50 days before the event, the Quebec City Marathon is already sold out. And not only at the marathon: All start numbers have found a buyer for the five distances offered.
“This is a first in the history of the race,” said Marianne Pelchat, Executive Producer at Gestev.
A total of 10,000 runners will take part on September 30th and October 1st, including 1,500 participants who will set off to cover 42.195 km.
30% up
The previous record was set in 2019 when 8,400 runners – elite or “Sunday runners” if you can really call them marathon runners – registered for the competition.
And the registrations have increased by 30% compared to the previous year, which of course makes Ms. Pelchat happy.
The latter is struggling to come up with a specific reason that would explain the current enthusiasm for the Quebec City marathon, which will bring together not only local athletes but also a whole host of running enthusiasts from abroad.
However, she believes the fact that the strict hygiene measures surrounding COVID-19 are now a thing of the past has something to do with it.
“People like to challenge themselves and get together,” she says, adding that Quebecers “know that physical and mental health are important.”
Race number transfers
Also, be aware of runners who don’t have their famous race number for the event and would like to participate.
There is still an opportunity to receive a copy that would have been available to a competitor who could no longer complete the test or ultimately would prefer to run a different distance.
They are rare, stresses Marianne Pelchat, but these transfers or resales are monitored by the “I run Qc” community.