Ottawa Race Weekend
| Ottawa Race Weekend | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Date | Last weekend of May |
| Location | Ottawa, Ontario and Gatineau, Quebec |
| Event type | Road |
| Distance | Marathon, Half marathon, 10K run, 5K run, 2K, 1.2K Kids Marathon |
| Primary sponsor | Tamarack |
| Established | 1975 |
| Course records |
Marathon: Men: 2:06:54 (2014) Yemane Tsegay Women: 2:24:30 (2014) Tigist Tufa 10K: Men: 27:24 (2009) Deriba Merga Women: 30:55 (2015) Gladys Cherono |
| Official site | Run Ottawa - Tamarack Ottawa Race Weekend |
The Ottawa Race Weekend is an annual weekend of road running events, which is held the last weekend of May in the city of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. In 2012, the event took on the name Tamarack Ottawa Race Weekend when Ottawa-based Tamarack Homes joined as title sponsor.
The two-day running event includes seven races, all of which start and end at Ottawa City Hall: a 1.2 km kids marathon, 2K, 5K, 10K, half marathon, wheelchair marathon, and marathon. Over 40,000 participants take part in the races each year.
The signature event of the weekend is the Ottawa Marathon, which was first held in 1975. Today it is the largest marathon event in Canada and is a qualifier for the Boston Marathon. The event is also home to the Canadian Marathon Championships and the Canadian Forces Marathon Championships.
The Ottawa Race Weekend was at one point the only road racing event in the world to host two IAAF Silver Label events: the 10K and the Ottawa Marathon. In 2014 the 10k became the first IAAF Gold Label road race in Canada. In October 22, 2015, the Marathon also became an IAAF Gold Label road race.
The event is organized by Run Ottawa, a not-for-profit organization. More than 2,000 volunteers, including a volunteer race committee, support a team of five full-time staff in organizing the event.
The Ottawa Race Weekend includes Canada’s largest health and fitness expo, which opens on the Thursday before the weekend.
Each year, participants in the Ottawa Race Weekend raise close to $1 million for approximately 25 local and national charities affiliated with the event.
1975 - 146 runners, 143 men and 3 women, participate in the inaugural Ottawa Marathon.
1986 - 10K distance is added.
1995 - Inline skating is permitted on the marathon course.
1996 - Jim Robinson joins as the Race Director.
1998 - 5K distance and half-marathon are added. Ottawa becomes the first running event in Canada to be chip-timed.
1999 - 2K distance is added.
2005 - Inline skating is no longer permitted.
2006 - Fourteen runners cut 400m off the course after a local resident moves the barricades. Amos Tirop Matui of Kenya placed first but was disqualified along with the other thirteen runners. Some runners were financially compensated.
2010 - Rick Ball breaks world record for a single-leg amputee in a marathon.
2012 - Jim Robinson retires and two-time Olympian, and previous Ottawa 10K course record holder John Halvorsen is named Race Director.
2013 - Close to 44,000 people participate in the Tamarack Ottawa Race Weekend, making it the largest multi-race road racing event in Canada.
2014 - Ottawa Marathon celebrates 40 years; 48,000 people expected to participate in the weekend’s seven events.
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Wikipedia