The Ottawa Race Weekend (also known as Tamarack Ottawa Race Weekend for sponsorship reasons) is an annual weekend of road running events held the last weekend of May in the city of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. The two-day running event includes seven races, including the Ottawa Marathon, all of which start and end at Ottawa City Hall.[3] The marathon was first held in 1975, and is categorized as an Elite Label Road Race by World Athletics.[4][5] Over 40,000 participants take part in the races each year.
The Ottawa Race Weekend also includes Canada's largest health and fitness expo, which opens on the Thursday before the weekend. In addition, each year, participants in the Ottawa Race Weekend raise close to $1 million for approximately 25 local and national charities affiliated with the event.
The race weekend includes seven races: a 1.2 km kids marathon, 2K, 5K, 10K, half marathon, wheelchair marathon, and marathon.[3] All of the races start and finish at Ottawa City Hall.[3]
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.[7][8] On October 22, 2015, the Marathon also became an IAAF Gold Label road race.[9][10] In 2023, the race was reclassified by World Athletics as an Elite road race (one level below Gold).
History
2011 and 2012 winner, Laban Moiben, leading the race through the 18 km mark during the 2012 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 accidentally cut 400 m (1,300 ft) off the course because a motorist moved a barricade after a group of high school student volunteers had left their post to talk to some friends.[11]Amos Tirop Matui of Kenya crossed the finish line first, but the fourteen affected runners were marked as "non-ratified results".[11] Some runners were given places, including Matui, who was placed third, and some runners were financially compensated.[4][11][12]
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. The event took on the name "Tamarack Ottawa Race Weekend" when Ottawa-based Tamarack Homes joined as title sponsor.
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.
2016: A heat wave caused temperatures during Ottawa Race Weekend to exceed 30 degrees at times. The start times of some events were modified.[13]
2019: A closure of Elgin Street for construction[14] and a closure of the Chaudière Crossing due to flooding forced Ottawa Race Weekend to modify its route.[15]
2020 and 2021: The Ottawa Race Weekend was cancelled due to the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic, which had postponed or cancelled 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. 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.[17][18]
Management
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 nine full-time staff in organizing the event.
† 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.[4]
