The Ottawa Marathon course is a relatively fast, scenic route with a few elevation changes. It winds through some of Ottawa's most vibrant neighborhoods and popular landmarks.
The Ottawa Marathon was the 4th largest marathon in Canada last year and was the 3rd largest in 2022.
This year 10.9% of finishers qualified for the Boston Marathon and 14.3% of runners qualified for Boston in 2023.
This gives the Ottawa Marathon the 10th highest percentage of Boston Marathon qualifiers in Canada last year and the 9th highest percentage so far in 2024.
Its Course Score of 98.69 ranks it as the 20th fastest marathon course in Canada and the 11th fastest course in Ontario.
The typical race time temperature and humidity levels are slightly above the ideal range for optimal marathon performance. This, coupled with the Course Score, gives the Ottawa Marathon a PR Score of 98.37. This PR Score ranks it as the 21st fastest marathon in Canada and the 11th fastest in Ontario.
Learn more about PR Scores and Course Scores on the FAQ page.
Ottawa Marathon Elevation Chart
Max Elevation: 247 feet (75m) Min Elevation: 173 feet (52m)
I have run this race 4 times (all slightly different courses) but am always impressed by how scenic and pretty it is. Every couple kms is a nice view of the Ottawa river or the Rideau Canal and in between views are segments in nice subdivisions with great crowd support. It is hilly though, so be prepared for the later sections in Rockcliffe park. The race is typically well organized and the volunteers do a great job.
The only negatives are that it is typically hot weather (although 2024 was much cooler than typical which was wonderful) and there is a segment shared with the half marathoners. In some years, there has been a 2 hour difference in start times but this year it was only 1.5 hours and that meant that the full marathoners merged with halvers running much slower pace and there were too many of them to run around.
So its not a fast course given the negatives and that its a hilly course, I highly recommend taking this one in for a fun and scenic marathon and just enjoy the views and the crowds!
Race Tips
The 2024 race was much hillier in the second half and there are some decently long grinds through Rockcliffe park around 32-37km. Don't go too hard the first half because those hills are coming!
Be prepared to merge with half marathoners and have the challenge of weaving around them
Race weekend is typically hot and humid so try to acclimate before hand.
There are many hotels within walking distance to the start and many will offer late checkout. I've stayed downtown only 300m from the start line the last 2 years and it really makes race morning logistics a breeze. There is also free parking at City Hall all weekend.
The Expo for 2024 was a zoo, so I'd recomend trying to get there on the Friday.
Starting line was easy to get to. Bag drop off was well organized. The course profile was great, mostly flat with a few risers. Nuun hydration along the course is so much better than Gatorade. It's not overly crowded, just enough so once you get farther into the race there is always runners around. It was nice having pacers available. Although, my pacer had to drop at around mile 8 due to an injury. Thankfully there was a group of about 4 of us that stuck together for the majority of the race. Not a ton of crowd support during some areas, but overall there is a good amount of people out and watching. A spectator handed me a huge chunk of ice just before the Alexandria Bridge which I was so thankful for!
The BIGGEST con was the fact they started the 1/2 marathon earlier than was planned due to hot temperatures. This meant that for my last ~5k I was running among a large crowd of 1/2 marathon runners that were at a much slower pace than I was. So it was like a crowded start where you have to weave through slower runners to get by. Except you don't have the energy to do it. At a couple points I even hopped up on the grass. Not ideal, but like I said they started the 1/2 earlier that year.
