What do I remember about the 2004 BMO Vancouver Marathon?….I must have enjoyed myself, my time 4:04 was kind of okay..and I do remember suffering a bit.

This was back in the days when the start/finish line was between BC Place and the old Expo 86 site..and when the only way you got a finishers t-shirt, was when you actualy finished….

I was there with a huge group from our Callingwood Running Room Run Club…..and good group, I remember going through the Expo with some of them, we had a huge dinner the evening before at an Italian place on Davis Street (it used to be a steak house, and now? Not Sure)….not sure if the BMO still had a pasta party at the time (think the Victoria Marathon is the only one that still does that)…but it was great…we must have had a dozen of us….

I’d run the Vancouver Half on the same route in 2000, and had a good time…and I kind of liked the route….I never understood why a Vancouver race wouldn’t always include the SeaWall or Stanley Park…it may have and I just don’t remember, I do remember some industrial areas near what is now Coal Harbour, Canada Place, the Convention Centre…….twice across the Burrard Bridge, out towards Spanish Banks…one of the turn around points was at Marine Drive and W4th, where there was a booth that was handing out pain killers…Motrin, and Tylenol – this was back in day when most marathoners would carry an Advil with them, we stopped doing that when we found out that pain killers would eventually trash our kidneys – hills?……..the Burrard Bridge for sure was a hill done twice, and at one point we ran underneath that bridge, up a hill and then back across the bridge……and to the finish line….that was fun!

Am not sure if I like the current route, I’m not fond of having to travel to the start line, and finishing elsewhere…….but, it’s Vancouver….

once a mid packer, always a mid packer……and a lot younger..

I’ve run a ton of Vancouver half marathons since, some great, some not so, and a few times, well, I arrived to run, but didn’t – illness one year, really inclement weather another – but always my favorite event in my favorite city…..

What do I actually remember from that day…the finish, after crossing the Burrard Bridge, and racing down Pacific BLVD to the finish line……and yeah, barfing at some point on W4th heading home, and yes, that last hill…..I know I ran 10 and 1s at some point, at the start, I took it easy through the hydration stations…at that pont I started to figure out I didn’t need to drink anything all the time…..other than that, I don’t really remember the whole route (did we go through Stanley Park, and how did we get to the Burrard Bridge the first time?

Oh I know…here’s the map for that day…….lots of out and backs…

May 1st is not that far away, and it’s been almost 3 years since I ran a half marathon, the SeaWheeze, and yes in Vancouver…maybe the salt air is the attraction, maybe the smell of low tide?…….but yep, back in 2022, and while I think Victoria and Edmonton may be my next step after……..if there’s another race or run of any kind on the wet coast in the fall, those plans may change….