Mississauga Marathon

This marathon is back with a new sponsor and course changes after the pandemic hiatus. The course has been tweaked to include an out-and-back and a loop in the Mississauga City Centre development at the start and to remove one unpopular downhill / uphill section closer to the end. There's also small route changes in the middle, but the start and finish are still in the same spots and it's still a point-to-point net downhill course. It starts at the Mississauga City Centre with large residential towers and a massive shopping mall, runs through nicer suburban and parkland areas when not on major roads, and finishes at a lakeshore marina. There is still one dusty industrial stretch in Miles 17-19 which could use some improvement. There's plenty of rolling hills after a significant downhill early on, but there are also long flat stretches. The race is relatively well organized for a smaller suburban event. Water stations are spaced too widely, though they were better served this time by cheerful volunteers. There are multiple timing mats and checkpoints. Roads are not fully closed and at one point involve running in a very narrow coned-off lane next to traffic, but overall traffic management at intersections was good, with runners given priority. There's a fair amount of shared bike/pedestrian paths closer to the finish which could get crowded. No expo to speak of at the number pick-up, but plenty of food and liquids at the finish and a comfortable coach transportation back to the start where most runners park their vehicles. Spectators aren't numerous except at the start and finish, but there's a few loud official cheering stations, and overall it seemed like people were into it more than previous years (e.g. a few neighbourhoods have set up their informal water/cheer stations). I would recommend this as a spring race in the Greater Toronto area; it compares very favourably with the poorly organized springtime Toronto Marathon, but does require a trip to the suburbs.