Difficulty
Marathon Index Score
Next Race
May 2, 2027
Get Your Training Plan
Free, personalized for this race
The BMO Vancouver Marathon is a point-to-point road marathon from Queen Elizabeth Park to downtown Vancouver that passes the University of British Columbia, Pacific Spirit Park and the Stanley Park Seawall. It is held annually on the first Sunday of May, with a half marathon and an 8KM race on the same day, and all races share a finish line on West Pender Street between Bute and Thurlow Streets. The marathon starts at 8:30am on Midlothian Avenue, goes around the UBC campus on SW Marine Drive, continues on Imperial Drive through Pacific Spirit Park and follows Point Grey Road to Kitsilano Point. It then crosses the Burrard Bridge, runs along Beach Avenue to the Seawall at the Inukshuk statue, follows the entire length of the Seawall around Stanley Park and leaves it at Denman Street for the finish downtown. The organisers describe a course showcasing snow-capped mountain ranges, cherry blossom trees and shoreline views. The event dates back to 1972, when a handful of runners ran five loops of Stanley Park in the first British Columbia Marathon, and the route has changed since. The time limit is 6 hours overall, and runners must cover the first 30 km within 4 hours, about 8 minutes per kilometre. Roads are not closed for the whole event, because the City of Vancouver requires a rolling closure and reopening protocol.
Typical climate for the race month — an estimate, not a forecast or a race-day record
Early May in Vancouver is mild and often damp: average highs are around 17°C and lows around 9°C, with measurable rain on about 13 days in the month.
The Race
Vancouver
The event dates back to 1972, when Tom Howard of Surrey, BC led a handful of marathon runners around five loops of Stanley Park in the first British Columbia Marathon. Howard later appears in the event record list with 2:14:34 from 1974, third on the men's all-time list. The course has changed over the decades and now runs point-to-point from Queen Elizabeth Park to downtown.
Garry Henry of Australia set the men's event record of 2:13:14 on 4 May 1980, in hot weather, winning by more than three and a half minutes. The 1980 race was run on an earlier course that started downtown and looped around the park, so the time was not set on today's route. The organisers' records list still has Henry first, ahead of Dominic Arce's 2:14:33 from 2025.
In 2026 Mikky Keetels of the Netherlands won in 2:33:02 and broke the former event record of 2:34:27, which Dayna Pidhoresky had set in 2023. Pidhoresky finished second in 2:33:27, the fastest time by a Canadian woman at the race, and Keetels had arrived as a late entry after winning the Dutch national marathon title in Rotterdam.
🏅 Create Your Vancouver Marathon Diploma
Finished this race? Get a free certificate with celebrity comparisons & race day weather
02:13:14
Garry Henry (1980)
Entry fee, registration dates and lottery rules are not confirmed here yet. Check the official registration page.
Register Now
Official Website →
Are you the race organizer?
Free · Get featured on our homepage · Edit your race details
Get alerts for Vancouver Marathon
Registration openings, date changes, sell-out warnings.