routes through city
- See the maps in the image gallery above for details on road closures and detours. Slides 5 and 6 show general closures, while slides 7 through 14 show details.
Anyone driving around Vancouver, especially the downtown core, will find routes blocked by the run.
The marathon starts at Queen Elizabeth Park before heading south to West 49th Street, which will take runners to Pacific Spirit Park and UBC. The race exits UBC on NW Marine Drive and stays on the road near the shoreline before crossing into downtown over the Burrard Bridge (see slide 2).
From there it stays close to the shore, eventually taking over the seawall and looping around Stanley Park before heading to the end.
The half marathon will cut north on Cambie Street, go over the Cambie Street bridge, pop over to the east end of False Creek, and make its way to Chinatown before heading back down to the shores of False Creek and heading into Stanley Park, where it eventually links up with the regular marathon route (see slide 3).
Between the two routes, the downtown peninsula will be congested with detours and blockages for drivers. There are some places along the race routes for cars to cross, but expect extra delays.
The 8 km race stays inside Stanley Park except for the finish, which it shares with the two longer races (see slide 4).
The finish line area, on West Hastings, West Pender, and Thurlow, will be closed starting at noon on Saturday. Areas at the start of the race will be closed off starting Saturday night, May 3.
Race routes will only be blocked off for a few hours, with earlier sections closing and reopening earlier than later sections. The earliest sections to close are near the start line, at 6:30 a.m. Other areas, like in Kitsilano, won't close until after 9 a.m.
All roads in Stanley Park will be closed except the causeway and Lions Gate Bridge.
Transit in Vancouver during the marathon
Organizers are encouraging people to use transit to get to start and finish lines, and have tips for participants.
As of the time of publication, TransLink has not released a list of detours and route changes. Transit users can check the TransLink alerts page for up-to-date details on bus routes.
