# Vancouver Marathon

The BMO Vancouver Marathon is an annual race held on the first Sunday of May each year in Vancouver, British Columbia. As the second largest international marathon in Canada, it has a certified running distance of 26 miles and 385 yards long. The marathon saw over 14,000 people participate on May 4, 2014, with over 3700 completing the marathon distance. This marathon is certified by the International Association of Athletics Federations & Association of International Marathons and Distance Races as a qualifying marathon race.
The race started in 1972, when a small group of 46 runners ran five loops of Stanley Park to complete the first Vancouver International Marathon (known as Lions Gate Road Runners International Marathon). The marathon grew over the next few years to 300 participants in 1977. However the event suffered a major setback in 1976 when a participant, Dr. Leslie Truelove, collapsed mid-race and died due to aneurysm. The Dr. Leslie Truelove Memorial Trophy was established to honour the first male finisher in the 50+ age category. His widow, Rosamund Dashwood, subsequently took up running and became a national champion for her age group.
The 1983 race became known as the "Long Marathon" after runners were misdirected during its running — adding an extra 561 yards to the race.
Currently, several different options are available for participants:
* Full Marathon (a Boston Marathon qualifying event) – 42 km
* Half Marathon – 21 km
* 8K – 8 km
Its current title sponsor is the BMO Bank of Montreal thus the marathon is known as BMO Vancouver Marathon. Previous title sponsor was Adidas in 2001–2005, known as the Adidas Vancouver International Marathon.

## Organization

The event is hosted by the Vancouver International Marathon Society (VIMS), a non-profit organization run by a volunteer Board of Directors, and managed by staff of the Society.
Each year, VIMS recruit volunteers to help with pre-race preparations and race day operation. In total, about 4000 volunteers help to run the marathon smoothly. Volunteers help in areas such as water stations, medical stations, set-up/take down, food services, given out shirts & medals to runners.

## Event details

A free Friendship Run organized by the Running Room is held during the race week for those who wish to participate.

### Expo

The Marathon is kicked off by an Expo where runners to pick up their information packages and to receive promotional materials from various sponsors and athletic associations.

### Race Day

All participants start off using a staggered time system to ensure timing accuracy. Along the race course, various safety officials are on course, including paramedics and amateur radio operators from VECTOR (Vancouver Emergency Community Telecommunications Organization).
The award ceremony are held on race day. Cash prizes will be presented to the top three male and female full and half marathon runners while merchandise will be awarded to the fastest relay team.

## Past winners – Full marathon

| Year | Male winner | Male winner | Male winner | Female winner | Female winner | Female winner |
| 1972 | Tom Howard | Canada | 2:24:08 | Patricia Loveland | United States | 3:39:23 |
| 1973 | Tom Howard | Canada | 2:21:46 | Deborah Collins | Canada | 3:24:39 |
| 1974 | Tom Howard | Canada | 2:14:34 | Maria Brzezinska | Canada | 3:03:15 |
| 1975 | Joe Skaja | Canada | 2:22:30 | Linda Winslow | United States | 3:06:49 |
| 1976 | Ross Jackson | New Zealand | 2:22:30 | Doris Brown Heritage | United States | 2:47:34 |
| 1977 | Chris Bolter | Canada | 2:22:36 | Meg Gordon | Canada | 3:14:32 |
| 1978 | John Hill | Canada | 2:20:49 | Gail McKean | Canada | 2:55:33 |
| 1979 | Bill Scott | Australia | 2:15:56 | Gail McKean | Canada | 2:44:53 |
| 1980 | Garry Henry | Australia | 2:13:14 | Marilyn Belwood | United States | 2:45:27 |
| 1981 | Brian Morgan | Australia | 2:19:42 | Nancy McLaren | Canada | 2:48:23 |
| 1982 | Steve Pomeroy | Canada | 2:16:56 | Sue Krenn | United States | 2:45:25 |
| 1983 | Paul Bannon | Canada | 2:19:42 | Beverly Bush | Canada | 2:45:23 |
| 1984 | Ric Sayre | United States | 2:16:34 | Carol Raven | New Zealand | 2:52:03 |
| 1985 | Adrian Wellington | Australia | 2:24:24 | Kikue Tejima | Japan | 2:55:32 |
| 1986 | Hiromi Nishi | Japan | 2:21:14 | Joi Belyk | Canada | 2:45:37 |
| 1987 | Tetsuji Iwase | Japan | 2:21:12 | Cathy Kroll | United States | 2:46:50 |
| 1988 | Mitsumasa Matsuyama | Japan | 2:19:20 | Isabelle Dittberner | Canada | 2:50:33 |
| 1989 | Shem-Tov Sabag | Israel | 2:19:41 | Anne Mangal | Canada | 2:50:05 |
| 1990 | Yoshikazu Tanese | Japan | 2:23:47 | Reiko Hirosawa | Japan | 2:55:41 |
| 1991 | Shigemi Tamori | Japan | 2:25:01 | Misao Miyata | Japan | 2:52:14 |
| 1992 | Masato Kojima | Japan | 2:23:24 | Yuka Terumuma | Japan | 2:43:16 |
| 1993 | Hayashi Morozumi | Japan | 2:18:37 | Eniko Feher | Hungary | 2:47:27 |
| 1994 | Makoto Sasaki | Japan | 2:17:24 | Eniko Feher | Hungary | 2:46:24 |
| 1995 | Graciano Gonzalez | Mexico | 2:23:11 | Yoko Okuda | Japan | 2:48:50 |
| 1996 | Juan Gonzalez | Mexico | 2:17:47 | Eniko Feher | Hungary | 2:52:38 |
| 1997 | Juan Gonzalez | Mexico | 2:22:53 | Eniko Feher | Hungary | 2:49:56 |
| 1998 | Juan Gonzalez | Mexico | 2:22:48 | Krystina Pieczulis | Poland | 2:43:20 |
| 1999 | Atsunari Saito | Japan | 2:21:33 | Krystina Pieczulis | Poland | 2:43:46 |
| 2000 | Ulrich Steidl | Germany | 2:18:53 | Krystina Pieczulis | Poland | 2:45:32 |
| 2001 | Ulrich Steidl | Germany | 2:18:56 | Leteyesus Berehe | Ethiopia | 2:45:51 |
| 2002 | Ulrich Steidl | Germany | 2:17:01 | Angela Strange | Canada | 2:45:46 |
| 2003 | Ulrich Steidl | Germany | 2:20:22 | Angela Strange | Canada | 2:46:22 |
| 2004 | Ulrich Steidl | Germany | 2:18:26 | Mary Akor | United States | 2:44:43 |
| 2005 | Kassahun Kabiso | Ethiopia | 2:15:40 | Rimma Dubovik | Ukraine | 2:44:05 |
| 2006 | Kassahun Kabiso | Ethiopia | 2:18:28 | Malgorzata Sobanska | Poland | 2:37:06 |
| 2007 | Thomas Omwenga | Kenya | 2:25:27 | Claudia Camargo | Argentina | 2:35:50 |
| 2008 | Thomas Omwenga | Kenya | 2:15:59 | Mary Akor | United States | 2:37:54 |
| 2009 | Benard Arasa Onsare | Kenya | 2:28:26 | Mary Akor | United States | 2:46:24 |
| 2010 | Thomas Omwenga | Kenya | 2:16:55 | Emma Muthoni Kiruki | Kenya | 2:37:17 |
| 2011 | Benard Arasa Onsare | Kenya | 2:19:54 | Keddi-Anne Sherbino | Canada | 2:43:40 |
| 2012 | Gezahgn Eshetu | Ethiopia | 2:21:51 | Ellie Greenwood | United Kingdom | 2:42:16 |
| 2013 | Thomas Omwenga | Kenya | 2:24:09 | Lucy Njeri | Kenya | 2:40:34 |
| 2014 | Berhanu Mekonnen | Ethiopia | 2:21:08 | Kimberley Doerksen | Canada | 2:37:00 |
| 2015 | Luka Chelimo | Kenya | 2:18:37 | Lioudmila Kortchaguina | Canada | 2:37:37 |
| 2016 | Daniel Kipkoech | Canada | 2:21:04 | Hirut Guangul | United States | 2:39:52 |
| 2017 | Daniel Kipkoech | Canada | 2:19:09 | Gladys Tarus | Kenya | 2:39:38 |
| 2018 | Rob Watson | Canada | 2:27:38 | Zhiling Zheng | China | 2:43:50 |
| 2019 | Yuki Kawauchi | Japan | 2:15:01 | Yuko Mizuguchi | Japan | 2:41:28 |
| 2020 | cancelled due to coronavirus pandemic | cancelled due to coronavirus pandemic | cancelled due to coronavirus pandemic | cancelled due to coronavirus pandemic | cancelled due to coronavirus pandemic | cancelled due to coronavirus pandemic |
| 2021 | cancelled due to coronavirus pandemic | cancelled due to coronavirus pandemic | cancelled due to coronavirus pandemic | cancelled due to coronavirus pandemic | cancelled due to coronavirus pandemic | cancelled due to coronavirus pandemic |
| 2022 | Chris Balestrini | Canada | 2:23:56 | Dayna Pidhoresky | Canada | 2:34:30 |
| 2023 | Yuki Kawauchi | Japan | 2:17:04 | Dayna Pidhoresky | Canada | 2:34:25 |
* Note: Bold face text denotes current course record holder.

## Current World Records established at the Vancouver Marathon

MARATHON
* May 1, 2005 BJ (BETTY JEAN) McHUGH of North Vancouver, BC Canada established a world W77 single age Marathon record with a time of 4:11:28
* May 3, 2009 GWEN McFARLAN of Richmond, BC, Canada established a World W75 age group Marathon record for and a W75 single age world record with a time of 3:57:30
HALF MARATHON
* May 4, 1997 BJ (BETTY JEAN) McHUGH of North Vancouver, BC Canada established a world W69 single age Half Marathon record with a time of 1:41:39
* May 4, 2008 BJ (BETTY JEAN) McHUGH of North Vancouver, Canada (Single age record for Women aged 80 years old, 2:04:19 Half Marathon)
* May 2, 2010 GWEN McFARLAN of Richmond, BC, Canada established a World W76 single age Half Marathon record a world record with a time of 1:52:23
* May 2, 2010 BJ (BETTY JEAN) McHUGH of North Vancouver, BC Canada established a W82 world single age Half Marathon record with a time of 2:23:08

## Race Dates

The race is held on the first Sunday of May each year.
* May 2, 2010 (39th)
* May 1, 2011 (40th)
* May 6, 2012 (41st)
* May 5, 2013 (42nd)
* May 4, 2014 (43rd)
* May 3, 2015 (44th)
* May 8, 2016 (45th)
* May 7, 2017 (46th)
* May 6, 2018 (47th)
* May 5, 2019 (48th)
* Due to the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic, the 2020 race was cancelled, while the 2021 event was virtualized.

## Controversy

After the 2015 Vancouver Marathon, a video surfaced regarding the lack of coordination with traffic police. Runners were stopped mid-race at intersections. The Marathon director addressed the video and as of 2016, the race no longer begins in waves. Now all runners begin once the gun goes off.

## Cancellations

The 2020 edition of the marathon was replaced with a virtual event due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The 2021 edition was also cancelled and replaced with virtual events.