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☰
Valley Harvest Marathon Runner Comments
Back to Valley Harvest Marathon Information & Reviews
Course 3.8 
Organization 4.0 
Spectators 3.5
Number of comments: 23 [displaying comments 1 to 11]
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Dave Nevitt from Dartmouth, NS
(10/10/2012)
"A Fantastic Fall Marathon" (about: 2012)
50+ previous marathons
| 6+ Valley Harvest Marathons
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 I've run the Valley Harvest Marathon many times and it gets better every year. The organizers do a fantastic job and really know how to please the runners. The shirt and medal were very nice this year and if you were fortunate enough to place in an age group, the prizes were the best. The course is quite scenic with farmland and Minas Basin views. There are a few short up hills, but there are some nice gradual downhill sections as well. There are plenty of aid stations and the course is very well marshalled. There are not a lot of spectators on the course, partly due to good traffic control to minimize cars on the route. The crowd support is fantastic when you finish on the track at the Acadia University Stadium. A grandstand full of spectators and a professional announcer make for a memorable finishing experience. The weather for the 2012 race was perfect. This was a great marathon experience for me and I hope that others will give it a try. | |
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D. G. from Bedford, NS
(10/9/2011)
"Great organization, lonely run" (about: 2011)
4-5 previous marathons
| 1 Valley Harvest Marathon
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 1 This is a well organized small-town race. The course was hilly but beautiful. However, with less than 100 full marathoners, it was very lonely and for that reason I would not recommend it to first timers or anyone that likes to run with crowds. The volunteers and few spectators were awesome, but I ran for sometimes 15 minutes without seeing a soul. Because it was unusually hot for a fall day, the hills just seemed that much steeper. I think I'll try the half next year. | |
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M. M. from Halifax; NS
(5/22/2011)
"Hard Course with traffic problems at finish" (about: 2010)
6-10 previous marathons
| 1 Valley Harvest Marathon
COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 4 Good course but was very cold/windy in 2010...not too much the organizers can do about that though. It is a hilly course and my main problem (ran half marathon) was that on the way back after turnaround we ran into a LOT of 10km people finishing race at around 4-5 km left. At one point with a couple of kms left it became dangerous trying to pass people with traffic coming right at you and people not moving out of the way. BTW This course has changed the route back in 2008 as the old course in Wolfville used to be flatter. I ran the old full marathon course twice. | |
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R. V. from NC, USA
(10/11/2010)
"beautiful and friendly" (about: 2010)
11-50 previous marathons
| 1 Valley Harvest Marathon
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 This is hands down the most beautiful course I've ever run. Wolfville was a fantastic setting, with wonderfully friendly people, easy access to the route/parking/packet pick-up, and other fun things to do (wineries, farmers markets, Acadia University, etc.). Organization was superb, and I really enjoyed the cheerful and enthusiastic email updates from the race director. The hills are substantial, but I'm not sure they would have been so bad if it hadn't been so tremendously windy. Peanut butter and jelly, fruit/veggie trays, and chocolate milk at the finish (and access to showers) were greatly appreciated! I knew it would be a small race with little crowd support and was prepared for and fine with that. All the volunteers were great. Very minor suggestions for next time: Donuts were all out by the time I finished - sad for a race sponsored by Tim Horton's! I'd really like a cotton shirt option, as the tech shirts given out at races are never as high-quality as the ones I'd rather purchase/wear. Ask the restaurants in town to stay open all day on Saturday rather than close in between lunch and dinner! More expo-type things for sale/local running shops/etc. would be great. My race number ripped in half really early on - it was made of an odd material, and it was annoying to have it flapping around after I tried unsuccessfully to pin it somewhere else. | |
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M. P. from Bridgewater NS
(10/10/2009)
"Awesome course" (about: 2008)
11-50 previous marathons
| 6+ Valley Harvest Marathons
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 I did not find that the course had too many challenging hills, and traffic is a non-issue for me. This event is always well organized and lots of fun. | |
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J. H. from Halifax
(10/17/2008)
"great course" (about: 2008)
1 previous marathon
| 1 Valley Harvest Marathon
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 4 Great course, and the weather was great. The course had some hills, but they were rolling and not too steep. My only negative comment would have to be that, after experiencing severe cramping in my calves at around 30-35K, and arriving at the next aid station asking for water, the response was, "We are all out." It was absolutely demoralizing. To be at this point in the run and have an aid station be out is unacceptable. I spoke with a friend of mine who finished ahead of me by 30 minutes, and he said that when he came through, the young kids at that aid station had been lining up the water cups and kicking them over! If any organizers are wondering what aid station I am talking about, it was the one on the return leg just before the bridge leading back across the flat area. Still, this was the only negative; I will definitely be running the marathon again next year. | |
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m. r. from cape breton canada
(10/13/2008)
"Very hilly course this year (2008)" (about: 2008)
First Marathon
COURSE: 1 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 5 I went to the valley to run my first marathon, and I was told it's a great run for your first as it is quite flat. Imagine my surprise when we ran this; it was very hilly and many runners commented that it was one of the tougher course they had run. | |
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marco albright from Yarmouth, NS
(9/12/2006)
"Great oppurtunity for a PB: flat course, cool air" (about: 2005)
4-5 previous marathons
| 1 Valley Harvest Marathon
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 2 I ran the full marathon course in '05; with the course almost completely flat, I was able to maintain a consistent pace. The air was cool but drizzly, and there were plenty of water stops. It was well organized overall, and the best part is I had a lot of fun and ran a PB at 3:18:27. I will be running it again this year. It's held at an excellent time of year for a marathon, although training has been tough - the heat has been killing me all summer! :| See you there. : ) | |
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Mark Power from Bridgewater, Nova Scotia
(9/9/2006)
"Awesome course" (General Comments)
6-10 previous marathons
| 6+ Valley Harvest Marathons
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 I love this course; it is always well organized. This will be my 7th consecutive Valley Harvest race. | |
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M. H. from Nova Scotia
(8/16/2006)
"not runner friendly" (about: 2002)
6-10 previous marathons
| 1 Valley Harvest Marathon
COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 2 Relatively flat course, but slanted. Traffic an issue. I felt that organizers actually DIScouraged runner support from family and friends, by clearly threatening to disqualify runners if their support vehicle(s) interfered with the flow of traffic. Great scenery, but overall experience was not enough to bring me back. |
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