Vancouver USA Marathon moves to September

The Vancouver USA Marathon is moving to September.

For each of its six years, the annual race has been held on Father’s Day in June.

This year’s race will take place Sunday, Sept. 17. A three-day beerfest, two-day race expo and bike tour of the course will take place in days leading up to the marathon.

Last year’s event saw 750 register for the marathon and 1,500 for the half marathon. But with registration stagnant, race director Brian Davis believes the new date offers more potential for growth amid a crowded marathon calendar.

“This is not only a tough move, but a smart move,” Davis said in a statement. “We have been challenged with the Rock & Roll Seattle Marathon on the same weekend, along with challenges for staff, flaggers, officers and volunteer groups on this family day.”

Davis said the Vancouver USA Marathon typically draws dozens of runners from the Seattle-Tacoma area. He didn’t want those runners to have to choose between those races.

“Competition with races and events is hard these days,” Davis said. “But competing with family events is even harder.”

The Vancouver USA Marathon recently incurred the anger of runners who had qualified for the Boston Marathon, but learned their entries would not be accepted. That was due to a course error that left the course 1,126 feet shorter than the started marathon distance of 26.2 miles.

The race’s move to September has been in the works for months and had nothing to do with the fallout from that mistake.