Half Marathon Walk FAQ
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What time does the Sask Egg Producers Half Marathon Walk start?
How long is the Half Marathon course open?
What happens when the Half Marathon course closes at Noon?
Where do Sask Egg Producers Half Marathon Walk participants line up at the start?
Do you have a walking category for the FULL marathon?
Why don't you start the Walkers an hour earlier than the Runners?
What time does the Sask Egg Producers Half Marathon Walk start?
The Sask Egg Producers Half Marathon Walk event starts at 8:00 AM, at the same time as the Full Marathon, Half Marathon Run and Bellamy Kia Relay events.
Only enter the Sask Egg Producers Half Marathon Walk event if you intend to walk 100% of the course, 100% of the time.
If you intend to do a combination of walking & running, please enter the Half Marathon Run.
How long is the Half Marathon course open?
The Half Marathon course is officially open for 4 hours (8:00 AM - NOON).
For pace calculations, that 4-hour time limit translates into a walking pace of 11:22 per km (5.28 kph) or 18:18 per mile (3.28 mph).
What happens when the Half Marathon course closes at Noon?
Aid stations and traffic control close once the last participant has passed, or at NOON (for the half marathon events), whichever comes first.
After that point, participants still on the course become, essentially, "informed pedestrians" and must abide by regular pedestrian regulations (e.g. using sidewalks, crossing streets at controlled intersections, yielding to vehicle traffic, etc.).
The Credit Union QCM assumes no responsibility, including medical and aid station support, for participants on the course after the course closes. However, a skeleton finish line crew, including timing and medical personnel, will remain until the most determined participant is across the finish line.
Where do Sask Egg Producers Half Marathon Walk participants line up at the start?
We ask that all Sask Egg Producers Half Marathon Walk participants to please assemble at the rear of the starting pack, to avoid any runner/walker collisions at the start.
Do you have a walking category for the FULL marathon?
The Credit Union QCM does not currently have a separate walk category for the full marathon. The Full Marathon course is officially open for 6 hours (8:00 AM - 2:00 PM) and all full marathon participants should have the ability to finish within this 6-hour time limit.
Whether a participant is running or walking, the full marathon course is only open for 6 hours.
If you estimate that you would need 6:30, 6:45, 7:00 hours or even longer to complete the full marathon course, then you must enter the Sask Egg Producers Half Marathon Walk event.
Being out on the course for that length of time becomes not only a strain on our volunteer resources, it also becomes an increasing health and safety hazard for you. Our medical team can and will remove you from the course if they feel your health and well-being is in danger.
If you have entered the Full Marathon event, with the expectation of finishing within the 6-hour time limit, only to find - as you train and race-day approaches - that you have been overly optimistic and can't possibly walk the full course in less than 6 hours, you can certainly switch over to the Half Marathon Walk event, prior to race day.
Please CLICK HERE for information about switching events.
When we approach the finish line, why do the race announcer and course marshals keep reminding the walkers to keep to the right side of the course?
That's a good question. First, please understand that these reminders are not done out of disrespect for the worthy efforts of our Sask Egg Producers Half Marathon Walk participants. The reason behind it is one of safety.
We have several thousand people crossing the finish line during the race - sometimes in large bunches - and those bunches consist of participants travelling at quite different speeds. Some are walking and some are running as fast as they possibly can.
As you approach the finish line, the race announcer (assisted by Credit Union QCM course marshals) will direct walkers to keep to the right-hand side of the course.
We will also be instructing runners to keep to the left-hand side of the course.
For your own safety and the safety of others, we ask that everyone respect these instructions.
We appreciate and applaud the efforts and achievements of ALL our participants, regardless of their speed or finishing time. We're just trying to avoid any finish-line crashes.
We want you crossing the finish line with your arms raised in triumph, not tangled in some bruised pile with a tunnel-visioned runner making a final dash to hit a Boston-qualifying time.
We kindly ask for your patience and understanding.
Why don't you start the Walkers an hour earlier than the Runners?
That's a good, straightforward and simple question. However, like many simple questions, the answer is much more complex than one might first imagine. To download a PDF file than outlines the reasoning why we do not start our walking event an hour earlier than our running event, click on this link: Why the QCM doesn't start the walk early.pdf
Please note that the answer to this question - or, rather, the reasoning behind the answer - is 4 pages long.
