The Van 26.2 is a great 26k training run intended to give you a good overview of the Vancouver Marathon course with only 62% of the calories.
After heading north on Fir, the Van 26.2 route joins the marathon course at about the 6.5k mark. It follows the 4th/6th/2nd Avenue corridor and heads north on Quebec until it reaches the intersection at Pacific where Van 26.2 picks up the first part of the marathon from about the 100m point through the first Chinatown loop to about the 1.5k mark. At this point the marathon would continue south on Quebec for the first out-and-back, but here the Van 26.2 route cuts east across Union and drops down to Prior via Gore, rejoining the marathon at a little past 12k for the longest continual stretch on the actual marathon route. From here, Van 26.2 follows the marathon course to just past the 29k mark at Arbutus where it turns right and does the Kits Point loop to Fir, or about 36.7k to 38.7k on the marathon course. Keeners could continue past Arbutus and add as much of the marathon’s Cornwall out-and-back as they want in order to bump the total distance up to as much as 34.5k.
It’s a good thing the Vancouver Marathon has regular water stations on race day, because finding water or washrooms on the route can be a bit of a challenge through the downtown eastside and downtown sections early on a Sunday morning. The Seabus terminal surprisingly has no washrooms.
Fun fact, the Seabus terminal does have washrooms, but they’re within the Fare Paid zone, so it’ll cost ya.