I was able to knock another half marathon off my Bucket List this fall—The Niagara Falls International Half Marathon in Canada on October 26.

I’ve wanted to do this race forever—ever since I first heard about it. A group of Buckeye Striders signed up with me a few years back, but the race was cancelled due to the Pandemic. Fast forward to the last weekend in October, and my friend Laura was the last one standing. (We saw Lily and Jack, too, but they didn’t travel with us.)

Packet Pickup

The “expo” was at the starting location for the race. Laura and I made the mistake of walking to packet pickup so we could see the Falls. We ended up walking nearly 3 miles roundtrip the day before a half marathon. The Falls are beautiful but I’m not sure it was worth it.

There were fewer than a dozen booths outside the packet pickup tent, while inside the tent there were race shirts, jackets, and drinking glasses for sale. (I bought a shirt.)

Pickup was efficient and low key.

The Race

The race starts about 3 km from the Falls. Luckily for us, the shuttle to the start line picked up at the host hotel, which is where we were staying. It was pretty easy to find the shuttle and get a seat. There was a lot of traffic heading to the start, so we were happy to be on the shuttle.

What surprised me the most is how small this race actually is. There were fewer than 4,000 athletes total in the 5 K, 10 K, 21.1 K half marathon, and 42.2 K full marathon combined. (Of course it’s in kilometers. We were in Canada.) Based on the traffic, I would have expected it to be a lot more people!

The packet pickup tent doubled as a “warming tent” before and after the race. Though it wasn’t super cold, Laura and I waited in the tent after getting off the shuttle.

The race started about 25 min. late. We assumed it was because of the traffic. Friends texted us from their car saying they were worried about getting parked in time. Luckily, they made it.

The first part of the course takes you past the Falls. It really is beautiful in the morning! Then you turnaround, go past them again and continue out and back along the river. As you pass the Falls, it feels like rain when the wind blows the spray.

There is a strict time limit for the first 6 km by the Falls. (The race needs to clear out this section of the course so it can be reopened to tourists.) I didn’t train well, so I was overly concerned about my pace. Because of this, I started out way too fast and stopped only once to take a photo. Luckily there was a water station at 2.6 km, I needed it.

The rest of the race is uneventful. The relatively flat course runs along the Niagara River and is pretty. Water stations are nicely space at about 3 km. As the athletes in the shorter distance races peel off, the course ends up being pretty empty.

Because of my lack of training, this race was difficult for me. As I mentioned earlier, I started out too fast (sub 15 mins). This left me with very little “oomph” at the end. My average pace of a 16-min mile is deceiving—miles 11 and 12 were both at 17:20. Mile 13 wasn’t much faster. The crowd support in these last few miles was awesome and really kept me moving! I really needed it!

On top of that, I wore too many layers so I fluctuated between sweating and then freezing because I was sweating. It was pretty chilly that morning, but I overestimated how cold the wind off the river would be. I wore two shirts and a jacket, but halfway through the race I took off one shirt and tied it around my waist. I definitely needed the jacket to block the wind.

My finish time was 3:30—my slowest half marathon ever. Though I normally would be disappointed in that, this time I’m not. I wasn’t trained well enough (not my fault) and I finished without being injured. That alone is a plus.

After going through the snack line and getting water, I went to rest in the warming tent and ran into our friends Lily and Jack. Lily did the 10K and Jack finished the half about 15 mins. faster than I did.

The biggest problem I had with this race was trying to find the shuttle to go back to the hotel. The first few volunteers I asked didn’t know where the shuttles were. Another pointed in a general direction that didn’t make sense to me. After Toledo, where I never found the shuttle, I refused to just randomly walk. Finally, I found someone who knew where to go. It felt pretty far, but it kept the buses out of most of the traffic.

Takeaways

• I am so thrilled I finally got to do this race! It is pretty and it is relatively flat.
• It is pricey. The registration was more than $100 when I signed up. That’s fine for a destination race, but I won’t pay that much for a local event.
• The shirt and medal are both nice. I’m disappointed it’s a short-sleeved shirt being that it is a fall race, but I’ll still wear it.
• The warming tent both before and after the race is a nice touch.
• The wind off the river wasn’t bad. I should know better than to overdress.
• There needs to be better information for finding the shuttle back.
• Kilometers are faster than miles!
• I would consider doing it again, but it’s a 5.5-hour drive! That’s about as far as I’ll drive for a half.

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