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Marathon Details - Ottawa Fall Colours Marathon

North America Marathons > Canada > ON > Ottawa > Ottawa Fall Colours Marathon

Ottawa Fall Colours Marathon

Ottawa Fall Colours Marathon & Half Marathon, 10K, 5K

Ottawa, ON Canada

October 12, 2025

http://www.somersault.ca/e/8b5dd511-c79e-46c5-810b-50109e406575

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Contact Information

Name:	Terry McKinty
Address:	411 Lefebvre Way Ottawa, Ontario Canada K1E 2W5
Phone Number:	1-613-834-0656
Fax Number:	1-613-8343945
Email:	Email the organizers

Runner Reviews (16)

Course 4.0

Organization 4.4

Spectators 2.9

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Number of comments: 16 [displaying comments 1 to 11]

More Comments: [ < 1 2 > ]

S. F. from Ottawa, ON (10/15/2017) "Small but quaint fall colours marathon" (about: 2017) 11-50 previous marathons COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 2 Hello, This is my 28th marathon in 16 different cities all over North America and overall, it was a great marathon course (despite the out and back twice). The organization and support is fantastic, but the second half of the course, I felt I was running alone at times for long periods and I ran my marathon in 4 hours and should have some runners around me. I would recommend to move the marathon start time earlier, as I find 10:00am to late as many marathoners take 3:45 or longer and I was very hungry two hours into the marathon. Another recommendation for runner safety is to close the entire lane of the road as we were forced to run on the edge of the road, which was on broken asphalt and uneven gravel for the second half of the marathon due to oncoming traffic. Overall, if you want a small marathon with good organization, this may be a race for you, but keep in mind of the late start time and rolling hills.
C. F. from Ottawa, ON (10/11/2017) "Beautiful Fall Colours and Hilly Course!!" (about: 2017) 11-50 previous marathons \| 1 Ottawa Fall Colours Marathon COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 2 This was my 32nd Overall Marathon, and it was beautiful. The course is out and back, which you do twice. The volunteers and organization was great, with lots of support at each water station. If you want a scenic, small race, then this is it!! The positives: - The medal and t-shirt were exceptional for a small-town race. - Excellent course support and volunteers (16 water stations for the Marathon) - Very scenic and beautiful Fall Colours Areas for Improvement: 1. The start time (10am) is very late for a Marathon. When you finish the Marathon, you feel all alone. All the other runners have left since all the races start within 10 minutes of each other. If you can start the Marathon at 8am or even 9am, then the atmosphere at the Finish will be much better. 2. The course was supposed to be closed for one lane, but we had cars zipping by us on the 'closed' lane. This is very dangerous and unsafe for runners. 3. It would be nice to have a chip timing mat at the 10K turnaround, so you can see your progress throughout the Marathon. 4. Please have a two loop course, because out and back twice gets very boring and mundane for the Marathoners. The course is beautiful, but with a few tweaks, it can be amazing.
S. L. from gatineau, Quebec,Canada (10/12/2014) "Hilly but scenic" (about: 2014) 4-5 previous marathons \| 1 Ottawa Fall Colours Marathon COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 3 Very small race but well organized. I trained on hills but thought it was very hilly for a marathon. It takes a lot out of you. Loved running it though because it's not flat, but very hard to BQ on it. People very friendly, second part of the marathon a bit lonely. The only big negative point for me was ...one porta potty every 10km is NOT enough :(.
G. L. from Montreal, Quebec (10/8/2012) "Autumn Colors - SMALL town" (about: 2012) 6-10 previous marathons \| 1 Ottawa Fall Colours Marathon COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 2 Autumn Colours is correct. Beautiful scenery. Quiet neighbourhoods. If you want large crowds, this ain't it. Nice rolling hills to challenge you but not kill you. Great support on the course. Start included 100 marathoners and 300 half-marathoners, 2 laps, out & back course, so second part of course you were sometimes alone except for aid stations which were quite frequent. I recommend... whole-heartingly in fact.
r. s. from NY (10/12/2010) "Small-town feel, but tougher course than expected" (about: 2010) 11-50 previous marathons \| 1 Ottawa Fall Colours Marathon COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 2 Small-town atmosphere, so you don't have to worry about getting lost in the crowds of runners. You run one full 21K loop, and on the second one you turn around about halfway or for the last 10K back to the Cumberland Village start. I've done a bunch of marathons and really technical trail ultras, but for some reason was thinking this wouldn't be any tougher than the NYCM course. I didn't pay attention to the elevation chart, so I was wondering when we'd finally summit the course in the first loop. It was really windy for this year's event, and of course it was mostly headwinds while climbing some of the steeper or long, gradual inclines. You look forward to going back on mostly downhill but there are some rollers on the way back to the finish with the one nice, steep one right before it. It's not the most challenging but don't expect it to be a fast course. Volunteers were great. Some spectators/friends/family of runners interspersed throughout but you get to run with only a few others or by yourself at times, which is a nice change. Vegetarian and meat chili at the end was ok. Didn't have to wait too long for a massage and they actually took their time with each person, which was a nice surprise. Parking was easy and scenery was pretty good. You have a choice to fill out and submit some background info before the event, which they announce as you're crossing the finish line, and that adds that special touch for each individual.
T. L. from Peru, New York (10/14/2009) "Below average rural course - few fans/runners" (about: 2009) 11-50 previous marathons \| 1 Ottawa Fall Colours Marathon COURSE: 2 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 1 This marathon is 25 minutes outside of Ottawa in a residential rural area. No fans. Somewhat hilly. Of the 18 marathons I've run, I'd rank this one the lowest in every category. On the plus side, spending a couple of nights in Ottawa was fun - it's a great city.
T. M. from Kingston, ON (5/28/2008) "Excellent small marathon" (about: 2007) 1 previous marathon \| 1 Ottawa Fall Colours Marathon COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 2 I did this as my first marathon and it did not disappoint me. Last week I saw my hubby run the larger Ottawa spring marathon (find your way in the crowd!). He only had one gel station and was always fighting his way. And I am thrilled that I did this one. Great weather and scenery. The hills are not too bad, even for a first-time runner! If you are doing your first marathon, and want exceptional service (and lots of pictures available as a memory), then come here! You are treated like gold, not a number!
K. M. from Chilliwack, British Columbia (2/22/2008) "I would do it again!!!" (about: 2007) 4-5 previous marathons \| 1 Ottawa Fall Colours Marathon COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 3 I just read comments about this run being hilly. I don't mean to make fun of anyone, but it was a beautiful run and if you want hills, try coming to BC and doing a run out here. Now we're talking hills. I loved the setting; it reminded me of the Historic Langley Half Marathon here in BC, which ended at Old Fort Langley. Weather was perfect running weather, and I didn't notice the traffic. More spectators for us slower runners at the end would have been nice, but otherwise I thought it was very nice.
M. L. from Hawkesbury ON (10/9/2007) "Local event aimed for locals..." (about: 2007) 3 previous marathons \| 1 Ottawa Fall Colours Marathon COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 2 The course itself can be resumed in one word: hills! It seems to be made up of hills, then more hills and finally more hills to climb... One thing though, the streets are not closed - some motorist are cruising by you at speeds of about 100 km/h... This is a local event (not international) thus you get local organization. It would had been nice to have a course map provided with registration (the one on google map was a combination of all the courses in a red outline; more difficult to read than helpful). Those of you who need spectator encouragement; forget about it! There is almost no spectators throughout the course (except the start and finish area). All in all a good local race. Don't pack up just to go race it but if you are from the area it is a nice race for you... I'll be back next year for sure.
G. B. from Gore Bay, On, Ca (11/17/2006) "A bit of a tough course, but worth the effort." (about: 2006) 1 previous marathon \| 1 Ottawa Fall Colours Marathon COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 To date I've only run two marathons - one relatively big one and this small one. The race also includes a half, 10K, 5K, and a 1K for the kids. Each start is comes in 10-minute increments after the start of the marathon, which makes the marathon start really cool because you do a 1K "promenade" inside the museum grounds with all of the other racers cheering you on. The other nice thing about this race is that you can bring your own fans. My family had unlimited access to the course, which was really nice. I saw them at least, at every water station. Speaking of which, stations are every 2.5 KMs with gels at every second one. The other runners were super. I chatted with several other runners as we jogged a sub-1:44 half, and after the race, the second-place finisher even came up to me and asked me how it went. There is a potentially tough series of hills at about 3 KMs, and since this is a two-lap race, they come again at about 24K, but once you get to the top, it's pretty flat or downhill. Make sure you've done your hills before you come, but do come. It's a super little race. After experiencing the two "sizes" of races, I'll be looking for more small ones. One little thing they need to work on is the course profile on the web. It makes the course look much tougher than it is.

More Comments: [ < 1 2 > ]



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S. F. from Ottawa, ON (10/15/2017) "Small but quaint fall colours marathon" (about: 2017) 11-50 previous marathons COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 2 Hello, This is my 28th marathon in 16 different cities all over North America and overall, it was a great marathon course (despite the out and back twice). The organization and support is fantastic, but the second half of the course, I felt I was running alone at times for long periods and I ran my marathon in 4 hours and should have some runners around me. I would recommend to move the marathon start time earlier, as I find 10:00am to late as many marathoners take 3:45 or longer and I was very hungry two hours into the marathon. Another recommendation for runner safety is to close the entire lane of the road as we were forced to run on the edge of the road, which was on broken asphalt and uneven gravel for the second half of the marathon due to oncoming traffic. Overall, if you want a small marathon with good organization, this may be a race for you, but keep in mind of the late start time and rolling hills.
C. F. from Ottawa, ON (10/11/2017) "Beautiful Fall Colours and Hilly Course!!" (about: 2017) 11-50 previous marathons \| 1 Ottawa Fall Colours Marathon COURSE: 3 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 2 This was my 32nd Overall Marathon, and it was beautiful. The course is out and back, which you do twice. The volunteers and organization was great, with lots of support at each water station. If you want a scenic, small race, then this is it!! The positives: - The medal and t-shirt were exceptional for a small-town race. - Excellent course support and volunteers (16 water stations for the Marathon) - Very scenic and beautiful Fall Colours Areas for Improvement: 1. The start time (10am) is very late for a Marathon. When you finish the Marathon, you feel all alone. All the other runners have left since all the races start within 10 minutes of each other. If you can start the Marathon at 8am or even 9am, then the atmosphere at the Finish will be much better. 2. The course was supposed to be closed for one lane, but we had cars zipping by us on the 'closed' lane. This is very dangerous and unsafe for runners. 3. It would be nice to have a chip timing mat at the 10K turnaround, so you can see your progress throughout the Marathon. 4. Please have a two loop course, because out and back twice gets very boring and mundane for the Marathoners. The course is beautiful, but with a few tweaks, it can be amazing.
S. L. from gatineau, Quebec,Canada (10/12/2014) "Hilly but scenic" (about: 2014) 4-5 previous marathons \| 1 Ottawa Fall Colours Marathon COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 3 Very small race but well organized. I trained on hills but thought it was very hilly for a marathon. It takes a lot out of you. Loved running it though because it's not flat, but very hard to BQ on it. People very friendly, second part of the marathon a bit lonely. The only big negative point for me was ...one porta potty every 10km is NOT enough :(.
G. L. from Montreal, Quebec (10/8/2012) "Autumn Colors - SMALL town" (about: 2012) 6-10 previous marathons \| 1 Ottawa Fall Colours Marathon COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 2 Autumn Colours is correct. Beautiful scenery. Quiet neighbourhoods. If you want large crowds, this ain't it. Nice rolling hills to challenge you but not kill you. Great support on the course. Start included 100 marathoners and 300 half-marathoners, 2 laps, out & back course, so second part of course you were sometimes alone except for aid stations which were quite frequent. I recommend... whole-heartingly in fact.
r. s. from NY (10/12/2010) "Small-town feel, but tougher course than expected" (about: 2010) 11-50 previous marathons \| 1 Ottawa Fall Colours Marathon COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 4 FANS: 2 Small-town atmosphere, so you don't have to worry about getting lost in the crowds of runners. You run one full 21K loop, and on the second one you turn around about halfway or for the last 10K back to the Cumberland Village start. I've done a bunch of marathons and really technical trail ultras, but for some reason was thinking this wouldn't be any tougher than the NYCM course. I didn't pay attention to the elevation chart, so I was wondering when we'd finally summit the course in the first loop. It was really windy for this year's event, and of course it was mostly headwinds while climbing some of the steeper or long, gradual inclines. You look forward to going back on mostly downhill but there are some rollers on the way back to the finish with the one nice, steep one right before it. It's not the most challenging but don't expect it to be a fast course. Volunteers were great. Some spectators/friends/family of runners interspersed throughout but you get to run with only a few others or by yourself at times, which is a nice change. Vegetarian and meat chili at the end was ok. Didn't have to wait too long for a massage and they actually took their time with each person, which was a nice surprise. Parking was easy and scenery was pretty good. You have a choice to fill out and submit some background info before the event, which they announce as you're crossing the finish line, and that adds that special touch for each individual.
T. L. from Peru, New York (10/14/2009) "Below average rural course - few fans/runners" (about: 2009) 11-50 previous marathons \| 1 Ottawa Fall Colours Marathon COURSE: 2 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 1 This marathon is 25 minutes outside of Ottawa in a residential rural area. No fans. Somewhat hilly. Of the 18 marathons I've run, I'd rank this one the lowest in every category. On the plus side, spending a couple of nights in Ottawa was fun - it's a great city.
T. M. from Kingston, ON (5/28/2008) "Excellent small marathon" (about: 2007) 1 previous marathon \| 1 Ottawa Fall Colours Marathon COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 2 I did this as my first marathon and it did not disappoint me. Last week I saw my hubby run the larger Ottawa spring marathon (find your way in the crowd!). He only had one gel station and was always fighting his way. And I am thrilled that I did this one. Great weather and scenery. The hills are not too bad, even for a first-time runner! If you are doing your first marathon, and want exceptional service (and lots of pictures available as a memory), then come here! You are treated like gold, not a number!
K. M. from Chilliwack, British Columbia (2/22/2008) "I would do it again!!!" (about: 2007) 4-5 previous marathons \| 1 Ottawa Fall Colours Marathon COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 3 I just read comments about this run being hilly. I don't mean to make fun of anyone, but it was a beautiful run and if you want hills, try coming to BC and doing a run out here. Now we're talking hills. I loved the setting; it reminded me of the Historic Langley Half Marathon here in BC, which ended at Old Fort Langley. Weather was perfect running weather, and I didn't notice the traffic. More spectators for us slower runners at the end would have been nice, but otherwise I thought it was very nice.
M. L. from Hawkesbury ON (10/9/2007) "Local event aimed for locals..." (about: 2007) 3 previous marathons \| 1 Ottawa Fall Colours Marathon COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 3 FANS: 2 The course itself can be resumed in one word: hills! It seems to be made up of hills, then more hills and finally more hills to climb... One thing though, the streets are not closed - some motorist are cruising by you at speeds of about 100 km/h... This is a local event (not international) thus you get local organization. It would had been nice to have a course map provided with registration (the one on google map was a combination of all the courses in a red outline; more difficult to read than helpful). Those of you who need spectator encouragement; forget about it! There is almost no spectators throughout the course (except the start and finish area). All in all a good local race. Don't pack up just to go race it but if you are from the area it is a nice race for you... I'll be back next year for sure.
G. B. from Gore Bay, On, Ca (11/17/2006) "A bit of a tough course, but worth the effort." (about: 2006) 1 previous marathon \| 1 Ottawa Fall Colours Marathon COURSE: 4 ORGANIZATION: 5 FANS: 5 To date I've only run two marathons - one relatively big one and this small one. The race also includes a half, 10K, 5K, and a 1K for the kids. Each start is comes in 10-minute increments after the start of the marathon, which makes the marathon start really cool because you do a 1K "promenade" inside the museum grounds with all of the other racers cheering you on. The other nice thing about this race is that you can bring your own fans. My family had unlimited access to the course, which was really nice. I saw them at least, at every water station. Speaking of which, stations are every 2.5 KMs with gels at every second one. The other runners were super. I chatted with several other runners as we jogged a sub-1:44 half, and after the race, the second-place finisher even came up to me and asked me how it went. There is a potentially tough series of hills at about 3 KMs, and since this is a two-lap race, they come again at about 24K, but once you get to the top, it's pretty flat or downhill. Make sure you've done your hills before you come, but do come. It's a super little race. After experiencing the two "sizes" of races, I'll be looking for more small ones. One little thing they need to work on is the course profile on the web. It makes the course look much tougher than it is.

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Marathon Details - Ottawa Fall Colours Marathon