HamiltonLimo.net drives runners and spectators for the Around the Bay Road Race, the Hamilton 30K first run in 1894. Runners get a drop-off before the road closures and a pickup after the finish; families book an hourly chauffeur to follow the course. Planning figures: $75–100 one way within Hamilton, $90–115 from Burlington, $245–300 from Pearson; hourly sedan $120–145.
Around the Bay Road Race car service: what runners book
Race morning in Hamilton is a logistics puzzle: thousands of runners converge on the harbour, the roads around the start close early, parking lots near the start fill before 8:00 am, and after the race nobody wants to walk a kilometre to a car with stiff legs and a foil blanket. We solve the two ends of it. A runner drop-off gets you to the start area before the closures take effect, at a corner the police are still letting traffic reach. A finish pickup meets you at an agreed spot outside the finish zone. If you want both, plus the same car holding your warm clothes all morning, book an hourly chauffeur in Hamilton and the chauffeur is yours from breakfast to lunch.
A race older than the Boston Marathon
The organisers describe Around the Bay as North America's longest-running road race, first run in 1894, three years before the first Boston Marathon. The signature distance is 30 km around Hamilton Harbour, with shorter 15K, 10K and 5K events on the same morning; the old relay categories have been dropped. The 30K is a classic tune-up for runners preparing for a spring marathon, and it has a reputation: rolling roads along the harbour, wind off the lake, and the long climb on Valley Inn Road late in the race that runners call Heartbreak Hill. Everything official, from bib pickup to cut-off times, lives on the Around the Bay race website.
When the race usually runs
Traditionally the race is held on the last Sunday of March, but the date has moved when it clashes with other events: the 2026 race was run on April 12, and the organisers currently list Sunday, April 4, 2027 for the next edition. Treat any date you read anywhere else, including on this page, as provisional until it appears on the race site. The 30K usually starts at about 9:30 am with the shorter distances staggered around it, and the 30K has a time limit of about four and a half hours with mandatory checkpoints on the course. Book your car as soon as you register; race-morning demand for chauffeured cars in Hamilton is concentrated into about two hours.
Where the start and finish are
For many years the race started on York Boulevard beside the arena now called TD Coliseum and finished inside the arena itself, one of the great finishes in Canadian running. During the arena renovation the start and finish moved (to Hamilton Stadium, the former Tim Hortons Field, in 2024), and the 2026 30K started on Leander Drive beside Pier 4 Park on the waterfront, with the 15K, 10K and 5K starting at other points around the harbour. Because the layout has changed several times in recent years, check the current course map on the race site before you book, and enter the start area in your pickup notes. The chauffeur plans the drop-off and the finish pickup from the published map and the road-closure notice.
Planning fares for race morning
These planning figures are one way to the start area or from the finish, all-in (chauffeur, vehicle, fuel, any 407 tolls, gratuity) with HST shown separately. The reservation engine quotes the exact address, date and vehicle before you confirm.
| From | Distance to downtown Hamilton | Drive time (early Sunday) | Business sedan | 14-seat Sprinter |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hamilton, Westdale, the Mountain | up to 15 km | 10–25 min | $75–100 | $210–275 |
| Ancaster, Dundas, Stoney Creek | 10–15 km | 15–20 min | $75–100 | $210–275 |
| Burlington | about 15 km | 15–25 min | $90–115 | $250–315 |
| Oakville | about 40 km | 30–40 min | $145–175 | $400–485 |
| Mississauga | about 60 km | 40–55 min | $195–240 | $535–660 |
| St. Catharines | about 55 km | 35–45 min | $175–215 | $485–590 |
| Niagara Falls / Niagara-on-the-Lake | about 70 km | 50–60 min | $230–280 | $630–770 |
| Toronto Pearson (YYZ) | about 70 km | 45–65 min | $245–300 | $675–825 |
| Union Station / downtown Toronto | about 68 km | 50–75 min | $270–330 | $745–910 |
Early on a Sunday the QEW and 403 usually run close to the fast end of those drive times. A Business SUV (Tahoe or Yukon, up to 5 passengers and 5 bags) is about 1.3 times the sedan figure, $100–130 one way within Hamilton, and an executive SUV about 65 % more than the sedan. The full list is on the HamiltonLimo.net rates page.
Road closures: why timing is everything
Large parts of the course, including sections of the waterfront, Beach Boulevard and roads in Burlington, close to traffic on race morning, and the streets around the start close earlier than most people expect. The race organisers publish a road-closure notice and recommend being parked before 8:00 am. For a 9:30 start we plan runner drop-offs between about 7:45 and 8:30 am, depending on where you are coming from, so you are through any barriers before they go up and have time for the washroom queue and a warm-up. If you are staying at a downtown hotel, a pickup at 8:00 am is usually right; from Toronto, that means leaving around 6:45 to 7:00 am. We check Ontario 511 before dispatch for any overnight highway work.
Where the car can and cannot stop on race day
Chauffeurs never drive onto a closed course, stop in a live lane or drop a runner inside a barrier. The drop-off is on the nearest open street to your start corral, and the chauffeur texts the exact corner the evening before or early on the morning. After the race the finish zone is crowded and partly closed, so the pickup is set a few blocks away on an open street, and you walk out with your medal and bag. Our standard advice: agree a landmark meeting spot rather than a street address, keep your phone in your bag-check bag, and message the chauffeur as you leave the finish area. If you are hobbling, the chauffeur will come as close as the police allow.
Following the race as a spectator
Around the Bay is a wonderful race to watch, and the organisers suggest viewing points including Beach Boulevard near the Burlington Canal Lift Bridge, LaSalle Park in Burlington, the area near Dundurn Castle, Bayfront Park and the Hamilton harbourfront. Watching at two or three of them on public roads is hard, because the course itself cuts the obvious routes. A chauffeur who knows how the closures work can take the long way round via the QEW, the 403 and Plains Road, and drop the family at the next open viewing point with time to spare. This is exactly where hourly beats one-way: the car is always with you, and nobody spends the morning looking for parking in Burlington.
Hourly examples for runners and families
A runner staying in Oakville who books a business sedan from 7:15 am to 1:15 pm keeps the car for six hours: roughly $720–870 all-in plus HST, including the drive in, waiting with a dry change of clothes, a stop for the family at LaSalle Park and the ride home after brunch. A family in Hamilton who wants two viewing points and the finish can often do it in a 4-hour sedan booking at $480–580. A running club of twelve from Mississauga in a Sprinter for six hours sits at about $1,980–2,310 before HST, which works out to under $195 each and puts everyone at the start together. Compare the two booking styles in our hourly vs point-to-point guide.
Running clubs and teams
Clubs from across southern Ontario come to Hamilton for this race, and moving a whole club is where a single vehicle pays off. Our own Sprinter group transportation carries up to fourteen runners and their bags, and the chauffeur can take everyone from a hotel or a club meeting point to the start, keep the bags secure while the group runs, and collect the whole team from one pickup spot afterwards. For larger groups we can add a second Sprinter from our own fleet or arrange a coach from vetted partner operators in the LimousineWorldwide.Directory network, priced in writing by a coordinator. Tell us the expected finish times of your fastest and slowest runners and we will plan the wait around them.
Arriving for race weekend by air or train
Many out-of-town runners fly in on the Friday or Saturday. From Toronto Pearson, about 70 km and 45–65 minutes, our Hamilton to Pearson car service covers the transfer with flight tracking and 30 minutes of included waiting on Canadian and US flights (60 minutes on other international arrivals). Check John C. Munro Hamilton International Airport (YHM) for flights into Hamilton itself, about 15 km from downtown. Runners coming by rail can take GO or VIA to Aldershot or GO into the Hamilton GO Centre; confirm times on GO Transit and we will meet you there for the short ride to your hotel.
Bib pickup, race expo and the day before
The race weekend usually includes a bib pickup and expo in the days before the race; the location and hours are published by the organisers. A short hourly booking on the Saturday is a good way to pick up your bib, drive the key parts of the course so you know where Valley Inn Road climbs, check in at your hotel and have the chauffeur drop you for an early pasta dinner. Three hours in a sedan covers it comfortably. Bringing family? The chauffeur can then take them to the Royal Botanical Gardens or the harbour while you rest your legs.
After the finish: warm, dry and home
Late March and April weather in Hamilton can be anything from sunshine to sleet, and finishing a 30K in a cold wind is when people most appreciate a warm car. The chauffeur pre-heats the vehicle, keeps your dry kit on board and has water ready. Muddy shoes are fine; we carry mats. If you want to stop for a celebration brunch, a quick photo at the harbour or to collect a friend who ran the 15K, an hourly booking absorbs all of it. Anyone travelling onwards to Pearson, Union Station or Buffalo the same afternoon can go straight from the finish; allow extra time on the first stretch while the downtown roads reopen.
Weather and spring driving
Spring in Hamilton still brings frost, freezing rain and the occasional late snowfall, especially on the Mountain and on the escarpment accesses. Our fleet runs winter tires through the season, and dispatchers check Environment Canada forecasts the night before so any early-morning ice is built into the pickup time. If the organisers change the race because of weather, contact dispatch straight away and we will adjust the times or cancel under our standard terms.
Book your Around the Bay ride direct
Book on HamiltonLimo.net's own reservation engine: enter your pickup address, the start area as the destination (or choose hourly), the race date and the vehicle class. The engine shows a fixed all-in fare with HST shown separately before you confirm; there is no surge on race morning. Add your expected finish time and a meeting spot in the notes. Booking direct means no app, no aggregator commission and one dispatch desk that knows the closure map. Cancellation is free more than 72 hours before pickup; 10 % applies at 72 hours or less, 50 % at 48 hours or less and 100 % at 24 hours or less or on a no-show.
