Canada's largest single-day running festival rolled out from Queen Elizabeth Park shortly after 8.30am on Sunday morning as the 2026 BMO Vancouver Marathon sent more than 25,000 entrants down the city's most photogenic 42.2-kilometre route. Five distances took part across the day — full marathon, half marathon, 8K, 2.5K kids' run and the BMO Vancouver Marathon International team relay — with road closures stretching from Cambie Bridge through Yaletown, Kitsilano, the Stanley Park seawall and home along Coal Harbour to the Burrard Street finish.
The men's marathon race split early on the long descent off Cambie Bridge into False Creek, with a four-strong East African front group testing the pace over the rolling miles through Olympic Village. By 25 kilometres, the pack had been pared to a head-to-head dash, with the eventual winner pulling away on the Stanley Park causeway to take the title in the low 2:11s. The women's race played out more conservatively, with the front pack staying together until the long climb up Cambie at 33 kilometres before the move that decided the race.
Race organisers hailed strong international participation in 2026, with entries from more than seventy countries and the largest American contingent in the event's history crossing the border for the long weekend. The half marathon — comfortably the deepest of the day's distances — sold out months ahead of race weekend and posted record finisher numbers, with broadcast feeds across Canada following the elite progression around the picturesque first half of the loop on the seawall path.
TransLink boosted SkyTrain service across both Expo and Canada Line corridors for the event, running expanded morning frequencies to clear runners out of downtown stations before the gun and stage extras through the day to ferry supporters between the West End and the start line at Queen Elizabeth Park. Course closures along Beach Avenue, Pacific Boulevard and the Stanley Park causeway were lifted in stages through the late morning and early afternoon as the field cleared each section.
The BMO Vancouver Marathon's standing as a World Athletics-labelled qualifier for both the Boston Marathon and global age-group championships continues to attract a strong recreational entry, with thousands of runners using the cool spring weather and net-downhill profile to chase faster times. The 2027 edition was confirmed during the awards ceremony for the first weekend of May next year, and entries are expected to open later in the summer.