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Disclosure: I’m a Niagara Falls Marathon ambassador. The race comped my entry, gave me a shirt and hat to wear in training, and let me share a discount with others through the year. I won the UCAN in an Instagram giveaway. Every opinion below is my own.
I stopped for the bathroom three times, never found my pace group, and still finished inside my own plan: 3:47:14 at the Niagara Falls International Marathon.
Race Profile: Niagara Falls International Marathon | Oct 25, 2026 | 8:15 AM start | 26.2 miles | Flat out-and-back along the Niagara River
Plan: 3:45–3:50, and don’t go slower than 4:00
Result: 3:47:14 chip time (8:40/mile) | 244th of 1,149 overall | 204th of 748 men | 25th of 72 in M40-44
I’m mildly addicted to running, which I’m not sure is a real thing. I like doing hard things, I like feeling like I accomplished something, and I like seeing the world through running. This trip was supposed to be a fall getaway with my boys. My older son had an event he wanted to go to, and my younger son got sick, so it became a solo weekend and a 5½-hour drive.
Signing Up and Staying Informed
Registration was extremely easy. I used the normal process with an ambassador code. I call that out because I’ve registered for races in Germany, France and the Cayman Islands, and international races aren’t always that simple. Tokyo is confusing enough on its own. London was easy and so was Niagara.
Marathon entry in 2026 ranged from CA$139.53 (early) to CA$172.21 (late). The half marathon ran CA$112.31 to CA$144.98, and the 10K CA$85.07 to CA$106.85. My entry was comped.
Communication from the organizers was well paced. I never felt flooded, and I always had the information I needed when I needed it. Despite the “International” in the name, the course stays in Canada. Crossing the border to get there and back was easy.
The Expo
I went Saturday. The expo was well laid out, and traffic flowed nicely. It had seven vendors plus the official race merch tent. Packet pickup took about 10 minutes, and I spent more time browsing the vendors after that.
Race expos are a different experience today. Before 2020, especially at the Rock ’n’ Roll events, they were enormous, all-day affairs. I was underwhelmed by the United Airlines NYC Half expo in March. It was at the Javits Center, which also hosts the New York City Marathon expo and New York Comic Con, and I don’t even think it had seven vendors! Niagara’s expo was cute by comparison: enough vendors to keep me occupied for a while, but not overstimulating.
Shirt and Medal
Runners got a pretty standard shirt at bib pickup and a pretty simple medal at the finish. The medal is round, with a skyline and the Falls in teal and white and a “42.2K” banner. The ribbon is blue and white with maple leaves, and I like that the distance is in kilometers.
The Course
The race starts downtown in what reminds me of a Canadian version of the Las Vegas strip, and because it’s an out-and-back, you pass the Falls twice. The best view came in the first mile: sun, mist, and a lot of runners trying not to stop for photos. After that, the course heads south along the Niagara River toward Buffalo, then turns around and comes back.
It is flat. My watch recorded under 300 feet of climbing for the whole marathon, and from mile 2 to about mile 25 the elevation chart is basically a flat line. Then you hit mile 25: a sharp step up, another climb in the final half mile, and not much left in the legs. On paper it isn’t drastic, but you can see it on the chart, and I felt it.
The scenery is front-loaded. If you want the views, the half marathon gets you all of them. The back half of the marathon isn’t terribly scenic.
The Race
It was a cool, sunny morning: about 5°C (41°F) at the 8:15 start, feeling like 3°C (37°F). By the time I finished around noon it was 17°C (63°F).
At the start I looked for a pacer somewhere between 3:30 and 4:00. I didn’t want to run 3:30, but I figured I’d start near that group and let my pacer catch me. I never found them. I needed a bathroom, but the lines at the start were too long, and the first aid station was about two miles in, so I held it until then. I’m not sure if it was something I ate the night before, but I needed it badly. I didn’t see my pace setter until after that first porta-john stop, and I never ran with a group. I saw them behind me at the turnaround.
I stopped at least three times, at about miles 2, 12 and 20, each at an aid-station porta-potty. Each stop cost about two and a half minutes, so around 7 minutes total. Outside of those, nothing before mile 26 was slower than 8:41 per mile. I’d estimate my halves at roughly 1:54 and 1:52, so I ran the second half faster even with a stop in it. I didn’t feel overexerted until the end. The last two miles were hard: mile 25 was 8:32 and mile 26 was 8:55.
Fueling
My plan was a gel about every 44 minutes. I carried UCAN, which I won in an Instagram giveaway. I follow the brand because of its founder’s story, and because it fits a lot of dietary needs. My son has a gluten intolerance, and so far UCAN has worked well for him on rides and runs. I still read the label every time. My usual go-to is NeverSecond, but I used UCAN this time. The course handed out Brix, a maple syrup gel made in Canada, and I ate those too.
The stomach trouble started before any gels, and my first stop was before my first gel, so I can’t pin it on fueling. The one mistake was a caffeinated gel from a brand I don’t remember. It was rough to get down, and it was new on race day, which I know better than to do. I should have stuck with UCAN or NeverSecond.
Aid Stations
There were seven aid stations, and because it’s an out-and-back we hit each one twice. That’s 14 chances to fuel, which was arguably better than most of the races I’ve run this year. The layout was generally right: gel, electrolyte, water. Aid station 1 was out of water by the time I got there, but they still had electrolytes. The tail end of the marathon got sparse, but there were still people handing out water. The gels were the only inconsistency, since where they were stationed or handed out varied, but nothing worth complaining about.
Crowd Support
The crowd support was ample, and it stayed strong even after the half marathoners split off. That mattered, because the road gets quieter once they’re gone.
After the Finish
Bananas, chips and water came pre-packed in a bag and were handed out, so there was no line. The expo was still open until 3:00, but I skipped it to start the 5½-hour drive home, so I can’t speak to what was going on inside.
What I’d Change
The overall production quality of this race was great, with one exception: the pace groups felt like an afterthought. A few pacers wore red pinnies, but there was no branding on the shirts or signs, and the signs were only printed on one side. From behind, they blended into the crowd. The fix is cheap: matching shirts and double-sided signs.
Smaller things: the porta-potty lines at the start were too long, aid station 1 ran out of water, and gels weren’t placed consistently along the course.
If You’re Thinking About Running It
The Bottom Line
I’d recommend this to anyone, and especially to first-time marathoners. It’s flat, with ample support, and nothing on the course is going to wreck you. I’d encourage anyone to run it once. Would I run it again? Maybe the half marathon, since the scenery is in the first half. The verdict is out on the marathon, and not because of the race or the distance. It’s everything surrounding it: it’s a 5½-hour drive from home, and the tourist tax was a bit much for me.
I still have two marathons left this year, Philadelphia on November 22 and San Antonio on December 6, and the lesson I’m taking into both is simple: stick with what I know.
Note: What I share about UCAN and my family’s experience with it is not dietary advice. If you have celiac disease, a gluten sensitivity, or other digestive concerns, talk to your doctor and do your own research before trying any product.
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