Charities pick their Dream Teams for Gold label Ottawa 10K

Ottawa, May 16, 2018 – As announced last week, the 2018 Ottawa 10K is introducing a new team format for its elite prizing. Sixteen elite runners have been chosen to run as part of teams of four. These runners will compete to win prize money for themselves and for a local charity taking part in the Scotiabank Charity Challenge.

Most of the 16 runners picked today are IAAF gold label athletes, which means they can run under a specific time (28 minutes for men, 32 minutes for women). The charities were given a list of runners from which to choose last week. Earlier today, the charities met in Ottawa to pick their Dream Teams (watch Facebook Live recording).

The four Scotiabank Charity Challenge charities – The Ottawa Hospital, Canadian Cancer Society, Camp Misquah and Make a Wish of Eastern Ontario – were selected based on their fundraising efforts in 2017, in addition to a wildcard draw.

In addition to receiving prize money based on their finishing position (1st place runner wins $10,000), the runners in the winning team will also be awarded $2,000 to be split evenly among all members. The teams will be scored based on their finishing position against the other teams, regardless of gender (women at the Ottawa 10K will receive a 3 minute 40 second head start, which gives them a chance to finish at the same time as the men).

And to make it even more competitive, athletes are also receiving prize money based on the position in which they got drafted earlier today.

Competing for the prize purse of $60,000 will be the following four teams:

 

Name Draft pick and prize
Camp Misquah
  • Andamlak Belihu Berta (ETH)
1 – $4,000
  • Edith Chelimo (KEN)
8 – $   500
  • Gladys Kimaina (KEN)
9 – no prize
  • Angela Tanui (KEN)
16 – no prize
The Ottawa Hospital
  • Rachel Cliff  (CAN)
2 – $3,000
  • Alia Saeed Mohammed (UAE)
7 – $   500
  • Mohamed Reda (MOR)
10 – no prize
  • Laura Thweatt (USA)
15 – no prize
Make-a-Wish Eastern Ontario
  • Benard Ngeno (KEN)
3 – $2,000
  • Abraham Kipyatich (KEN)
6 – $   600
  • Steve Boyd (CAN)
11 – no prize
  • Hajiba Hasnaoui (MOR)
14- no prize
Canadian Cancer Society
  • Mohamed Ziani (MOR)
4 – $1,000
  • Benard Kimeli (KEN)
5 – $   750
  • Hicham Amghar (MOR)
12 – no prize
  • Natasha Wodak (CAN)
13 – no prize

How to participate

Members of the public can join in the fun by making a $5 donation towards one of the four participating charities and picking the team of runners they think will run the fastest at the 2018 Ottawa 10K. Those who select the fastest teams can win up to $250! Go to RaceRoster.com for details and to participate. Contest closes Friday, May 25 at midnight (ET).

How to watch

The IAAF gold-label Ottawa 10K will take place Saturday, May 26 at 6:30 p.m. as part of the Tamarack Ottawa Race Weekend. The event will be tweeted live @ottawamarathon, and broadcast live at www.runottawa.ca and on Rogers-TV in Ottawa.