The scenery will change, but the runners will not be completely disorientated. The finish of the next Beneva Montreal Marathon will take place this year at Maisonneuve Park rather than on the Esplanade of the Olympic Park, as was the case over the last two years.
It was the work related to the replacement of the roof of the Olympic Stadium which forced the organizers to move the finish of all distances of the event by approximately one kilometer to the east.
“There were places to which we no longer had access, both for editing and for the day of the race,” explained Alexandre Ratthé, delegate producer of the marathon, during a meeting with a few journalists on Thursday.
The organization therefore had to “reshuffle the routes” while trying to “minimize the impacts” for the participants. “The easiest solution, in the short term and within the time frame we had, was to come here, to the magnificent Maisonneuve Park, a beautiful green place,” continued Mr. Ratthé. In his eyes, this novelty is even “a plus” for the finish of the marathon.
PHOTO FRANÇOIS ROY, THE PRESS
Alexandre Ratthé, executive producer of the Beneva Montreal Marathon
To date, some 18,500 people have registered for one or other of the events scheduled for the weekend of September 20 to 22. According to Mr. Ratthé, this is an increase of 40% compared to last year at the same date. We are aiming for up to 25,000 entries: if this objective were achieved, we would note a considerable increase compared to the 2023 edition, which attracted 19,000 athletes. Alexandre Ratthé expects the marathon and half-marathon to be sold out “in the coming days or weeks”.
To the traditional 1 km, 5 km and 10 km races, as well as the half-marathon (21 km) and marathon (42 km), two new features will be added this year, the “mile” (1.6 km) and the Canadian 5 km championship.
Although open to the public, the “mile”, a distance borrowed from track athletics, aims to attract elite runners as part of the Quebec championship in the discipline. “A fast and punchy race,” predicts Alexandre Ratthé, which will be presented on Friday evening.
As for the Canadian 5 km championship, its addition “diversifies” the programming by “adding the elite component” to a race already popular with amateur runners.
Olympian Charles Philibert-Thiboutot, ambassador of the event who will just return from the Paris Games, will run over both distances, in addition to acting as a “rabbit” to dictate the pace in the half-marathon on Sunday. The organization expects to see “the best Canadian and Quebec runners” who will have participated in the Olympic Games.