The Ottawa Race Weekend is an annual weekend of road running events, which is held the last weekend of May in the city ofOttawa, Ontario, Canada. The event took on the name Tamarack Ottawa Race Weekend in 2012 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 Labelroad race in Canada. In October 22, 2015, the Marathon also became an IAAFGold Label road race. In 2020 Ottawa Race Weekend was canceled due to the 2019–20 coronavirus pandemic, which had postponed or canceled nearly all large races, closed most places of commerce and worship, and shut down most gatherings of 10 or more people. Organizers declined to refund participants, but offered a 50 percent discount on 2021 Race Weekend events. Although many people who had paid for the races questioned the choice, organizers said they had already spent a large percentage of revenues prior to Race Weekend.
Organization
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.
Expo
The Ottawa Race Weekend includes Canada’s largest health and fitness expo, which opens on the Thursday before the weekend.
Charitable contribution
Each year, participants in the Ottawa Race Weekend raise close to $1 million for approximately 25 local and national charities affiliated with the event.
History
Past winners
Key:
Marathon
† Bouramdane was declared the official winner. A number of faster runners, led by Amos Tirop Matui, were disqualified after a route error caused them to cut 400 m off the true marathon distance.
