From World Cup downhills and Ironman triathlons to the annual October Turkey Trot, Whistler has played host to countless athletic competitions and events featuring many different sports. The Alta Lake Sports Club was founded in 1975, and though a lot of its efforts went to organizing cross-country ski trails and events, the group soon began organizing running events in the Whistler area. It was not until 1982, however, that Whistler hosted its first marathon.
Whistler’s first marathon and half-marathon took place Aug. 29, 1982, and drew 131 entrants, though race coordinator Tom Sutherland had earlier expected only 50 to 75 participants to sign up.
A couple weeks before the race, the course was carefully measured by Sutherland and Wayne Fisher using a Jones Counter, a bicycle odometer, after the pair rode a measured kilometre certified by local surveying company Brown & Associates.
The 13.1-mile (or 21.1-km) course took runners from the bus loop in Whistler Village, north along Highway 99, through White Gold Estates, back to the highway, into Alpine Meadows and down Rainbow Drive, along Alta Lake Road, back up the highway, through Brio, and then back onto Highway 99 and into the Village to finish at the bus loop. Those who chose to run the full marathon then ran the entire loop a second time.
While measuring the course, Sutherland and Fisher carefully placed mileage markers to indicate distances and aid-station locations. Unfortunately for them, two days after they marked the route, Alta Lake Road was sealcoated and all of their markers were wiped away. The process also left the road less than smooth, and highways district manager Ron Winbow told organizers crews would not be able to sweep the road until it had rained and the surface was damp, making it safe for the operators of the sweeping equipment. Thankfully for the race, Art Den Duyf of Sabre Bulldozing Ltd. agreed to use his equipment to water the stretch of road, allowing highway crews to follow behind with the sweeper.
Despite being described by many as a difficult course, most participants appear to have had a positive experience, including Stephanie Greenall, who at 14 was the youngest runner. She ran the half-marathon alongside her father Dave who, having completed the course, spontaneously decided to run it again and finish the full marathon. Former Whistler resident Dag Aabye, who in 1982 was living in Squamish, told the Whistler Question, “I’ve run in five marathons, and this one is great!”
According to Murray Coates, the only full-time Whistler resident to register for the full marathon, “to say it was good would be an understatement. Everybody—the spectators, organizers, volunteers and runners—put all they had into it. It was mind-boggling how great it was.” Because it was the first time the event was held, winners of each category set new records, including Loreen Barnett, a member of the ALSC, who came first in the women’s marathon.
The marathon and half-marathon event returned the next summer as part of the Whistler Fitness Festival held in July 1983 that also included the Whistler Molson Bicycle Race, a Windsurfing Regatta, and the Mr. Mountain Contest (the summer of 1983 also saw Whistler’s first triathlon). This time, almost 250 runners were registered, including local residents, repeat racers, and one couple from New York who decided the race would be a great addition to their honeymoon.
In 1984, the half-marathon returned but the full marathon did not, and despite early hopes to establish the Whistler Marathon as part of a marathon circuit, the event appears to have stopped altogether in 1985. Today, Whistler hosts a variety of running events, including the Whistler Half Marathon that began in the mid-2000s.
