Vancouver Marathon (26.2 miles/42km) was chosen for a sub 3-hour marathon attempt (average pace target is 6:51 pace per mile/4:16km). Probably not the easiest course for it since the Vancouver Marathon course has nearly 900 feet (271m) of elevation gain (Boston Marathon has a slight bit less) but I was stuck on doing this race. It’s a beautiful city and has a lovely course. I also desired a local marathon which would for me technically be the Seattle Marathon but I’ve just never been excited by the route of the Seattle Marathon (plus it has 1689ft/515m elevation) and I always just thought if I did a local one it would be Vancouver…just seems better to me.

Back in 2010, I cheered on a friend running the Vancouver Marathon. Since then, the race has changed significantly—not just the course, but also the number of participants. At that time, there were about 3,500 marathon runners (or around 12,000 if you include the half marathon and 8K events). Today, those numbers have nearly doubled, with 6,800 marathoners and about 25,000 total participants across all distances.

The Vancouver Marathon started in 1972 in Stanley Park and had 32 finishers. Back then the course was multiple loops around Stanley Park. While the race has evolved, it still honors that history by including beautiful Stanley Park in the course. In fact, this was the first time I’ve ever done the whole loop around the park even though I’ve visited Vancouver many times since childhood. You should know, my hometown of Seattle, WA, it’s just a 2.5-hour drive (not including potential border delays) from Vancouver.

The course has changed dramatically since 2010. Back then, it consisted of two loops around the city center, including a stretch into Kitsilano and only touched a small portion of Stanley Park. Now, the race starts in Queen Elizabeth Park, which is farther from downtown, and follows quite the scenic route back into the city. The route takes runners around the University of British Columbia (UBC), along the peninsula, into Kitsilano, and finally into the center of the city. It also includes the full 8km (5 miles) seawall loop of Stanley Park—something I really enjoyed.

While the older loop-style course may have made it easier for spectators to see runners at multiple points, I personally prefer a point-to-point race with less turns. It feels more like a journey, and this route truly showcases the beauty of Vancouver.

After running my last marathon (10/2024) I decided I was finally excited and motivated to chase the sub-3 hour time again. I had tried once before but work/life got in the way and I had to back off. It however, did result in my fastest time prior to this race which was 3:09:09 (got 3rd overall). Heading for the sub-3 again I decided to get a coach and choose my Ironman coach since my times running with him were really fast and I already knew his coaching style. My main request for a coach was to make sure they were flexible with my needs for running and my known ways at keeping my body from injury. Basically I only run 4 days a week (keeping active the other days by swimming and biking) and keep total distance to a max of 40-50 miles at the peak. Many runners chasing a sub-3 put in significantly higher mileage, usually around 70-80 miles a week and obviously run more days. But I have learned that kind of volume just doesn´t work for me and usually it results in injury. Now I did get injured during this training cycle but it was always related to me doing something careless, usually while coaching track and field. For example, I hurt my knees showing the kids a jumping drill after a long hard workout day and had not warmed up (definitely not my smartest moment). Most of these dumb moves healed quick but the knee problem never really subsided because I kept strength training…as hips are what generally bother me so I´m always trying to stay on top of strengthen them, especially during intense training.

I trained in Asheville, NC (USA) for most of this training cycle which means everything had a hill so for interval workouts (fast, short – 200 meters plus spikes in speed within a training run) workouts and tempo runs (maintaining a certain faster pace for a certain distance) I needed to find a flat spot. Training here meant I had to either run on the French Broad River Path (4 to 8 miles available), Beaver Lake (1.9 mile mainly gravel/dirt path with some roots and plenty of walkers) or run on a local track (Memorial Stadium, UNCA, Asheville HS) because everywhere else was most likely going to throw in a hill in some interval. Even the 2 mile Reed Creek/Glenn´s Creek Path wasn’t that flat. I´d plan my workouts mainly to reach the river by the time I had to get any speed in ha which always sucked because then I had a hill to run up during the cool down in order to get home. Asheville impressed me with the amount of areas to run that were new to me since I thought I was going to get bored but I keep finding new spots (just not very flat lol). I figured Asheville could be a good spot to train being it´s at 2,200 feet elevation (not high enough to get real altitude training – need 4000ft+ elevation – but better than 100 feet) and since Vancouver Marathon would have hills I thought Asheville should prepare me well on that end too. Near Asheville are a lot of small, old mountains (Blue Ridge, Pisgah…basically the Appalachian Mountains) so the area does attract a lot of ultra marathon runners, mountain bikers and has the elite racing team ZAP Endurance here. I was definitely training in a good spot for runners!

Expo

The Expo was in part of the Convention Center (Canada Place) near the cruise port which is a beautiful spot to walk around (see Olympic Cauldron and Orca sculpture). There was plenty of entertainment and samples inside. This was the first marathon I have seen that has a gear check the day before the race. Participants of the marathon needed to come prepared to drop off their post-race clothes and essentials in advance, which is similar to the setup at an Ironman event.

It was also interesting that the race shirt pickup was at the very end of the expo which was smart because it ensured attendees went through the entire expo. Vancouver Marathon merchandise was positioned at the entrance to the expo, so if you saw a design you liked, you were more likely to buy it since you hadn’t yet received the included official race shirt. The store had multiple designs although one was the exact same as the race tee, just in a different color. I liked all the designs but I didn´t purchase because I like to see the shirt first in case it alone satisfies me. I like the official shirt but would have preferred non black but I wasn´t going back through the expo.

About the time we exited the expo to head to our lodging it became very clear that the reservation wasn´t going to workout. The accommodation I booked months ahead canceled on us that day as we were crossing the border…aka the day before the race…They called as we were waiting to drive across the border saying they didn´t have permitting to let us stay there…ummm why couldn´t they have given us a heads up days before? Nope, instead they let us know day of, on our way? They did say they could offer us another location and would send the address. Well by nearly 4pm, now past check-in time, while exiting the expo, I still had not received any information and decided to ask for the address. The location they offered was 40 minutes away!!! I might as well have driven from Seattle race morning if I was gonna be that far out! So we declined the offer as they said they would refund it (which they still have not actually done). Now I had the task of finding another spot last minute all while looking for some food and wandering around Vancouver. I was trying not to stress about the situation even knowing a busy weekend and last minute meant higher costs and nothing great would be available. A spot was finally found once connected to wifi (signal was not great on US phones for anything more than text and calls) and eating a late lunch. This unneeded extra stress literally hours before a big race…was not kosher!!

Race Day

I didn´t sleep well the night before, dinner wasn´t sitting well. In addition, the place we were staying was simple, dirty, hot and noisy with the window down.

Making my way to the start was easy, a 10 minute drive to the drop off area. It was a calm walk to the start line from there even though my stomach still had yet to settle. The start at Queen Elizabeth Park, further out from the city center, seemed to have more space for each runner to warm up, it felt less stressful and less crowded than the prior location I experienced in 2010 in the city which I recall felt very busy and I wasn´t even running then lol. It also probably helped that each race now starts at different times and/or locations. One last bathroom stop and then I chilled in the start area in the sun eventually doing some warm up exercises.

Luckily my stomach figured itself out about 30 minutes before ¨Oh, Canada¨ was sung and waves of runners were released. If there were 25,000 athletes race day, it sure didn´t feel like it in the front wave! I now know it was closer to 7,000 and that the 25,000 includes participants of all races from 63 countries. I definitely did not need to be here an hour prior but it was fine since the last few races I´ve been arriving late and this time having a goal for a sub-3 marathon it felt important to be on time.

Weather was perfect for running on race day, it was sunny, with a high of 62F/16C degrees and a gentle breeze. Spring in the Pacific Northwest can be quite rainy so having sun and 60s always brings joy to us locals! The week before predicted a high of 51F/10C degrees and I was glad it changed because in Asheville I was getting used to running in the 60s and 70s so I knew 50s were going to feel a bit too cold at this point. Race day in the shade was quite cold but overall I got a tan and I felt perfect in a tank and shorts right around 8:30 am when the race started!

The race plan for Vancouver Marathon was to divide the race into 3 segments of about 9 miles (14km). The first 9 miles was a comfy pace without pushing yet, followed by 9 miles ish of pushing the pace and the last 9 was to push even more. This was the plan to get me to sub-3 marathon. Only thing was my coach didn´t put the exact pace plan but an estimate to go off of and said I should mainly run based on feel. I felt a bit bummed not having the correct pace targets on the plan and in my head but I understood the reason and decided to not let it bug me. To do a sub-3 I knew I needed an average of 6:51 mile pace so my plan was to go around 7 minute mile pace for the first segment, then to 6:45-6:50 and then either maintain or push what I could depending on how I felt. The other way to head for a sub-3 marathon is just maintain close to that 6:50 pace the whole race…which was also a possibility but maybe not for this hilly course.

The route has quite a bit of gain (271m/889ft) but most of that was in the first half of the race so going slower in the beginning seemed fine to me. There was a steep hill right before the 10km mark (60m/200ft in 1km/0.6 mile) and at the top you cross the first timing mat (located at each 10km mark with live video/photos that worked well and fans could see) then it flattens out for moment but it actually continues to gradually go up over the next few km…The other big hill was this short hill after a long massive downhill around the 24km mark. Other than that it had some rolling hills until you cross the Burrard bridge into the city center (around 29km) but overall it didn´t feel incredibly hilly. Then the last 6 miles past the Burrard Bridge are pretty darn flat until you head toward the finish which has a long slight incline.

The start per usual was exciting, I was happy my stomach was feeling ok finally and I was just trying to mind my pace and not go too fast given I was feeling good. I felt real comfortable and knew I would get some cheers from my #1 fans around the 3km mark. This was the last I´d see anyone I knew on the course…I kind of wish I knew to tell my fans to head over to the Burrard Bridge area because that was an exciting area I thought they would have enjoyed but it might have made it tough to then see me finish…which is what everyone really wanted. In fact, I thought it would be tough for fans to watch runners cross the finishline since there were stands there, but one whole side was public so fans could rotate in and out watching loved ones finish their race. I was so happy to hear they found a good spot to watch me!

The start had spectators lining the streets for a few kilometers but otherwise until the big hill there were mainly only small groups of spectators cheering on runners, which was totally fine…everyone was enjoying the first part of the course. The best cheer zones I found were on the hill at 10km mark, Kitslano Beach, Bottom of Burrard Bridge, Brooks Cheerzone entering Stanley Park and the Cheer Zone returning back into the City from Stanley Park. Running through cheer zones always gives me a boost but I did find that having the mission of a sub-3 marathon that I wasn´t fully able to enjoy the views or the cheer zones along the way like I generally would…I was really focused on pace! I did enjoy the creativity at the ¨Whale Done¨ sign, feel empowered by the Taylor Swift ¨In your PB Era¨ sign and I laughed at signs like ¨Is that a gel in your shorts or are you just happy to see me?¨ or ¨I´m looking for a husband that doesn´t finish fast¨ and ¨Don´t Trust a Fart, Trust your Training¨. Obviously I saw may signs paying tribute to Star Wars on this May 4th race day ¨May the Course be with you!¨ Signs about Strava (popular app to track exercise) I am definitely bored with now – ¨Do it for Strava¨.

Past the big hill at the 10km mark you start to enter no man´s land, aka deep forest until you hit the UBC campus. Well actually, the UBC seemed hidden inside the forest too! Heads up, right before the forest the route does a random out and back on a road, which had me really confused since I didn´t remember that from the map but in the end I was just happy it was flat lol. I had never been out to UBC and when I saw that we would run by on the course map I got excited that I would finally go see the campus. Unfortunately, I was a bit disappointed when we finally ran there as I barely noticed we were at UBC because instead of running through it, we ran around it. I´d say running through the forest, although it felt quiet and lonely (no spectators except 2 bands), was rather pretty and far better than running everything in the downtown core especially near Chinatown which today is full of homeless and druggies…nothing fun for runners and spectators to be around…so, yeah forest!

Once fully around UBC there is this long massive downhill, maybe a mile long where I just let my body fly down it. I guess I could have held my pace but I was feeling good and this was nearly halfway. The downhill was fun but way longer than I expected and shortly after that drop off there was the second little hill that felt a bit like an unexpected energy zap except for some lovely shade.

I enjoyed running along the beaches here and felt quite fast and fresh despite my left knee muscle bugging me. Nothing that felt like an injury, just muscle tightness, so I stuck to the plan. As I mentioned the cheer zone in Kitslano was one of the best all the way from the beach, past the current Lululemon HQ and as runners headed up onto the Burrard Bridge. That zone literally felt like a tunnel of energy which was needed for the slog ahead on the bridge. I made it up over the bridge but gesh, I did not need another hill…lol. Cruising down the cool looking Burrard Bridge at the turn was yet another awesome cheer zone! I loved this one the most because you naturally sped up on the downhill slope of the bridge and then hit the cheerzone so you felt like you were the hero flying through. As you are now in the dense downtown core headed along the water there are plenty of people lining the path cheering on runners and keeping spirits very high!

Entering Stanley Park spectator distraction disappears. The last cheer zone entering the park is the banana Brooks Running cheer zone and it was hoppin´! Though such awesomeness of the last few miles was hard to digest once on Stanley Park´s quiet seawall even with it´s sweeping views of mountains over the water, evergreen trees and a few jutting rocks. I think if a whale had breached there my day would have been made though but whales were quiet as well as we rounded the whole 5 mile seawall of the park. It was all focus on pace and the runners ahead…or for me the loud breathing runner who was drafting me who I couldn´t detach from…ugg.

Once I hit Stanley Park I started calculating if a sub-3 was possible. I was still on track but I needed to keep my average pace to that 6:50/6:45 sweet spot. Mentally this section is hard, it’s flat and beautiful but you are sooo alone. Staying focused is a must here because as anyone who’s run a marathon knows, these last few miles are the toughest mentally and can also be hard if your nutrition was off or you went out too fast. A cheer zone here would have helped a lot…I guess there was Elvis lol…but he only slightly motivated me with his kooky outfit!

My left quad had been bugging me nearly the whole race and at this point it felt like it was a brake, I couldn’t seem to get my pace below 7:15 (I did but when I looked at the watch it always seemed to be there). At 38km I was suffering but still felt I might make the goal, at 40km I calculated again and realized I’d have to run a 5 minute mile if I wanted the goal time….nearly impossible at this stage of the race lol. I still tried to push as much as I could but now knew I wouldn’t make my goal. I thought I’d be closer to 3:03 so when I crossed the line with a 3:05 final race time it was kind of shocking for some reason….like where did those minutes go lol?

That last few blocks to the finishline felt eternal and crowds sounded mute with exception to the exit from Stanley Park so I decided to focus straight ahead on just getting my body over that last timing mat. There were a lot of spectators along the blocks leading to the finishline yet they mainly seemed rather quiet. I was a bit bummed it wasn´t full of cheers here as I sure needed some. At some point I gave up looking for my fans because I was ready to be across that line and be done. Turns out my fans did see me, cheered and were happy and proud! Though you really needed a flag to help runners find their loved ones here…the area was wide and you felt kind of alone there running the middle of the road….mind you later I am sure it gets more packed with runners rolling through in droves but for the time I was shooting for it seemed to be a line of runners a few seconds apart and just focused/tired/ready to finish ha.

There was no kick left and I was happy to be done. I really like the Native American finisher medal design but haven’t figured out what animal it is supposed to be…a bear? It was nice to exit the finish area and have my fans there ready to give hugs and cheers. I made my way to change then out to refuel in Gas Town but man I finished this race more sore than I’ve been in years. My quad took lots of stretching, a massage, two beyond easy runs, two very easy bike rides and over a week to feel normal ish again. Even now two weeks later the quad still wants nothing to do with a sub-7 minute mile pace!

Post Race

This was the first race I´ve ever used super shoes. When they came out in 2017 (Breaking 2 – May 6) I was working at Nike. I have tried them in the past but decided back then that unless I went for a speedy time in the marathon I didn´t need to invest in carbon plated shoes…mind you they are $250-$300 shoes and really only last a marathon cycle or two (150 miles or so). A regular running shoe lasts 300-400 miles (for supinators – who run on outside of foot – it´s less!).

Getting used to these plated shoes was an experience in itself. In fact, I almost choose not to run in them. I tried them on an easy run of 5 miles (8km) and they hurt my hips. They really did make going fast easy, I was supposed to do an easy run at a slow pace, like 9 minute mile pace and I ended up easily at 5 minute mile pace! I also noticed the length of my stride changed from an average of 3.84 feet to 4.40 feet…quite a jump! My gait seemed to remain the same but my hips hurting worried me! I gave them a go on a long run too, 13 miles (21km) at an actual easy pace (close to 9 min mile pace) and I felt I could easily do more distance in them but my knees hurt after that test run. I researched and found that the super shoes transfer the energy higher up into your legs instead of your calf and achilles like normal shoes do and maybe this was why things were hurting past the knees for me. My coach encouraged me to try one more run in them, a 4 mile tempo run. The third run did the trick, it proved I simply needed to get used to the new style of shoes. I felt fine after this one yet wasn´t completely convinced if I should race in them or not. Luckily from training 13 miles in them I knew my hot spots so if I chose to race in them I could prepare my feet to avoid blisters/etc. The only thing left was convincing myself mentally that all would be fine and that either shoe (trained in Brooks Glycerin 22) would do what I needed it to do. Other things I didn´t like with the Nike Alphafly 3 was that I couldn´t easily put my shoe inserts in them therefore I ran without my inserts and I couldn´t do my normal heel lock with them which kept my feet locked in place (less sliding/potential toes jammed). Despite the confusion in the end I did race in them and all was fine.

After the finish line I took them off and walked barefoot almost as soon as I crossed the line not because my feet hurt but more so I wanted to preserve my shoes lol. Since I didn´t break 3 hours, I probably need to use them again! I learned that the roads at the finish area in Canada is clean and cold… I almost put them back on because it made me so cold lol! Although I still think I could break 3 hours with regular running shoes, it might just feel easier in the super shoes.

I learned it is quite hard to get a sub-3 hour marathon and I did not achieve it on my first real go. I did however improve my marathon time by a lot! If you look at my overall best I improved by basically 4 minutes (2018)….otherwise from my last marathon October 2024 in Cape Town, SA it was an improvement of 10 minutes. With my time in Vancouver I took 2nd place in my age group, 27th in my gender and 317th out of the 6886 marathon finishers with a time of 3:05:19! I had the #9 best time from Seattle (not including Issaquah or other cities from WA…I didn´t check that…way to hard to do without a state/province listed online) and out of 4 with the last name Griffin I was #1…though about two minutes behind a first name of Griffin…just random fun statistics I look at…HA. The elites finished in 2:14.32 Men — 2:35.05 Women which also tells you it’s not a fast marathon since even they were 10 minutes or so slower than usual elite marathon times!

Next up is looking like a fall marathon either in Indianapolis or Shanghai to try again for a sub-3 marathon time on bit flatter course.

Register for Vancouver Marathon

Where to visit in Vancouver:

• Stanley Park for a walk, run or ride for views and to visit the totem poles
• Gas Town neighborhood to see the steam clock and grab a cocktail
• English Bay Beach or Sunset Beach and the West End neighborhood off Denman St.
• Granville Island for the market and art
• Digital Orca sculpture with views and Olympic Cauldron at Jack Poole Plaza and walk along the Coal Harbor waterfront
• Robson Street for either shopping or great Asian food options
• Little Italy on Commercial Drive and North of there
• Do the loop around False Creek by walking, running or biking
• Chinatown for some unique architecture, gardens and food
• Museum of Anthropology at UBC …but we didn´t have time 😦
• Outside the city many visit Capilano Suspension Bridge but I really wanted to check out Lynn Canyon
• Watch some hockey!
• Eat a JapaDog!!
• more ideas