This was my second year running the Road 2 Hope Half Marathon. This is such a great race, that offers great views of seasonal colours, and a run along side the lake shore, you can even spot the CN tower across the lake on a clear day. The weather luckily both years was great, I know that it is not a guarantee but it has its perks. The race is mostly on road, with a large, gentle down hill section, there is a few km on a groomed trail.
Hydration stations were about ever 3km, this year featuring NUUN, which is always an extra win in my books. Cliff gels and shot blocks were also offered around the half way point.
While there is not an abundance of spectators, I found there was just enough to keep you going. The volunteers at the aid stations were also very kind and encouraging.
Finish line was filled with people to give you the last bit of encouragement to get you across the finish line.
There is not an overwhelming amount of people, so you don't always have to worry about tripping over, or bumping into people, its wide open roads, to share with under 5,000 racers.
Parking was done at the finish line, and there were ample amounts of busses to shuttle everyone to the starting line. There was next to no traffic to get to the parking lot, which again is great when you have pre race nerves.
Short bus trip to the start, where there was a heated area to stay warm until the start. There were both bathrooms in side as well as port-a-potties outside, but they could have used a couple extra.
I received a long-sleeved technical shirt on expo day, a couple of mini cliff bars, a magazine and a couple coupons. Underwhelming for the most part. The expo had a handful of vendors, runners den, nuun, a few nutrition vendors and a lot of charities, sharing their cause.
This race is one of the top Boston Qualifiers in Canada, with somewhere near 25% of marathoners qualifying. This is always a good perk to any marathon.
Overall I love this race, from the management to the course to the volunteers. It is a must on my race calendar.