March Madness! 200 spots left in Canada’s largest marathon!

There are only 200 spots left in the Marathon event at the Tamarack Ottawa Race Weekend—and it’s not even halfway through March! Almost 6,000 runners are now signed up to give 42.2 km their best shot on May 26th, 2013. This adds to record pace sell-outs of the Half-Marathon, 10K, 5K events, and 2K events for a total number of 43,000 runners set to participate over the weekend. People love this race!

And if you’re a student in grades 3 to 8, now is the time to sign up for the Y Kids Marathon. Check out 11-year old Albert Larochelle’s great story (in our Feature Charity section) about how running the Y Kids Marathon has been a major turning point for him.

Thank you Robbie!

February 28th was a special day at Run Ottawa headquarters, as our long-time Race Director, Jim “Robbie” Robinson retired from his full-time duties as head of the Tamarack Ottawa Race Weekend.

We won’t lie. We’re a bit sad to see our friend move on. But it’s also a time to celebrate Robbie’s amazing legacy. Over the last 17 years, Robbie has helped this event grow from 4,000 participants to almost 44,000. And in the process he has made the Tamarack Ottawa Race Weekend one of the premiere running events in North America.

So thank you Robbie, from your co-workers and from all of the runners who love this event. You will be missed. But we also know you are leaving us in good hands with the organization you have built and with our new Race Director, John Halvorsen.

If you see Jim "Robbie" Robinson at this year’s Tamarack Ottawa Race Weekend (we have a feeling he’ll be there) say hello and tell him thanks for making the event the success it is today!

Bib News – The Scoop on Transfers

With all the sold out Tamarack Ottawa Race Weekend events, there are more than a few runners looking for race entries. There are also runners who signed up for events but for various reasons can no longer participate. So, it’s a good thing that until May 1st, for a small fee, runners can transfer their entries. We want as many of those bibs used as possible!

So, how does it work? Here’s the process for a runner who has an entry to transfer.

1. First, find a runner looking for an entry into the event in which you are registered. A great place to do this is to post on the Ottawa Marathon Facebook page.
2. Then, go to your confirmation email and click on the “Modify Your Registration” link at the very bottom of the email.
3. You will arrive at a page with information about your registration. At the bottom of this page, click the “Transfer Registration” button.
4. In the pop-up window, enter the runner’s name and email address and click the “Proceed with this transfer” button.
5. The person receiving the race entry will then receive an email. To complete the transaction, they must accept the transfer and pay a $15 fee.
6. Once this is done, the original runner is deleted from the database and the new runner is now registered to participate.

You have until 11:59 p.m. on May 1, 2013 to make the transfer. For more information about the process, contact [email protected].