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Quebec City Marathon/Marathon des Deux Rives Runner Comments
Back to Quebec City Marathon/Marathon des Deux Rives Information & Reviews
Course 4.2 
Organization 4.7 
Spectators 4.1
Number of comments: 87 [displaying comments 1 to 11]
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T. G. from Ottawa
(8/30/2016)
"Great race with a" (about: 2016)
1 previous marathon
| 1 Quebec City Marathon/Marathon des Deux Rives
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 I am glad that I ran my first marathon in this destination race, and my overall experience was fantastic! The event organization was great and everything went smoothly for a traveller like me. Spectators along the course were among the best I've ever seen. And the course itself was scenic, beautiful, and full of nice varieties. The racing day weather was quite pleasant in comparison with last a few years. Without direct sunshine, last 10K became less demanding. However, cool weather made rookie marathoners like me feel too good and go faster than planned in the descending first half. Then after 21K a few not-so-gentle slopes made me realize that I should have respected the course more and followed all marathon textbook advices about pacing strategy and how to correctly run downhill:) Overall, the SSQ Quebec City marathon is a great event worth to try. It has a tricky but still manageable course, and in turn will provide runners with good lessons and useful marathon experience. | |
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L. K. from Toronto
(9/21/2015)
"Destination Race with a Challenging Course" (about: 2015)
6-10 previous marathons
| 1 Quebec City Marathon/Marathon des Deux Rives
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 4 Beautiful Old Quebec City provides a picturesque background to this regional race with a solid history. The course is deceptively difficult and not recommended as a BM Qualifier (unless you are in outstanding shape). Bib p/u was smooth, registration easy and Quebec City provides ample accommodations. But beware, the city is very hilly and touristing before the race will take a lot out of you! Race starts on the other 'Rive' in Lévi, no ferryboats any longer but a shuttle takes you from the Quebec City Vieux Port direct to a non-descript big-stores area of Lévis. Half Marathoners & 10k start separately farther down the route. I found the marathon start (7:30am now) area quite perfunctory and uninspiring. The water was even from a LONG gardening hose and tasted awful. The course follows the vast St.Lawrence and provided good scenery and a light breeze. Volunteers were present but not particularly enthusiastic. Support in general is minimal because the route mostly follows bike trails and non-residential arteries but the occasional sing-song of joual french heard was welcome. Bands are non-existent on the south shores but plentiful (if not the highest quality of musicianship) on the north shores. Expo & Registration is convenient, printed info material is well thought-out. Marathon field was around 1400, with the Half several times larger. Finish area is fairly standard with the expected food & water. No after race party or pre-race pasta dinner that I found. Best: Experienced organization, beautiful area, Québecois culture & background. Worst: Unacceptable quality of water provided along the route, arterial route with a challenging profile. | |
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M. M. from Los Angeles
(9/23/2014)
"Marathon with potential" (about: 2014)
11-50 previous marathons
| 1 Quebec City Marathon/Marathon des Deux Rives
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 3 My wife and I happen to be on vacation in Quebec City, Canada the same weekend as the Marathon so like any other red blooded obsessed marathoner, we signed up at the last moment and ran the 1/2 Marathon. We arrived at the expo at 4pm with only minutes to register before we had to catch our 4:30 ferry back across the river. The volunteers were amazing and expedited us smoothly through the registration process. They spoke French and English. The 8:30am start for the full and the 1/2 marathon in our opinion is much to late given the heat at this time of the year. They should start the full marathon no later than 7:00am, and there wasn't enough uplifting music to energize the runners and what they did have was less than stellar. I highly recommend they add more uplifting bands with a rhythmic beat. In addition, they need more water stations given the August temperatures. On a positive note, this race excels on organization with an amazingly smooth start and finish and some amazing scenery. Overall, the positives outweigh the negatives, and I would recommend this race and a visit to Quebec City. | |
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M. L. from NYC
(8/28/2014)
"Too hot" (about: 2014)
1 previous marathon
| 1 Quebec City Marathon/Marathon des Deux Rives
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 4 Québec is an enchanting european city in North America that must be seen. The organization of the race was top notch. The expo ran well. Transportation to the starting line was a breeze. The fans were great. The after race massage was amazing and got me walking again. Even the course was not bad. It's downhill for the first half, then over a bridge, then flat for the final 10k. It was the weather that was brutal. After the bridge you are in full sun on a blacktop road. Around that time the temp and humidity climbed. I heard 30C temperature and 40+ heat index. Finishers were dropping like flies. I finished a full 15 minutes behind my goal time. As much as I enjoyed my weekend I would not recommend the marathon until they move to a later day or earlier time of the day. | |
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W. W. from Los Angeles
(8/27/2014)
"Beautiful course, it could be better." (about: 2014)
11-50 previous marathons
| 1 Quebec City Marathon/Marathon des Deux Rives
COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 5 It is well designed course. The entire course is scenic and interesting. Considering Quebec is a small city with most of people wondering the streets are tourists, the smaller cheering groups along the way and good crowd at the end are still a very good turnout. The event started at 8:30am. Most of the finishers crossed the line after noon time. The 30+ C temperature was a big problem to me, and to many runners. The organization needs to seriously consider to move the time earlier by 2 hours or so. I saw several fainted runners along the side of the street needing medical care. The condition of high temperature and no shading to the last 10 miles of the course made this race a non-desirable event. If you are well trained under heat, this one is for you. Otherwise, you are under risk. I rate this course low because the hazardous heat condition despite the beautiful course. With heat condition said, the organization provided good number of water stations, where orange juice, water, cold water soaked sponges, bananas, GU, and cold water spreads were provided. The bicycle petrol team was very helpful to take care the laid down runners, sit down runners, and to inquiry the stopped runners. I rate the organization 4 because they should have learned lessons from the previous years regarding the heat conditions. The finish medal is uniquely designed with flash LED. The event is small enough to allow everyone on his (her) own pace almost from the very beginning. | |
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t. b. from Boston, MA
(8/27/2014)
"Well organized, but race is brutal in hot weather" (about: 2014)
3 previous marathons
| 1 Quebec City Marathon/Marathon des Deux Rives
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 5 Good, well-organized race in a beautiful city with awesome fan support. But pray for cool weather or the big hill + last 8 miles can be very tough. Not exactly a fast, flat BQ race. Course: couple of miles in big box store area, then long, scenic descent along shaded bike path and along river. Short steep hill around mile 14.5 followed by 3 miles of gentle uphill to the top of the bridge. Some downhill on the other side and then about 8 miles on a flat 4-lane road next to the river + bike path. As others have said, the last 8 miles are completely exposed and extremely tough if it's hot and sunny, which it was again this year (high was 84 degrees). On a cool and cloudy day, I could see how this course could be quite nice, but in the heat and blazing sun it was pretty miserable. I finished around #50 and every runner I saw in the last 10k was staggering along and falling apart. As others have mentioned, if you are expecting the course to be a tour of the beautiful old city, you will be disappointed. But I was thankful not to have to tackle the crazy hills of the old city at the end of this race; I don't see how you could improve the beauty of the route without adding significant hills. Organization: I thought the race was extremely well organized. Transportation and maps were excellent. The sponges and showers at the water stops were awesome. Lots of exhibitors at the race expo. My only suggestion would be to start the race earlier (or push it back to September). Watching people stagger through the baking sun at the end, I couldn't help thinking back to the start of the race where everyone spends 90 minutes sitting on the pavement in a random parking lot waiting for the race to begin. I think they could easily start at 7:30. Fans were absolutely fantastic nothing but good things to say. Tons of people out in Levis for the first part of the race, and then folks on bikes going up and down the bike path encouraging us along through the toughest part of the race. Bands playing, and tons of people cheering at the end. Finally, Quebec City is a very cool place to visit in its own right take a couple of extra days there to explore around. | |
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E. N. from Boston, USA
(11/24/2013)
"Good, but could've been better" (about: 2013)
4-5 previous marathons
| 1 Quebec City Marathon/Marathon des Deux Rives
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 4 Race logistics was not great...registering online, they screwed up my name on the bib (putting my last name as my first) and the packet pickup wasn't as smooth as it could be...the instructions to find the expo/packet pickup place were horrendous, as were the instructions to find parking on race day...for God's sake, can't ANYBODY in all of Quebec City draw a decent map and give proper directions??? As others have noted, the starting time and routing of this marathon leave a lot to be desired. Given that most of the race is unshaded, a start time of 6am would be reasonable, or 7am at the very latest...the heat and sun made the last third of the marathon quite unpleasant. And why can't at least some of the race be routed through the beautiful old quarter of the city? | |
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M. C. from Gimli, Manitoba
(9/2/2013)
"Such a beautiful course!" (about: 2013)
6-10 previous marathons
| 1 Quebec City Marathon/Marathon des Deux Rives
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 Getting the the start of the point-to-point race was smooth and easy, with the ferry ride across the river a great start to the day. While the first few kilometres were down the main street, once we got into the residential areas and the bike paths along the St. Lawrence River, it was cool, beautiful and serene. The view across the river to Quebec City is postcard material. The fans alone the route shouted enthusiastic encouragement in both English and French. The volunteers at the water stations were always friendly and helpful. The last kilometre was filled with cheering fans, and the finish chute was well organized, supportive and efficient. Highly recommend this course! | |
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Mindy Bolton from Haverhill, MA
(8/27/2013)
"spectacular course, lovely city and river!" (about: 2013)
2 previous marathons
| 1 Quebec City Marathon/Marathon des Deux Rives
COURSE: 5 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 4 I loved loved LOVED this course! The 1st part was slightly more interesting than the last 10k or so, well kinda- scenic, all clean throughout, well stocked and supported, small feel but big grand lovely organization!! Would do it again in the future!! | |
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K. M. from USA
(8/26/2013)
"Glad I did this one!!!!!!" (about: 2013)
11-50 previous marathons
| 1 Quebec City Marathon/Marathon des Deux Rives
COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 4 There are some hill in 2nd half and the heat began to increase. But the water stations were great!!!! If I know this town and marathon were this good I would have been here sooner and stayed for a couple of extra days. Thanks for a great race. |
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