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In short, it might be a good weekend to go car-free.

A full list of road-closure and detour maps is available at the marathon website.

Run as long as you want

If you don’t want to run over 40 kilometres this weekend, you don’t have to — no one is making you get up that early on a Sunday, but also, there’s an easier race. In addition to the 42-kilometre full marathon route, Sunday’s event also features a kids’ run, a relay, an 8K, and half and full marathon options.

The 21-kilometre half marathon sounds excellent, and while it may not have the swing through the Point Grey area, one could argue it takes runners on an even more beautiful route, down Cambie Street and over the bridge before winding through Chinatown, Yaletown and the West End. If you haven’t made your way down Cambie in the early morning, you’ve never seen one of Vancouver’s loveliest spots.

Photo by Handout / bmovanmarathon.ca

The half marathon begins in the same place, at Queen Elizabeth Park, but 90 minutes before the full marathon at 7 a.m.

Next stop: Boston

Many who run the Vancouver Marathon go on to run the historic Boston Marathon, the world’s oldest annual marathon. According to MarathonGuide.com, the BMO Vancouver Marathon is continually one of the top 25 qualifying races for the Boston Marathon in the world.

Over the past five years, approximately 400 runners have participated in Vancouver’s road race and gone on to qualify for the run through greater Boston. In other words, don’t think the Vancouver Marathon simply takes you through scenic Vancouver. It could lead all the way to Massachusetts.

The marathon ends at a street festival

Finally, don’t think the event ends when your race ends: there’s plenty of action at the finish line besides other runners gasping for air and water. Even if you don’t run, it’s worth heading downtown for the entertainment and food sampling, as Hastings Street becomes a family-friendly street festival on race day.

The half-marathon winner is expected to finish around 8 a.m., with the full marathon winner expected around 10:45 a.m. In other words, be sure to get up and get downtown early if you hope to see the elite runners complete the course. They’re very fast.

hmooney@postmedia.com

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