Vancouver Marathon route....

Is this a problem? Sat. May 1st we are staying at the Marriott Pinnacle. The marathon is run the next day. The route not only goes right by our hotel, it is in between us and the Canada Place pier. Now I would just put on my jogging suit and join in the race, but I will be towing my luggage.

Is this a problem? any suggestions?

Is this a problem? Sat. May 1st we are staying at the Marriott Pinnacle. The marathon is run the next day. The route not only goes right by our hotel, it is in between us and the Canada Place pier. Now I would just put on my jogging suit and join in the race, but I will be towing my luggage.

 

Is this a problem? any suggestions?

There won't be a problem. Traffic police and volunteers will get you across streets.

For those of you in Vancouver the next weekend, the Vancouver Sun Run is May 9th, starting at 9 a.m. It is mostly over at 11 except for congestion around the end of the route. However, it is one of the largest 10K races in the world, and there will be 60,000 runners starting off on Georgia around Burrard. This backs up for many many blocks. Do not plan to drive anywhere downtown on Sunday morning.

Viv

Viv;

This question was asked on another forum and as I read the Marathon information the Hastings St. and Canada Place will be open by 10 am ...but I guess that raises the question of how do disembarking pax get out of Canada Place?? Actually there is an alternate routing for that which is detailed on the Vancouver Marathon site.

As a Marathon volunteer I gave a detailed answer on the other thread that PD mentions - in short if on foot it shouldn't be a problem and for embarkation after 10 AM it should be okay - one of the things that the city is strict on is re-opening the streets at the posted times especially if it is a bus route - we get radio messages throughout the day telling us when the roads are opening up and then have to tell the slow participants it's time to get on the sidewalk.

PD - I believe that up until 10 AM taxis will be loading from the Waterfront Road level - there is a sign at the Main Street overpass saying such - will try a find out more on this when we ride the course tomorrow evening.

As for foot passengers - Sally is correct - you may have to wait a few minutes if the bulk of the runners are passing but as soon as there is a break you will be allowed to cross.

Agree that the Sun Run has a much larger impact in the downtown core as it also starts later in the day - usually it isn't a problem for cruisers as it is usually held in April before the ships start arriving but this year was pushed back because of the Olympics - City couldn't guarantee that all of the roads, barriers etc would be removed on time - they were but they played it safe.

Hope this helps

Cheers

Dennis

Hi Ut;

The alternative routing for disembarking pax at Caanda Place is detailed on the the Marathon's website.

I off to bed...those last two Canuck games will probably cause me nightmares...is it over in 5 or what.:mad:

Thanks for the information everyone. I posted the question in 2 locations. I had a moment of panic.

"I posted the question in 2 locations. I had a moment of panic."

Better to be safe than sorry - that's what cut and paste was designed for wasn't it. Actually this heading is likely to catch one's eye because it is about a specific event while the other one is a more generic one about Vancouver.

Cheers

Dennis

This thread has some useful information but it's pretty old so wanted to see if there is any change in any recommendations for the morning of the marathon this year. My cruise disembarks on the morning of marathon day and we're staying overnight in the city. We're staying at the Hampton Downtown and Suites which looks to be about a 1/2 mile away.

*Will it be better to walk to the hotel with our luggage in tow since traffic will probably be a mess?

*If it were you, would you try to do walk-off disembarkation right when they dock (at 7am) to try and get out before the marathon begins at 830? - or - Would you stay on the ship as long as possible and get off around 930am?

*How far away is the starting point of the marathon and approx what time would the bulk of runners be around the cruise ship terminal?

*Any other suggestions that’s not coming to my mind to ask?

Oh, and I wanted to ask another question on a different topic…

Our flight leaves at 6am the next morning, what time should I be leaving the hotel to go to the airport? We’ll be flying out to Las Vegas.

This thread has some useful information but it's pretty old so wanted to see if there is any change in any recommendations for the morning of the marathon this year. My cruise disembarks on the morning of marathon day and we're staying overnight in the city. We're staying at the Hampton Downtown and Suites which looks to be about a 1/2 mile away.

 

*Will it be better to walk to the hotel with our luggage in tow since traffic will probably be a mess?

 

*If it were you, would you try to do walk-off disembarkation right when they dock (at 7am) to try and get out before the marathon begins at 830? - or - Would you stay on the ship as long as possible and get off around 930am?

 

*How far away is the starting point of the marathon and approx what time would the bulk of runners be around the cruise ship terminal?

 

*Any other suggestions that’s not coming to my mind to ask?

 

Oh, and I wanted to ask another question on a different topic…

Our flight leaves at 6am the next morning, what time should I be leaving the hotel to go to the airport? We’ll be flying out to Las Vegas.

Actually it's the HALF marathon that will be most problematic - and for the Hampton, you will have to actually cross the race route. This page summarizes times and routes for races. There are details of road closures on there too, but since you're probably not familiar with the city I'll summarize - several of the streets immediately around the Hampton will be closed to traffic until 9:15am due to the Half. Including Robson one block from the Hampton, but not including Beatty (hotel entrance is at the corner of Beatty & Robson).

Marathon finishes close to Canada Place, but not in the same direction as the Hampton. Even world-record pace runners will not be there until after 10:30am and the race is routed around the water-side of the whole city as much as possible. So going straight to Wreck Beach for an allover tan would be a real hassle - runners around UBC will peak mid-morning. Heading into Stanley park also a bad idea - the shorter runs and kiddie run take place almost entirely inside the park, and the marathon uses the Seawall around the perimeter. The finish line party zone will see most amateur marathoners arrive 4-5hours after the race starts, with the half-marathon folks peaking about 2-3 hours after their race starts, 9-10am. As they're leaving the marathoners will start arriving.

Always best to be off early IMO - more time to spend Doing Stuff, plus shorter queues at CBSA and for cabs if you want to drive. Hampton is walkable - just under a mile, all on good sidewalks. If you walk, you will be able to cross the race route more flexibly than in a cab - police will be present with barriers, but all the closures are 'rolling' so they do allow a few cars across now & then. So if you don't mind losing out on a couple of hours of sightseeing, staying on the ship until about 9am will mean by the time you get off a cab will be able to drive right down to the Hampton without having road closures to worry about.

Get a cab no earlier than 4am next day - CBP don't open until 4:30am, so arriving any time before that is utterly pointless and will not help you make your flight. IMO the optimal time to arrive is 5am (4:30am cab from downtown) - so you can avoid the big queue of people who don't know about CBP being lazy, and start queuing from 3am! By the time the shift-meeting is over and the big batch of people actually get handled, the queue drops significantly by 5am so you can breeze right through.

And if you happen to see an elderly gentleman on a bike with a safety vest riding back and forth along that part of the route and likely peddling fairly slow as the tail enders or walkers on the half marathon slowly make there way around the course that could be me for once again I expect to be the Zone 1 bike sweep - from the start in Queen Elizabeth Park to near the Aquatic Center.

Cheers!

Dennis

:):):)

^I'll wave when you go past our building!

Thank you martincath for the detailed info, it's very helpful in planning our trip. It'll be the first time on a cruise for my companions so want to make sure to maximize their enjoyment.

Trekker, we'll keep an eye out for you!