Full marathon returns to take runners 42 kilometres through scenic parts of Mississauga

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Published April 22, 2024 at 3:21 pm

Mississauga Marathon 2024.
Runners race by City Hall during the 2023 Half-Marathon in Mississauga.

The full marathon is back in town this coming Sunday in Mississauga.

At 42 kilometres in distance, the full-length running event is the main attraction at the 2024 Beneva Mississauga Marathon race weekend, taking place April 27-28.

After dropping the full-length run from its program last April for the first time in its two-decade history, the revamped and rebranded Mississauga Marathon is putting the “marathon” back in its name and into the mix for the 2024 event.

The full marathon takes place on Sunday starting at 7:30 a.m. at Celebration Square in the downtown core. The finish line is at Lakefront Promenade Park, beside the Mississauga Sailing Club. Time limit for the course is 6.5 hours.

Participants must be at least 18 years old and registration for the 42K run and all race weekend events is still open.

Marathon organizers said earlier they’re building on the success of the last 20 years as they look to the future.

“The Beneva Mississauga Marathon event weekend has taken on a new and enhanced look and feel, and in 2024 the runner experience will be second to none,” organizers said on the event’s website. “With the Beneva Mississauga Marathon, Half Marathon, 10K and Novo Nordisk 5K runs, we offer a race for every age and ability.”

Video offers a recap of the April 2023 race weekend.

Organizers describe the 42-kilometre race as “the GTA’s best spring marathon” and note that once again it serves as a qualifier for the prestigious Boston Marathon the following year (the 2024 Boston Marathon took place last Monday).

The Mississauga Marathon course is a net downhill route that’s both “scenic and fast,” event organizers add.

“Starting at ‘Spectator Village’ (Celebration Square) in the heart of Mississauga and finishing along the scenic shore of Lake Ontario, this certified course will take you from the City Centre over and past the Credit River and through the prestigious University of Toronto Mississauga campus before heading through the beautiful neighbourhoods of Mississauga Road, south Mississauga and past the iconic Port Credit lighthouse,” organizers explain.

For information on other race weekend events, including the Half Marathon (21.1 kilometres), also taking place on April 28, visit the Mississauga Marathon website (see registration link above in story).
The April 2023 run was known as the Mississauga Half, due to the exclusion of the full marathon for the first time since the event’s inception in 2004.

It was noted early in 2023 that with registration for the full marathon dropping dramatically in recent years — from pre-pandemic numbers of 1,000 entrants to fewer than 500 in the 2022 race, according to Canadian Running magazine — the decision was made to give the event a facelift and focus on the half marathon.

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